Important's of Postsecondary Matriculation school
Postsecondary matriculation is important for a young person’s future financial and social positioning. Matriculation can be attendance at a four-year institution, two-year program, or a trade school of some kind. Scores on standardized tests such as the SAT are often components of a student’s application to attend a postsecondary education institution.http://www.karthividhyalaya.com/ This is a follow up study to one in which students (n=35) from the same school attended a STEM summer camp. The STEM camp lasted 13 days and engaged students in project based learning activities 8 hours per day. Students attended classes on robotics, bridge building, solar power, and other challenging, informal learning activities. The results of that study found statistically significant gains for both reading and writing, although not for math. This study followed up with 27 of those students by obtaining their SAT scores and matriculation to postsecondary education data. Correlations between SAT and matriculation, confidence intervals for SAT results, and effect sizes are given. Further research recommendations are discussed.
Informal learning has been defined in many different ways. The definition applied in this paper emphasized learning that occurred outside the school setting, was voluntary in nature, and was developed separately from the school curriculum [8]. Informal learning programs originally developed out of concerns for improving school achievement, youth safety, and exposure to enrichment opportunities in the arts and sciences [9]. Activities that were classified as occuring in an informal setting could range from watching television or shopping in a mall to playing on a sports team or going to museums [10; 11]. The home was an important informal learning environment where parents could play an impactful role in the development of a child’s numeracy and literacy skills [12]. More structured informal learning environments consisted of museums, zoos, afterschool youth programs, clubs, and science media designed for learning [13] Reports have shown that these structured informal learning environments play an important role in students learning science 14; 11; 15; 16]. Click here.
Increasing the content knowledge of students by utilizing informal learning environments could be critical in addressing the issues of innovation and a STEM proficient workforce. Beyond learning content in informal learning environments there were affective benefits as well. The benefits of structured informal learning environments were more than cognitive. Field trips to science centers could generate in students enthusiasm and wonder that would not normally develop in the traditional classroom setting [17; 18]. Research has shown that motivation, attitude, and academic engagement play key roles in mathematics and science achievement [19; 20]. These experiences may also create an interest in the STEM disciplines, which had an impact on students deciding to pursue STEM as a career later in life [21]. Real world applications that were meaningful to students raised their interest in STEM [22], and these additional programs encouraged students to consider college majors in a STEM field [23]. The STEM subjects were traditionally male dominated, but these informal learning environments gave girls an opportunity to learn in these fields in a non-competitive setting [18]. Increasing student interest in and motivation to pursue STEM through informal learning opportunities could help address the issues of international competition and an under skilled domestic workforce.
