The Effect of Summer Engineering Camps on Rural and Urban Students’ Interest in STEM (Work-in-Progress)

Britta Solheim; Jack Priske; Murad Mahmoud; Cristian Allen; Kurt Becker

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Pre-College Engineering Education Division Poster Session
Page Count: 7
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41205
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41205
Download Count: 190

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Paper Authors

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Murad Mahmoud Wartburg College

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Murad is an Assistant Professor at the Engineering Science Department at Wartburg College. He has a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Utah State University. Research interests include recruitment into STEM, diversity in STEM as well pedagogy and instruction.

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Britta Solheim Wartburg College

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Britta is a student in the Engineering Science Department at Wartburg College. She is getting her major in Engineering with a mechanical concentration and a minor in mathematics. Research interests include recruitment into STEM and STEM education.

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Jack Priske Wartburg College

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Jack is an engineering student and athlete from Wartburg College. He is majoring in engineering with a concentration in mechanical engineering and a minor in mathematics. His research interests include STEM recruitment and the influence of rural and urban students' interest in STEM.

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Cristian Allen Wartburg College

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Kurt Becker Utah State University - Engineering Education

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Kurt Becker, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Engineering Education, College of Engineering, Utah State University

Kurt Becker is a Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Utah State University. His research includes engineering design thinking, systems engineering, engineering education professional development, technical training, and adult learning cognition. He is currently working on National Science Foundation funded projects exploring engineering design thinking and systems thinking, a USAID funded project in Egypt, “Center of Excellence in Water”, and Department of Education funded GEARUP projects in the area of STEM education related to engineering education. He has extensive international experience working on technical training and engineering projects funded by the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Countries where he has worked include Armenia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, and Thailand. In addition, he has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in engineering education for the department.

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Abstract

The Effect of Summer Engineering Camps on Rural and Urban Students’ Interest in STEM (Work-in-Progress)

This paper investigates how living in an urban versus rural area influences students’ interest to pursue a career in STEM. Data collected for this research came from a summer engineering camp held at a local university and is a part of the Department of Education’s GEARUP program. The camp enabled students to learn more about STEM as a future career choice.

As a part of the camp, the students worked in teams and engaged in various activities involving engineering research. The camp included activities such as, remotely operated vehicles (ROV’s) which were used to collect water samples and measure various water properties. Students also built simple sensors to measure air quality and collected stream data. During the camp, students developed engineering research hypotheses with the help of their teachers. The students then tested those hypotheses, and thought like engineers. At the end of the camp, the student teams presented what they learned and their findings.

Data was collected through pre and post camp surveys. The data included questions about students’ interest in STEM, the factors that influence their interest, as well as their parents and friends’ perceptions about STEM. Furthermore, the parents were surveyed about their education, income, and their perception of math, science, and engineering. The students also indicated whether they live in a rural or urban area. While the parents did not attend the camp, they were involved through viewing a blog that was updated daily to include activities of the camp as well as pictures and comments from the students’ journals.

Data was collected and analyzed over a 3 year period as part of a longitudinal study. The analysis involves both quantitative and qualitative data which was collected simultaneously. Both streams of data are analyzed concurrently in a mixed methods research design to offer a deeper understanding of what influences student interest in STEM. The results are broken down and compared based on whether students live in a rural or urban areas.

Quantitative data is analyzed using a statistical analysis software to determine if there was a statistically significant increase in interest (after the STEM camp) among rural and urban participants. In addition, if an increase in interest is present in both groups (or absent in both groups) we determine if the increase is significantly greater for one of the groups. These tests have the potential to provide evidence that the STEM camp was more effective at increasing interest among either rural or urban students. Qualitative data will be analyzed using a specialized qualitative software (MaxQDA) to find themes in the data. The quantitative and qualitative data is combined and presented in a mixed methods format.

This research focuses on the differences in interest in STEM between students living in rural and urban areas. The knowledge gained could help in designing future camps to better align with the different needs of the two groups of students.

Citation
Format

Mahmoud, M., & Solheim, B., & Priske, J., & Allen, C., & Becker, K. (2022, August), The Effect of Summer Engineering Camps on Rural and Urban Students’ Interest in STEM (Work-in-Progress) Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41205

TY - CPAPER
AB - The Effect of Summer Engineering Camps on Rural and Urban Students’ Interest in STEM (Work-in-Progress)

This paper investigates how living in an urban versus rural area influences students’ interest to pursue a career in STEM. Data collected for this research came from a summer engineering camp held at a local university and is a part of the Department of Education’s GEARUP program. The camp enabled students to learn more about STEM as a future career choice.

As a part of the camp, the students worked in teams and engaged in various activities involving engineering research. The camp included activities such as, remotely operated vehicles (ROV’s) which were used to collect water samples and measure various water properties. Students also built simple sensors to measure air quality and collected stream data. During the camp, students developed engineering research hypotheses with the help of their teachers. The students then tested those hypotheses, and thought like engineers. At the end of the camp, the student teams presented what they learned and their findings.

Data was collected through pre and post camp surveys. The data included questions about students’ interest in STEM, the factors that influence their interest, as well as their parents and friends’ perceptions about STEM. Furthermore, the parents were surveyed about their education, income, and their perception of math, science, and engineering. The students also indicated whether they live in a rural or urban area. While the parents did not attend the camp, they were involved through viewing a blog that was updated daily to include activities of the camp as well as pictures and comments from the students’ journals.

Data was collected and analyzed over a 3 year period as part of a longitudinal study. The analysis involves both quantitative and qualitative data which was collected simultaneously. Both streams of data are analyzed concurrently in a mixed methods research design to offer a deeper understanding of what influences student interest in STEM. The results are broken down and compared based on whether students live in a rural or urban areas.

Quantitative data is analyzed using a statistical analysis software to determine if there was a statistically significant increase in interest (after the STEM camp) among rural and urban participants. In addition, if an increase in interest is present in both groups (or absent in both groups) we determine if the increase is significantly greater for one of the groups. These tests have the potential to provide evidence that the STEM camp was more effective at increasing interest among either rural or urban students. Qualitative data will be analyzed using a specialized qualitative software (MaxQDA) to find themes in the data. The quantitative and qualitative data is combined and presented in a mixed methods format.

This research focuses on the differences in interest in STEM between students living in rural and urban areas. The knowledge gained could help in designing future camps to better align with the different needs of the two groups of students.

AU - Murad Mahmoud
AU - Britta Solheim
AU - Jack Priske
AU - Cristian Allen
AU - Kurt Becker
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - The Effect of Summer Engineering Camps on Rural and Urban Students’ Interest in STEM (Work-in-Progress)
UR - https://peer.asee.org/41205
DO - 10.18260/1-2--41205
ER -