Fostering Secondary Students' STEM Career Awareness through IoT Hands-On Educational Activities: Experiences and Lessons Learned

摘要

This article reports on a research case study about raising the motivation of young boys and girls (14-16 years old) toward science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education to increase their prospects of choosing a relevant career. Using the Internet of Things (IoT) at the core of a design-based methodology, multiple implementations of IoT-oriented educational scenarios (ESs) were realized in different educational contexts. More than 150 secondary students and nine teachers, in seven different settings, were involved in an integrated educational framework with hands-on activities and teamwork. Using a concrete evaluation methodology exploiting both quantitative and qualitative data collected before, during, and after the interventions, we analyze the students' and teachers' experience to understand critical parameters and provide directions for successful ESs. Our findings show that the IoTbased ES realizations were successful overall and enhanced STEM career awareness and skills, with boys showing greater appreciation than girls. Different ES timeframes resulted in different conclusions, while proper organization and preparation in all aspects involved in the realization are critical.