Reaching for the S.T.A.Rs: Student Advancement, Involvement and Reflections Within A STEM Education Program

Project Rationale

Gaining a better understanding of the depth and breadth of the S.T.A.R. program by analyzing overall student involvement and engagement within S.T.A.R. Program activities are vital for program sustainability and improvement. Studying the growth of the program will allow for program coordinators to effectively plan for sustainable growth while providing additional opportunities.

This study will focus on the S.T.A.R. – student talent ambassadors for results- program. This Program aims to create an effective student instruction program that increases student engagement and improves understanding of scientific content for students in grades K-8. Additionally, this program aims to provide opportunities for high school students to learn, practice and implement skills related to teaching, public speaking, and professional development.

The S.T.A.R program includes a rigorous eligibility and application process.Students can advance through 5 program levels while developing professional skills (Figure 1). Once students are accepted, they must attend a program orientation before signing up to volunteer as assistants for program activities. While students can apply in grade 9 and act as assistants in their second semester, they are only eligible to become instructors in grades 10-12 after completing training and other requirements. All instructors must have previous experience working in the Imaging Lab and/or are currently involved in or have previous research experience. These S.T.A.R. instructors are trained in and assist with delivering scientific instruction and curricular experiences to students across grades K-8. Instructors are encouraged to advance to the level of lab trainer and assist in training new lab assistants as instructors while working towards lab researcher level.

Consistent analysis of the S.T.A.R. program through evaluation of its offerings and its growth is vital to ensuring long term program success and effectiveness. Previous research on the S.T.A.R. program analyzed the effectiveness of training methods, student instructor performance and overall student engagement. The results were positive and were further reinforced by a 135% increase in program membership. Our goal of analyzing how members advance through the program, engage in program opportunities and their overall perceptions of the program benefits and challenges will allow us to gain valuable insight into the member experience and overall program effectiveness. This insight will allow us to effectively plan for program growth in a sustainable way that benefits our students.

Project Context

Research was conducted on the FAUHS S.T.A.R. program, a program that trains 10-12 grade students as instructors within scientific curricular experiences occurring within the Owls Imaging Lab and the Elementary Lab across K-8th grades. ST.A.R. members comprise a group of 40 students across grades 10-12. Each peer-teacher is part of FAU High School, an accelerated pre-collegiate program that requires students to be fully dual enrolled in 10th grade. Research was conducted on all S.T.A.R members evaluating how members advance through the five program levels each quarter, how members engage in program opportunities throughout the program levels and their perception of the program's benefits and challenges throughout their involvement in the program.

Research Questions

This project aims to better understand student involvement in the S.T.A.R. Program and how that impacts the overall student engagement within S.T.A.R activities. 

• What does the advancement of S.T.A.R. students through the five program levels in the S.T.A.R Program look like?
• In what ways do STAR students engage in the various opportunities provided within each of the STAR program levels?
• What do STAR students report about the benefits and challenges of their involvement in the STAR program?

Supportive Literature

Numerous studies have indicated that students teaching students is one of the most effective teaching methods available (Anderson et. al., 2019; Rubin & Hebert, 1998; Sorcinelli, 1991; Whitman, 1988). Students who teach other students gain powerful communication and teaching skills and can practice those skills often, resulting in stronger self-efficacy that is beneficial both inside and outside the classroom (Wagner & Gansemer-Topf, 2005). Student instructors can gain increased understanding in subject content as well as improved skills related to critical thinking, learning autonomy and communication (Stigmar, 2016; Wagner & Gansemer-Topf, 2005). High school students, when acting as instructors gain skills in communication and confidence in presenting complex topics (Swim, 1999).

Studies show that educational benefits are also accompanied by increases in social and emotional well-being and improved sense of belonging (Luque-Suarez et al., 2021). Peer-peer instruction provides for a more relaxed learning environment allowing learners to engage with questions and comments without a fear of judgment from a teacher or other students. Additionally, students feel that peer instructors have a better understanding of their perspective and current experience; helping students feel more connected both socially and to the content. The social interactions inherent in peer-peer instruction allow peer instructors to gain self-confidence and self-esteem while increasing motivation (Zheng & Wang, 2022).

Research Methods 

Quarterly analysis of the S.T.A.R. Program will examine student involvement by analyzing data related to:

• Student Progression through Program: the number of students within the overall program and within each program level will be analyzed to determine student progression within the program.
• Overall S.T.A.R involvement within the various opportunities at each program level (Table 1): number of activities and types of activities that S.T.A.R. students are engaging in.

