Proven Impact Through Research-Based Workshop Assessment

As part of a multi-year research project, working with the Arizona State University School of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering, the Arizona Science Lab asked our workshop students to complete a pre- and post-workshop survey to measure the effectiveness of the program.  The findings from this study demonstrated that the Arizona Science Lab workshops have a significant positive influence on students’ perceptions of engineering and STEM fields.  The expert-guided, hands-on workshop activities help to improve student attitudes toward engineering.  By carrying out simple, realistic engineering projects, students are able to understand the problem-solving steps undertaken in developing real-world engineering solutions.  Also, by showing students that they can achieve engineering solutions themselves, the activities increase the students’ feelings of familiarity with engineering.  These factors not only elevate attitudes toward engineering but also increase students’ interest in STEM fields more generally.