Investigating Measurement of STEM Engagement and Advocacy in Older Adults: Learning Event Report

An interdisciplinary team of investigators from the University of California, Berkeley, conducted exploratory research on informal STEM learning among older adults through an 18-month pilot study (NSF award #1906720). The purpose of the research was to develop and apply methods for measuring engagement in informal STEM learning (ISL) and STEM advocacy in older adults (50+ years of age); and (b) explore factors that lead to the engagement and advocacy of this population in ISL. The research study design included two informal learning experiences as opportunities to test some of the research instruments developed. This report summarizes findings from the learning event and includes the two instruments developed as part of this project:  The STEM Advocacy Survey which is a 36-item measure that includes four subscales that measure components of STEM Advocacy, including Value of STEM for Society, Knowledge of STEM Advocacy, STEM Advocacy Efficacy, and STEM Advocacy Identification; and the STEM Engagement Survey for Older Adults, a ten-item scale adapted for older populations from a previously developed instrument designed for youth (ActivationLab.org) measuring behavioral, cognitive, and affective engagement as part of one unidimensional scale. Findings suggest that the learning event was highly engaging, that orientation toward advocacy did not change as a result of the learning event, and that engagement was moderately correlated with each of the STEM advocacy variables except STEM Advocacy Identification, which was strongly and significantly correlated. The implications of this work for the informal science education field are that:

• The Engagement Survey can be used by informal learning providers to compare, improve, & identify approaches for engaging older adults and build an evidence base 
• The STEM Advocacy survey can be used to measure and understand older adults’ stance toward STEM advocacy
• Developing STEM Advocacy Identification and Efficacy may be particularly important levers for encouraging STEM advocacy behaviors

This report is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1906720. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.