Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) outreach programs aim to increase participation in STEM fields. However, the impact of these programs is rarely measured due to inherent difficulties in conducting long-term evaluations. This article presents a decadal evaluation of the Science and Engineering Challenge (SEC), an Australian…

Bringing Research into the Classroom (BRIC) engaged rural K-12 science teachers in sustained, mentored science research. BRIC's goal was to equip teachers with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to provide high-quality biomedical research opportunities for K-12 students and teachers. Programmatic elements included authentic, place-based,…

When students drop out of high school there are substantial social and economic consequences that can persist throughout their lives. They are more likely to be unemployed, to become teenage parents, to become involved in the criminal justice system, and to suffer a lifetime of low wages. Dropout rates soared during the COVID-19 pandemic as…

A synergetic approach to combine service learning at the university level with a high school outreach program is described. A holistic view is presented by discussing the importance of outreach and service learning, survey results, and outcomes. Overall, it was found that the unique program increased the self-efficacy (belief about one's…

Professionalising outreach and evaluation work would enhance the quality and rigour of provision, benefit widening participation students and achieve regulatory requirements (Bowes et al. [2019]. "The National Collaborative Outreach Programme End of Phase 1 report for the national formative and impact evaluations." Office for Students;…

The Latino population is the fastest-growing community in the United States yet falls behind in the percentage of students who successfully graduate from college compared to other cultural groups. While trends of Latino students applying to college are on the rise, many cannot successfully obtain a degree due to detrimental barriers. These…

The Native American Astronomy Outreach Program (NAAOP) at Lowell Observatory is an in-class STEM enrichment program that pairs astronomers with 4th-8th grade teachers at Native-serving schools in northern Arizona. The astronomer works with the teacher to present hands-on astronomy activities to their class with the goal of getting students excited…

The provision of all-female computer science outreach programmes is a common strategy used to foster greater interest in the subject for high school aged girls. Based on key factors that affect girls' interest in computer science (CS), outreach programmes often share much in their approach. Nonetheless, there is criticism from a research…

Although many have suggested the use of games to motivate active learning, studies that evaluate the learning outcomes of games with high school students are scarce. Here, we present the evaluation of the board game "Taphonomy: Dead and Fossilized" as an active learning tool to teach fossilization and Earth systems thinking with rising…

Since the 1990s, scientists and Indigenous peoples have worked together across Inuit Nunangat (Inuit homeland in Canada) to conduct research on contaminants in ringed seals ("Pusa hispida"; "natsiq," "natchiq" or [foreign characters ommitted] in Inuktut), a species of high cultural, economic and nutritional importance…

Drug Outreach, Promoting Awareness (DOPA) is an undergraduate outreach program for local high school students designed to convey the neurobiological basis, risks, and addictive potential of commonly abused drugs. Here we describe DOPA and evaluate the program, including its impact on high school student attitudes about drug harm risk and…

Higher education institutions are in a great position to create authentic programming to support local underfunded or underperforming public school districts. This article gives an overview of an education outreach collaborative between a 4-year public university, local schools, and a community institution and highlights lessons learned from the…

In response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, a cancer research education program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center designed for Native American middle school, high school and undergraduate students adapted activities to be delivered online. There are considerable challenges to adapting in-person science programming to online delivery that…

Generating solutions for society's complex problems will require the development of a diverse workforce that is committed to technological and social innovation. In the United States, this need is being addressed by the invention education movement, a goal of which is to promote the adoption of an inventive mindset among K-12 students through…

In the present day, it is not uncommon for there to be a class full of engineering students with very few women among them. To combat this lack of gender diversity, colleges and universities have employed outreach programs and developed summer engagement opportunities that allow women to explore engineering before they graduate high school. The…