Exposing Young Children to STEM Education and Technology Careers Using Outdoor Learning
- By Oluwatosin Mayor-Olabiyitan and Oluwafemi Awopegba
Executive Summary
Exposing young children to STEM Education and Careers is crucial to helping them navigate the modern world. Therefore, increasing access and representation of children in STEM disciplines can increase their opportunities to participate in the contemporary economy. Opportunities for exposure are present in every area of their education, including in-school enrichment activities and outdoor learning programs.
In order to harness the opportunities available in outdoor learning programs, this memo explores the collaboration between Technology for Social Change (Tech4Dev), TourNet Africa, and Prunedge in organizing an outdoor STEM learning study tour for young children.
Findings from Tech4Dev’s led Outdoor STEM education tour revealed that some of the beneficiaries reached were children from underdeveloped communities, and the majority were female. This indicates the inclusion of children, typically under-represented in the technology space.
Also, most children opted for a STEM-related course as part of their future study plans following the exposure they got during the educational tour, implying that they can be inspired and build the confidence they need to pursue STEM careers.
This policy brief has therefore highlighted some recommendations for improving outdoor STEM learning exposure for children. There is a need to:
- Accelerate efforts in reaching out to young children of underserved groups, such as underdeveloped communities and girls, in order to make STEM education and careers inclusive;
- Advocate for the development of more educational programs in outdoor learning spaces, taking into account the capacity of the technology organization to reach a large and optimal number of children;
- Foster strong partnerships between STEM-focus organizations within the education and business community in order to optimize the fusion of indoor and outdoor learning
Background
Globally, there is an urgent need for young children to enhance and grow their STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills in order to navigate the modern world and take advantage of the opportunities it affords. To imbibe these STEM skills, children must be sufficiently exposed to STEM.
National research council (2012) highlighted that educational exposure given to students outside of school could be equally as important as the educational exposure students get in school. This might be important in setting a child’s direction and activating interest in STEM or another subject. However, the Outdoor approach to STEM learning is rare compared to the traditional classroom environment approach.
While improvements in young children’s formal education are necessary, opportunities lie in all aspects of their education, including enrichment programs that take place during after-school hours as well as outdoor educational programs (After School Alliance 2011).
In Lagos, Nigeria, the government has begun to take cognizance of the need to incorporate outdoor activities in its educational programs. The Commissioner for Education in Lagos state released a much-cited report that included a recommendation to “create opportunities that improve STEM teaching and learning methodology for students through individual and group experiences outside the formal classroom engagements.”
This brings to the fore the critical role the creators of the STEM curriculum play in recognizing and infusing the valuable dimension of outdoor STEM learning activities into STEM education as a whole. In Lagos, Nigeria, some youth-serving organizations such as Co-creation Hub (CcHUB) and Smithsonian Education Centre (SSEC) are making giant strides in transforming science and technology education in Lagos State through the use of Digital Laboratories for teaching STEM subjects in Lagos.
Although the transition from instructional method to inquiry-based learning as a more effective teaching methodology for STEM education has commenced, there is still a lot to be done as regards setting young children’s direction and activating their interest in STEM, most especially with outdoor learning activities echo the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Lagos State.
This memo presents a particular STEM study tour — Outdoor STEM learning for children — while probing into how such STEM study tours expose young children to STEM education and career opportunities. The Outdoor STEM learning for children is a study tour organized by a collaboration between Technology for Social Change (Tech4Dev) and TourNet Africa to inspire young people to explore the increasing career options in tech through tech well-design visits and trips to tech institutions in Nigeria.
Tech4Dev also partnered with Prunedge, their technology partners, to provide a facility where the children can experientially learn about the need for Digital Skills and opportunities in STEM. Lessons can be teased out for government and education policymakers looking to transform the method of science and technology education.
Findings
The Outdoor STEM learning for children, which happened on children’s day (27th of May, 2022), was attended by 62 children from various backgrounds and technical exposure. The children were aged 10 to 20 years, of which 83% were secondary school students (in both junior and senior classes). TourNet African typically reaches out to public schools within underdeveloped communities, which made the Outdoor STEM learning for children impactful. It helped increase the reach among children with limited STEM experiential knowledge opportunities.
Likewise, Tech4Dev also aims to reach underserved groups and communities with digital skills for the future of work. The Outdoor STEM learning for children program was able to reach more females (65% of participants) who are typically under-represented in the technology space. Moreover, despite the fact that the majority of the children are frequent consumers of social media (60%) and gaming sites (60%), 61% of them had never undertaken digital skills or computer training. Therefore, as part of Tech4Dev’s overall strategy, it was essential to inspire these children toward practical STEM learning further.
Results from the survey of program participants showed that based on the STEM learning and career opportunities the children were exposed to during the motivational talks, 87% of the children believed that a career in Tech was right for them, while all the children registered interest in knowing more about Technology.
Also, based on the results of the survey, it could be deduced that the Outdoor STEM learning program had an impact on the children’s future study plans. The students were asked what class they currently belong to and what course they would like to take in the future. The findings showed a fair balance between the number of students currently studying STEM (55%) and Non-STEM (45%) related courses. However, 79% of the children opted for a STEM-related course after the motivational sessions as part of their future study plans.
Lastly, there was mixed feedback about the specific impact of the experiential learning aspect of the Outdoor STEM learning program. Key members of the Outdoor STEM learning facilitators were asked how the number of student participants would impact experiential learning.
One of the facilitators was less optimistic about having more significant numbers. The facilitator felt that fewer numbers of students would increase the impact of exposure as the problems associated with workspace overcrowding and high student-teacher ratios would be reduced. More so, the facilitator observed that only the older children benefited more from the experiential exposure to the mature workspace.
Another facilitator was more optimistic about having more significant numbers, believing that more batches of students with an increased number of students would increase the size of exposure, creating a ripple effect in increasing social awareness of the need for STEM learning. Using the Pareto rule of 80% reach and 20% impact, the facilitator believed that increasing reach would directly affect the proportional impact.
Conclusion
Evidence from the outdoor STEM learning program demonstrates the importance of outdoor learning in advancing STEM education. The findings show that the outdoor learning program reached children of various backgrounds, such as girls and those from underdeveloped communities. This implies that outdoor learning exposure can foster the inclusion of children typically under-represented in Technology.
Most of the children opted for a STEM-related course as part of their future study plans following their experience during the study tour. This implies that exposing young children to STEM education and technology careers using outdoor learning experiences can inspire children and help them get the self-confidence they need to pursue STEM careers on academic and professional fronts.
Furthermore, findings from this memo indicated that there is no simple formula to increase the reach of outdoor STEM learning opportunities among children. In order to achieve a broader coverage of outdoor STEM exposure for children, there is a need for more partnerships and training facilitators.
Notably, the technology organization’s capacity must be considered to know how many students can be admitted per time for experiential learning. In summary, STEM education policy should encourage outdoor learning programs and tours to improve young children’s chances of being exposed to cutting-edge STEM education and technology careers.
References
- National Research Council. (2012a). A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Committee on Conceptual Framework for the New K-12 Science Education Standards. Board on Science Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The
- National Academies Press. iii. National Research Council. (2012b). Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century. Committee on Defining Deeper Learning and 21st Century Skills, J.W. Pellegrino and M.L. Hilton (Eds.). Center for Education, Board on Testing and Assessment, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
- Afterschool Alliance (2011). Afterschool: A Vital Partner in STEM Education (http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/Afterschool_as_STEMpartner.pdf)
