Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education, Michigan State University, Erickson Hall, 620 Farm Lane Rm. 447, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
Afterschool and Youth Development, American Institutes for Research, 1120 E. Diehl Road, Suite 200, Naperville, IL, 60563, USA.
J Youth Adolesc. 2018 Jun;47(6):1178-1191. doi: 10.1007/s10964-018-0814-9. Epub 2018 Jan 22.
Out-of-school time programs focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) have proliferated recently because they are seen as having potential to appeal to youth and enhance STEM interest. Although such programs are not mandatory, youth are not always involved in making the choice about their participation and it is unclear whether youth's involvement in the choice to attend impacts their program experiences. Using data collected from experience sampling, traditional surveys, and video recordings, we explore relationships among youth's choice to attend out-of-school time programs (measured through a pre-survey) and their experience of affect (i.e., youth experience sampling ratings of happiness and excitement) and engagement (i.e., youth experience sampling ratings of concentration and effort) during program activities. Data were collected from a racially and ethnically diverse sample of 10-16 year old youth (n = 203; 50% female) enrolled in nine different summer STEM programs targeting underserved youth. Multilevel analysis indicated that choice and affect are independently and positively associated with momentary engagement. Though choice to enroll was a significant predictor of momentary engagement, positive affective experiences during the program may compensate for any decrements to engagement associated with lack of choice. Together, these findings have implications for researchers, parents, and educators and administrators of out-of-school time programming.
课外时间的科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）项目最近大量涌现，因为它们被认为具有吸引年轻人并增强 STEM 兴趣的潜力。尽管这些项目不是强制性的，但年轻人并不总是参与选择参加，也不清楚年轻人参与选择参加是否会影响他们的项目体验。我们使用经验抽样、传统调查和视频记录收集的数据，探讨了课外时间项目（通过预调查衡量）的选择与年轻人的情感体验（即，年轻人对快乐和兴奋的经验抽样评价）和参与度（即，年轻人对注意力和努力的经验抽样评价）之间的关系。数据来自一个种族和民族多样化的 10-16 岁青少年样本（n=203；50%为女性），他们参加了针对服务不足的年轻人的九个不同的暑期 STEM 项目。多层次分析表明，选择和情感与即时参与独立且呈正相关。虽然参加的选择是即时参与的重要预测因素，但项目期间的积极情感体验可能会弥补与缺乏选择相关的任何参与度下降。总的来说，这些发现对研究人员、家长以及课外时间项目的教育者和管理者具有重要意义。
