The Ins and Outs of Science Outreach: Assessment of an Engaging New Program
Authors: Metz Cynthia J , Downes Sarah , Metz Michael J 
Published: June 2021

Many professors are interested in providing science outreach to local K‐12 students, but may not have the time or resources needed to create an engaging presentation. The American Physiological Society supports outreach initiatives through programs such as the Physiology Understanding week. Building upon these activities, it was desired to create and assess an immersive and engaging outreach program in a disadvantaged K‐12 student population.

The current study differs from the available literature in several ways. The program was designed to create an immersive experience for students, visiting classrooms multiple times throughout the school year to provide new learning opportunities. Substantial funding was obtained through intramural grants to provide students with technologically advanced learning tools, audience response systems, hands‐on models, dissected specimens, and physiological tools/instruments. Our research group has been extensively involved in the creation and assessment of active and online learning modules for students. Thus, the unique teaching methods of the instructors might serve as a model for other professors interested in pursuing outreach activities. Importantly, all resources for these modules underwent peer‐review and publication, allowing other professors to easily execute their own outreach programming. Finally, while many studies have focused on improved interest levels of students, few have fully analyzed improvements in content knowledge during educational activities.

Three distinct modules were created on cardiovascular physiology, respiratory physiology, and oral health. The outreach modules were presented to 288 students in 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th grade classes. Dependent t‐ tests were used to determine statistical significance between the pre‐ and post‐ intervention data, with significance defined as P<.05. Implementation of the modules resulted in significant increases in student content knowledge, ranging from 32–57% improvement (p<0.001, dependent t‐test) with an average increase of 46%. K‐12 science teachers reported that the program was at an appropriate educational level, increased students' enthusiasm for science, and increased students' exposure to science careers. Additionally, the presenters of the outreach program were perceived to be enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and proficient at interacting with the students. On open‐response survey items, the science teachers indicated a high level of satisfaction with the program and an enthusiasm for continued collaborations. These results indicate the importance of organized and interactive science activities for the success of a new outreach program.

Support or Funding Information

This work was supported in part by a basic grant from the University of Louisville School of Medicine and a support grant from the Dean's Office of the University of Louisville School of Dentistry.

This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.