STEM Class and Science Clubs for Middle School Students Mariela Resendez Arizona State University Roxanna Montoya—Mentor
Outline Introduction Background Methods Results Discussion Conclusion Future Work Closing Questions Lowell Future City Model: #5
Introduction Middle school students’ involvement with Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) Students participate in Future City and MESA Program Outreach– volunteer, teach or mentor
Background Student involvement aside math & science classes Introduced to engineering Team building Problem-Solving on a bigger scale Engineering Design Process Lowell Elementary (6-8 grade) Future City Math, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA)
Project Pictures Lowell Team #2 Brainstorm Lowell Team #3 City Planning
Pictures Cont. Lowell Team #5 Lowell Teams #2 
Pictures Cont. Lowell Future City Mentors
Methods Data Collection Surveys Demographics Gender Grade Level
Example of Survey
Future City Project Approach National Competition Student’s Approach Learn about cities Brainstorm & design Build City on SimCity® Design and Build Model 6 Teams of 7&8 th Grade Students Kept design notebooks
MESA Project (Math, Engineering and Science Achievement) After-School Based 5 teams Roller Coaster Team Cooling Hat Team Hydropower Challenge Engineering Design Challenge Air Rocket Team All teams track changes on notebooks
Diversity in STEM Class and Science Class Female to Male Ratio Grade Level:6 th 7 th 8 th # of Participants 8912 Total Number of Participants Female Male
Results Project Results Lowell Team #1 City Model
Results Cont. Lowell Team #2 City Model Lowell Team #3 City Model
Results Cont. Lowell Team #4 City Model
Results Cont. Lowell Team #5 City Model Lowell Team #6 City Model
Discussion Students able to engineer projects Designed, built and maintained cities Not able to attend competition STEM Class moved to after school science club MESA teams are formulated with different students Competition is April 12 th
Conclusion Students enjoy hands-on projects Students are happy to compete academically More exposure, more involvement More exposure leads to talent discovery Mentors are impactful Higher education
Future Work Create a solid curriculum for after school program Similar to that of the STEM Class Enhance the Engineering Design Process Develop more projects for Fall aside from Future City Is exposure at a young age a deciding factor? Further research needed Target other schools in different part of the valley with same project See whether interest rises in same grade in another part of valley
Thank you, Questions?