STEMulate Engineering Academy: Engaging Students and Teachers in Engineering Practices

Abstract

Informal science opportunities provide authentic experiences to stimulate students’ interests in science and engineering and foster their curiosity through problem-based investigations. STEMulate Engineering Academy was designed to provide children (Grades 3–5) engineering opportunities and offer teachers a unique professional development experience. The program serves as a practicum experience for teachers seeking a gifted and talented add-on license and the camp also offers free professional development to area teachers. Using a co-teaching approach, students gained firsthand experiences from an engineer in the field, and teachers collaborated with engineers to make the content more relevant. Despite a limited number of contact hours, students and teachers demonstrated growth on pre and post engineering assessments. Informal learning opportunities provided by programs such as STEMulate Engineering Academy could possibly spark student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)––leading them to a promising career in a STEM field.