Overview of Sfaz S STEM Club Initiative

STEM CLUB REPORT

Fall 2014

Overview of SFAz’s STEM Club Initiative:

Three years ago, defining STEM clubs as “any gathering of students that meets regularly in an informal environment to work on inquiry-based STEM related activities,” Science Foundation Arizona piloted STEM clubs in eleven schools. What we learned from these efforts was that there was an interest in STEM clubs across the state and that STEM clubs opened up possibilities that other types of specialized clubs, such as full robotics clubs, did not. Unlike these specialized clubs, STEM clubs appealed to all grade levels, especially K-8, and they allowed teachers and students to adjust the level and focus of the club in order to meet student needs and interests. With this knowledge in hand, we set out to develop a STEM club model that could be replicated on a large scale. To begin this process, during the past two years, SFAz has facilitated two statewide STEM Club conferences, coordinated the creation of an online STEM Club Guide, provided seed funding for 187 STEM Clubs, and helped to network almost 200 STEM clubs across the state. These efforts have directly impacted approximately 2000 students, and the momentum surrounding these efforts is growing rapidly.

STEM Club Guide:

During the spring 2012, SFAZ partnered with the Arizona Science Center, the Arizona Department of Education, Rio Salado College, and Arizona State University to develop an online STEM Club Guide.

This Guide …

Provides users with a clear understanding of shared characteristics, attributes and benefits of STEM Clubs.
Can be used by teachers andadministrators to support the process of setting up a STEM Club or improve an existing club.
Can be used by potential funders and industry representatives to assess the viability of STEM Clubs and learn ways to support the efforts of these clubs.
Serves as a link to the Arizona STEM Club Network, which will provide a way to share information andresources with STEM Clubs around the state.

The STEM Club Guide can be found under “STEM Tools & Resources” on the Arizona STEM Network at

Arizona’s Annual STEM Club Conference:

For the past two years, SFAz has hosted a statewide STEM Club Conference in Phoenix each summer. These conferences were free to all public schools in Arizona with each interested school able to send two representatives to this event, where they were able to:

Choose from breakout sessions on topics such as Project Based Learning, Increasing STEM Interest in Girls and Minorities, STEM and the Arts, and many more,
Learn from existing STEM Clubs how and why they started their clubs, how these clubs operate, and what their benefits and challenges have been, and
Explore products and activities ranging from robotics to distance learning activities suited for incorporating STEM into schools both in clubs and into classrooms.
Be introduced to the SFAz online STEM Club Guide and Network and be invited to apply for a small amount of seed funding to help them to start and/or expand a STEM Club at their school.

The 1st Conference was help in July 2013, was attended by120+ educators from 90+ schools in 9 counties, and resulted in 69 clubs receiving seed funding of approximately $750 each. The 2nd Conference was held in June 2014, was attended by220+ educators from 150+ schools in 13 counties, and resulted in118 clubs receiving seed funding ranging from $500-$700 each.

SFAz STEM Clubs:

2013-2014 / 2014-2015 / % Change
# Clubs Funded / 69 / 118 / +71%
# Expanding Clubs / N/A / 40% / N/A
# New Clubs / 100% / 60% / N/A
# Counties Reached / 9 / 12 / +33%
# Students Impacted(estimate) / 1000 / 2000 / +100%

Impact of SFAz STEM Clubs:

While comprehensive data for the first full year of the program is currently being analyzed the following anecdotal evidence of impact has been observed during the past three years:

Interest in STEM Clubs is high as evidenced by the dramatic 83% increase in the number of participants attending the 2nd Annual STEM Club Conference and the 71% increase in the number of clubs signing up to be part of the network from 2013-2014 to 2014-2015, all of this with no additional marketing of the program.
Teachers have found the program to be very beneficial as evidenced by the dozens of personal thank you notes received from them during the first year, their interest in continuing their clubs, and their ongoing requests for additional STEM Club collaboration.
Students involved in the clubs are gaining exposure to a wide variety of STEM activities, careers, and skills as evidenced by the types of programs schools have incorporated into their STEM Club activities to date.

In addition,during the 2012-2013 school year students in participating STEM clubs were given a pre and post survey to measure their interest and confidence in math, science, and engineering & technology. Baseline pre and post surveys have been received from over 400 students and are currently being evaluated, and plans are being developed to complete a more comprehensive multi-year evaluation of the program in the future.

STEM Clubs by Grade Level:

During the first two years of full implementation of STEM Clubs we have seen a dramatic increase in interest at the elementary and middle school levels and a drop in interest at the high school level.

Focus / # Clubs 2013-2014 / # Clubs 2014-2015*
Elementary School / 31 / 70
Elementary/Middle School / 2 / 0
Middle School / 19 / 36
Middle School/High School / 1 / 3
High School / 16 / 9
Total Clubs / 69 / 118

STEM Clubs by Focus

STEM Clubs by County:

After the startup of clubs in 2014-2015 all but three of the counties in Arizona haveactive STEM clubs and these clubs are connected through the STEM Club Network. Approximately 50% of the clubs each year have been in Maricopa County with the remaining clubs split between the other participating counties.

County / # Clubs
2013-2014 / # Clubs
2014-2015
Apache / 1 / 4
Cochise / 0 / 5
Coconino / 5 / 1
Gila / 2 / 1
Graham / 0 / 1
Greenlee / 0 / 0
La Paz / 0 / 0
Maricopa / 34 / 60
Mohave / 3 / 4
Navajo / 0 / 1
Pima / 14 / 18
Pinal / 3 / 6
Santa Cruz / 0 / 0
Yavapai / 3 / 11
Yuma / 4 / 6
Total Clubs / 69 / 118

Future Plans for SFAz’s STEM Club Initiative:

Expand the use of the online network to connect all STEM clubs in Arizona,
Expand collaboration activities for all STEM clubs across Arizona,
Complete a comprehensive evaluation on the impact of the clubs for 2013-2015,
Begin planning for 3rd Annual STEM Club Conference to be held in June 2015,
Explore various avenues to expand the clubs including expanding to encompass specialized areas of interest, grade-levels, and funding opportunities,
Share the lessons learned from three years of Science Foundation Arizona’s STEM Clubs efforts through print, electronic medium, social media, and presentations to help expand the reach and sustainability of these efforts.

Science Foundation Arizona

400 E. Van Buren Street, Suite 200,

Phoenix, AZ 85004

602-682-2800