Anthony Neil Tan Rose Hills
Educational Outcome Assessments for Secondary School Maker Programs
Maker programs for middle school and high school students have become commonplace as the demand for STEM professionals has exponentially increased in the 21st century. Many of these academic enrichment programs are administered by non-profit initiatives and they serve as a stepping stone for pre-engineering students on a trajectory towards higher education. However, metrics for assessing the impact of out-of-school programs have been poorly defined and data points that track student learning have been sparse. One area of interest is quantifying students’ mastery of skills gained through these programs and visualizing the relationships between skill-building and students’ admission to internships and post-secondary institutions. My research will compile longitudinal surveys from a US-based non-profit maker program and study core components of their educational outcome assessments: 1) methods, 2) data, and 3) impact on resource allocation and program design. This case study will help inform the development of robust data collection strategies and metrics, thereby enabling evidence-based evaluation and continuous improvement in maker programs operating all across the United States.
Message To Sponsor
Thank you for supporting my summer project on maker education. As an engineering major who volunteers a lot of time to hands-on programs for budding engineers, I think that the opportunity to conduct research on this topic (which is outside of my formal studies, yet directly connected to my passion) is such a unique experience. I am extremely grateful for the generosity of this scholarship, which allows me to work on my project full-time.