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This study examines student choices relating to the selection of STEM courses for high school and university study. The main focus here is on the subjective value of the choice as perceived by the individual, and the individual’s expectation of success in the subject or the study. The argument put forward in this study is supported by a broad and...

People of color who live in low income, urban communities experience lower levels of educational attainment than whites and continue to be underrepresented in science at all educational and professional levels. It is widely accepted that this underrepresentation in science is related, not only to processes of historical exclusion and racism, but to how science is commonly taught and that...

Research shows that news consumption plays a positive role in youths' environmental engagement. This article examines if this also holds true for sceptics by comparing Swedish climate change sceptics with non-sceptical youngsters in their early and late adolescence. We conceptualise news consumption as foci of public connection and orientation rather than a source of environmental information. The results show that...

In this article, Donna R. Braden, Experience Develop and Curator at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, provides tools and strategies to reduce "friction" when developing exhibitions. Included are helpful worksheets and lists that assist exhibit developers as they establish parameters while laying the initial exhibit groundwork, promote collaboration amongst the team, and assist stakeholders and other decision-makers in efficiently...

This Science Learning+ project will develop a Youth Access & Equity Research & Practice Agenda, focusing on addressing equity issues for youth, ages 11-14, primarily from non-dominant backgrounds. The project will involve researchers and practitioners from three ISL settings/contexts, (1) Designed spaces, e.g., museums; (2) Community-based, e.g., afterschool clubs; and (3) Everyday science, e.g., science media. The goal of the...

This brief focuses on a participatory study with the high school program of the Kitty Andersen Youth Science Center (KAYSC) at the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM). Young people are organized into teams of up to 20 youth with an adult practitioner who delivers programming based on a STEM content area. Their activities and project-based learning are based in both...

The image and perception of science and of scientists is a crucial topic, above all with regards to younger generations, the human capital of the future. For this reason, the National Research Council (CNR), in 2004, asked the IRPPS institute (Istituto di ricerche sulla popolazione e le politiche sociali) to carry out a sample survey of 800 people between the...

This article encourages afterschool programs to promote youth identification as community science experts. It uses the case study of the GET City program to frame the discussion of encouraging identity development should be an important outcome of afterschool programming....

The Youth Astronomy Apprenticeship (YAA) is a yearlong, out-of-school time initiative that connects urban teenage youth with astronomy as an effective way to promote scientific literacy and overall positive youth development. The program employs the strategies of a traditional apprenticeship model, common in crafts and trades guilds as well as in higher education. During the apprenticeship, youth develop knowledge and...

Youth participants in an informal after school science program created a multimodal digital video public service announcement video. This paper considers the counterstories that emerge within the video and during the making of the video that challenge existing definitions of science literacy. The investigation suggests youth engage in expansive learning where vertical knowledge and horizontal knowledge inform their actions toward...

This guidebook will help you plan your action project. The initial brainstorm pages will help you consider where to start, and the Action Project Framework will navigate you through steps to get to your destination: the completion of your project! ...

Youth Day, held in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California, was an exploratory study to determine whether technology attracts kids to outdoor activities. Four activities were offered -- two were dependent on technology and two were not. The two technology-dependent activities were a camera safari and geocaching for treasure. The activities not dependent on technology were paper etching or rubbings...

Research on middle school participants’ engagement in afterschool programs shows that such programs often serve as developmental contexts for promoting “flow” experiences. Compared to when they are in other settings after school, participants in afterschool programs are more likely to experience high concentrated effort and intrinsic motivation, experiences consistent with Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow. Organized sports, arts enrichment, and academic...

This project focuses on environmental health literacy and will explore the extent to which diverse rural and urban youth in an out-of-school STEM enrichment program exhibit gains in environmental health literacy while engaged in learning and teaching others about community resilience in the face of changing climates. Science centers and museums provide unique opportunities for youth to learn about resilience,...

A two-year pilot a two-year pilot and feasibility study funded by NSF’s Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Program (NSF Award # 1906846) ...

This Innovations in Development project supports racially and ethnically diverse youth in learning about climate resilience in informal settings, including community centers, afterschool programs, and museums. The project aims to: (1) build the capacity of community organizations to implement youth programming on climate resilience; (2) increase youth knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy associated with climate resilience (also referred to as environmental...

The Youth Experiences in Science (YES) Project of the 4-H Center at UC, Davis will produce, pilot and evaluate an informal science education curriculum expressly designed for 5-9 year olds in school-age child care (SACC) settings. Seven thematic units will be developed (three in both English and Spanish versions), utilizing the basic design process and instructional model developed in the...

Youth EXPO: Youth Exploring the Potential of Virtual Worlds was a proof-of-concept study to determine if an immersive, 3D virtual environment is an effective medium to increase high school students’ understanding of current climate change research and motivate interest in learning more about climatology-related careers. The project was conducted by the Miami Science Museum in partnership with Goddard Institute of...

This guide outlines how to tackle potential gaps in communication, engagement, scheduling, and work styles, as well as provide different ways to incorporate youth input and voice into projects. This guide is divided into four sections: Youth vs. Adults, Youth Engagement, Communicating with Youth, and Advising. ...

The aim of this evaluation study was to assess the extent to which the three PD workshop sessions (one for non-education staff, one for education staff and one for program youth) supported knowledge and confidence of Sciencenter staff and youth participants around the topics of integrating feedback from, and co-creating content with youth. The evaluation team used qualitative approaches to...

The aim of this evaluation study was to assess the extent to which youth-led products elicited public awareness of climate science or content communicated, and the desire to keep learning more about local climate impacts. The evaluation team used qualitative approaches to collect data through exit surveys and interviews with visitors at three events that were organized by the Youth...

The impacts of changes in the climate at local and global levels threaten how people live. Some frontline communities, especially in historically disenfranchised and under-resourced areas, are particularly vulnerable to the devastating effects of climatological events such as wildfires, flooding, and urban heat islands. As such, there is an urgent need for collective, evidence-based understanding and engagement to prevent and...

In stories about democratic society that take place in a democratically structured environment, Youth Radio walks the fine line between professional journalism and youth development in ways that question the automatic equation between "youth voice" and freedom of expression....

Youth Radio, an after-school media production program, consists of a main campus in Oakland, CA, and regional bureaus in Atlanta, GA, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, CA. Youth Radio’s model is to engage underserved young people in broadcast journalism, radio and web production, engineering, and media literacy through media projects that are relevant to the students’ lives and communities. In...

Rockman et al (REA), a San Francisco-based research and evaluation firm, conducted the external evaluation for Youth Radio's DO IT! program, which was funded by the National Science Foundation. Building upon Youth Radio's previous Science and Technology Program, the DO IT! initiative consisted of three primary components that promoted STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning by training underserved youth...