Background
STEM outreach initiatives aim to address the consistent decline of student interest in STEM which becomes increasingly apparent as students transition from primary to secondary school (1). Typically, outreach programmes are delivered in-person and require volunteers to travel to schools or students to travel to outreach sites. This takes time out of an already busy curriculum and can place students in less accessible locations at a disadvantage, e.g., rural students are already underperforming within STEM education when compared to their metropolitan counterparts (2). Remote/on-line delivery presents a possible alternative for STEM outreach programmes. The main advantage is greater accessibility and flexibility, enabling its use for a greater number of audiences. The aim of this study was to determine if remote delivery of STEM activities is a viable outreach alternative to in-person events.
Methods
As part of the STEM Ambassador Programme (https://www.stem.org.uk) and during the COVID-19 pandemic, secondary schools in Northern Ireland were approached to participate in an on-line STEM outreach activity suitable for students in Years 10-12 (ages 14-17). The activity consisted of an interactive presentation (40 minutes) covering the importance of a STEM education and then specifically the topics of genetics and inheritance. Pre-and post-presentation questionnaires were sent in advance to teachers. The anonymous questionnaires assessed students’ understanding of STEM, knowledge of genetics and inheritance and opinions on remote delivery. A Likert scale was used to quantitatively analyse data related to student perceptions and aspirations (5 – strongly agree to 1 – strongly disagree). Data are presented as means ± SEM. A Student’s unpaired t-test assessed statistical significance (p<0.05). Ethical approval was obtained through the Queen’s University Belfast Research Ethics Committee.
Results
Four student groups completed the outreach activity from three different schools, completing both a pre-presentation questionnaire (n=126) and a post-questionnaire (n=95). Results from the pre- and post-questionnaires highlight that the STEM event produced a significant increase in student 1) knowledge of genetics and inheritance (p≤0.0001), 2) STEM awareness (p≤0.001) and 3) positive association with on-line learning (p=0.01). In one school with 2 separate cohorts, significant differences between year 10 and year 12 post-presentation responses were found with the older cohort more positively affected by the outreach than the younger cohort. This was evident in the categories of STEM awareness (4.3±0.2 year 10 vs. 4.8±0.2 year 12, p=0.02), perception of online learning (3.7±0.2 year 10 vs. 4.1±0.2 year 12, p=0.03) and student acquisition of knowledge (4.3±0.5 year 10 vs. 5.3±0.5 year 12, average correct answers, p=0.03).
Discussion
One of the ultimate goals of STEM outreach is to drive student aspirations towards STEM fields. Remote delivery of STEM outreach increased student knowledge of a STEM-related subject, raised STEM awareness and increased students' positive perceptions of on-line learning. The increase was greater for year 12 students than year 10 which may relate to prior learning experiences. Overall, the results suggest that remote delivery of STEM outreach activities is a viable alternative to in-person events and may assist with encouraging STEM awareness particularly in otherwise difficult to access students.