Sharing science: A study of the effects of informal science education with elementary students

Science education reform has prompted scientists, engineers, and politicians to act on the growing need for improved educational programs in the STEM fields.  Informal science programs that provide an educational experience outside of a traditional classroom and involve students on real-life and hands-on experiments without the pressure of graded assignments, are among these initiatives. The NSF states that informal science programs provide students with experiences that are enjoyable and relevant to their futures. This study’s goals are to test this assumption by assessing the impacts of informal science education via the Junior Scientist Outreach Program (JSOP), a weeklong, free-of-cost camp for 4^th and 5^th grade elementary students in a predominately Hispanic community in central New Mexico. We hypothesize that JSOP will increase students’ interest and confidence, and therefore scholastic achievement, in science and related subjects. This in turn may increase career interest and success in STEM fields. A mixed-methods approach, including pre- and post-camp surveys, follow up interviews, and in-classroom observations, will be used to measure the degree to which informal science education initiatives benefit elementary students in traditionally underrepresented populations. We are comparing attitudes before and after the camp experience, but do not have a non-camp control group due to logistical difficulties. Nonetheless, we expect to identify changes in this group of students that will provide insight into the potential advantages of informal science education and that will influence the design of larger studies.