We used self-reported reflections from S.T.A.R. students to better understand what students considered the benefits and challenges of being involved in the STAR program. Qualitative data from two questions on the S.T.A.R.student reflection survey: 1.) List the ways you benefited from this S.T.A.R experience. 2.) List any challenges you faced during this S.T.A.R experience. 

Results of this analysis will be visualized utilizing a quarterly data presentation that effectively communicates the program's outcomes in a visual format.

After each curricular experience, we collected reflections from S.T.A.R.students. Each entry requires students to report the type of opportunity they participated in. This allows us to track which opportunities S.T.A.R. students participate in, as well as, how they progress through each level and their reflections on each experience. S.T.A.R students reflect on their experience by answering two open-ended questions related to how they felt about their experience.

1. List the ways you benefited from this S.T.A.R experience.
2. List any challenges you faced during this S.T.A.R experience. 

Results

Data collected on S.T.A.R student enrollment throughout each of the five program levels was collected twice in Fall 2023 and twice in Spring 2024 to determine student progression across program levels. Results show that students move into level two within weeks while progression from level two to level three usually occurs within a semester (Figure 3 and 4). Student progression from level three into level four or five takes the longest and occurs after 3-6 months. Overall, STAR enrollment across each level and within the program increased over time (Figure 2).

 

STAR Students engage in a variety of activities based on the program level they are in and whether or not they are working towards the next level. In level 2, they are assisting classroom teachers and STAR instructors (level 3) in curricular experiences by acting as a support person while training for level 3. In level 3, STAR students are vetted instructors and can continue training while teaching during K-8 curricular experiences. They also have additional opportunities to mentor science fair students, volunteer for external partners and begin training for level 4, lab trainer. Level 4 STAR students have all the opportunities as level 3 instructors but are also able to mentor level 2 and 3 as well as become instructors for the train-the-trainer program. STAR students who have met all level 1-4 requirements and have shown skills in instruction and mentoring can request entry into level 5. Level 5 STAR students are lead instructors, mentors and trainers who are interested and willing to take on an individual research project aimed at researching program aspects. These students are enrolled in a Directed Independent Research course and receive college credit upon successful completion and dissemination of their work. STAR researchers develop, propose, implement, gather and analyze data and present their findings at a relevant conference or symposium. Support for publication is also provided if the student wishes to publish their work.

Overall, students are engaged across all areas of the A.D. Henderson/FAUHS campus from classrooms and labs to event spaces. Their reach includes levels of support, instruction, mentoring, training and research and resulted in over 300 volunteer hours across over 50 activities.

STAR students reported benefits and challenges related to the overall program, training and instruction.

Overall, STAR students are reporting a great experience and enjoy watching kids learn. They feel they have a good amount of opportunities and gain experience with each one.

• “I have had a great experience with this program.”
• “I love the STAR program, it's so cool seeing the student's face light up when they find the answer to a problem. I would love to become an instructor next.”
• “I think the amount of opportunities I am receiving is very good.”
• “This experience has been great so far, I love the amount of opportunities we get. I can't wait to have more flexibility to be able to participate more often.”
• “I have attended all the opportunities that I am able to, so just continuing to provide them will allow me to gain more experience!”
• “I am enjoying the experience!”
• “Nothing at the moment. I really enjoyed working with the grade 2 students and hope to do it again.”
• “It’s a very well set up experience and at this time I do not believe there is anything that comes to mind to improving this experience.”

Overall, STAR students reported challenges related to limited numbers of online and after-school opportunities, and scheduling more trainings as well as ones specific to teaching elementary students.

• “Include more instructional or mentoring opportunities online.”
• “Have more dates so we can volunteer more! :)”
• “Provide more trainings about interacting with elementary school students.”
• “Maybe have a few more after-school opportunities to do lab support since I often can’t attend due to schedule issues.”
• “Provide more training times to learn what to expect as an instructor.”

Implications

Our findings confirm the benefits of students teaching students as a way to develop communication and teaching skills as well as confidence in teaching. Additionally, students are showing an appreciation for the opportunity to teach younger students and the positive feelings they receive after doing so. Increases in program enrollment along with positive student progression through the program levels further confirms our positive findings. Students crave these opportunities and interactions to improve their skills while also benefiting others and their school environment.  It’s important that educators see the benefits of incorporating peer-to-peer teaching in their curricular experiences. Finding ways to incorporate aspects of the model we have created would provide the necessary structure for a successful program.

References