4-H Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Initiative: Youth Engagement, Attitudes, and Knowledge Study. Executive Summary
Author: Mielke, Monica
Date: 2010-03-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Youth,Learner Engagement,Student Attitudes,Knowledge Level,Program Implementation,Program Evaluation,Youth Programs,Grade 4,Grade 8,National Competency Tests,Scientific Attitudes,Grade 12,Community Services,Science Education,Engineering Education,Technology Education,Extension Agents

With the support of the Noyce Foundation, National 4-H Council has contracted with Policy Studies Associates (PSA) to evaluate the implementation of the 4-H Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Initiative. The goals of this initiative are to increase the number and quality of science, engineering, and technology programs that 4-H offers around the country, and to increase the number of youth involved in these programs. Objectives for the SET initiative are to increase SET interest and literacy among youth, to increase the number of youth pursuing post-secondary education in SET, and to increase the number of youth pursuing SET careers. As part of this effort, 4-H formed the National 4-H SET Leadership Team, which consists of national, state and county-level 4-H professionals. In addition, SET Liaisons have been appointed at Land Grant Universities (LGUs) around the country to help implement SET programs and to recruit youth into these programs. Some SET programs deliver content on topics that have traditionally been covered by 4-H programming, while other SET programs offer youth the opportunity to explore topics that are new to 4-H, such as rocketry and robotics. The National 4-H SET Leadership Team created an outline of SET program requirements, called the 4-H SET Checklist, for universities to use as a guide in the development of SET programs. Generally, this Checklist sets out the expectation that SET programs: be inquiry-based and grounded in experiential learning; involve building SET-related skills; and, like all 4-H programs, employ positive youth development practices. In addition to the 4-H SET Checklist, 4-H has also developed a logic model for the SET initiative. According to the 4-H SET Logic Model, programs should be designed with the following short-term youth outcomes in mind: (1) Increased awareness of SET; (2) Improved SET skills (scientific methods) and knowledge (content areas); (3) Increased awareness of opportunities to contribute to society using SET skills; and (4) Increased life skills (self-efficacy). As part of the evaluation of SET programs, PSA worked with the 4-H SET Instrument Design Team to develop the 4-H SET Youth Engagement, Attitudes and Knowledge (YEAK) survey for administration to SET participants. In this first year of the evaluation, the YEAK survey serves to address the following questions about the youth in the survey sample: (1) What are the characteristics of the youth involved in SET programming? (2) What are participants' attitudes toward the SET fields? Do participants aspire to pursue career opportunities in the SET fields? (3) What level of education do participants want to achieve? (4) Do participants pursue SET leadership opportunities? (5) What SET-related skills, abilities, and knowledge do participants have? (6) What factors, if any, are associated with participants' engagement, attitudes, and knowledge of SET? PSA sent paper and electronic surveys to a total of 94 SET programs and received surveys from 65 programs, for a program response rate of 69 percent. Data in this report include descriptive statistics from the first administration of the YEAK survey. Evaluators also explored the relationships between various youth characteristics and youth responses to survey items using independent samples t-test or analysis of variance (ANOVA) for continuous variables and chi-square tests for categorical variables. Key findings are discussed, along with recommendations.