Date of Degree Completion

Spring 2019

Degree Type

Capstone - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

Instructor/Advisor

Melissa Nemon

Abstract

The activities in which children and youth engage while outside of school hours are critical to their development, highlighting the need for quality afterschool programs that engage students – regardless of gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or minority classification. STEM Ready set out to study the effectiveness of an experiential education pedagogy approach in the design of a professional workshop for undergraduate volunteers who work directly with these marginalized populations in afterschool programs. This project hosted a training that gave the opportunity for afterschool volunteers to come together to be trained on STEM curriculum that has been developed in collaboration with practitioners and educators. The goal of this training was for participants to become more aware of how STEM is practical and meaningful and how to convey this to children in meaningful and fun ways. The project connected larger schemas and concepts to everyday life and local items to promote innovation, learning, and creativity in a hands-on space. The goal was to bring all portions of STEM together in a dynamic and exploratory relationship. The training provided students the chance to advance their understanding of their own power and privilege and learn techniques to effectively engage K-12 learners in STEM education.

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