Middle School Students’ Interest and Self-Efficacy in a One-Day Informal STEM Learning Experience

Informal STEM learning experiences are widely used to promote students’ interest and engagement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), yet limited evidence exists regarding the educational value of one-day STEM outreach events. This study examined middle school students’ perceptions of STEM interest and self-efficacy following participation in NSF STEM Day, a one-day informal STEM learning experience that combined project demonstrations designed by college student mentors with a field-based learning experience at the Museum of Illusions to learn about hands-on robotics, coding, Internet of Things (IoT), and engineering and mathematical concepts. This study explored students’ learning experiences, STEM interests and STEM self-efficacy perceptions, and college student mentors’ reflections. First, participants reported positive learning experiences, and engineering was reported more frequently as an area of STEM interest in the post-survey (38.0%) than the pre-survey (25.6%). Second, they reported positive STEM self-efficacy perceptions in the post-survey. A significant grade-level difference was observed for one STEM self-efficacy item assessing students’ confidence in applying scientific principles, with eighth-grade students reporting higher confidence than sixth-grade students (F(3,26) = 3.76, p = 0.023). Third, qualitative findings showed that college student mentors’ reflections reported positive experiences and valued the opportunity to engage middle school students in hands-on STEM learning activities. The findings contribute evidence regarding the educational value of short-duration STEM outreach experiences for broadening students’ exposure to STEM learning.