Encouraging STEM Engagement among young people is important as demand for STEM skills grows. However, schools face shortages of STEM teachers, limiting their ability to provide STEM education. To promote STEM participation, an educational kit is needed for extra-curricular use by youth organizations for 14-19 year olds. Research found current products have problems and many youth do not engage in STEM activities. The proposed kit aims to address these issues.

1. ENCOURAGING STEM ENGAGEMENT
As demand for STEM skills continues to
grow, encouraging young people to actively en-
gage in this area of education is becoming more
of a concern. Schools throughout the UK are
currently facing a shortage of highly qualified
science and mathematics teachers and as a result
this severely reduces their ability to provide the
government required STEM teaching. To pro-
mote and encourage STEM participation amongst
young learners there is a need to develop a STEM-based educational kit which can
be used in extra-curricular environments such as Young Engineer’s clubs, Scouts,
Guides and other youth organisations. The development of such a resource will be
aimed at 14-19 year olds as this is a critical stage in educational decisions and this
age group is not well catered for with current products available.
PROBLEMPROBLEM
MET
H
ODOLOGY
The research stage of the project has included;
• A literature review
• Case studies of comparable situations
• Focus group testing activities
• Two questionnaires with analysed findings
• Interviews with experts and people involved in this sector,
including teachers, institutions and Science Connects
• Competitor analysis
Key outcomes from this section are stated in the facts below
and research is demonstrated through the pictures to the left.
RESEARCH
CONCEPT GENERATION
• Analyse evaluation recieved from teaching professional with regard to difficulty levels and
linking the product with the cirriculum.
• Develop the product with attention to Design for Manufacture and Design for Modular Construction
• Consider a wider range of concepts from further generation before evaluating and choosing final de-
sign
• Consider sustainability issues surrounding the design, both in terms of use and recycling/re-using
NEXT STEPS
Kerrie Noble 5th Year Product Design Engineering (MEng) 200948192 DM500: Individual Project 2 Email: kerrie.noble.2013@uni.strath.ac.uk Suervisor: Professor Yi Qin
STEM graduates accounted for 10%
of all graduates in the UK in 2009.
(European Commission, 2011)
2% of young people in scouts will
achieve a STEM related activity
badge.
77% of leaders surveyed spend be-
tween 0-1 hours running STEM relat-
ed activities.
Broken components and limit-
ed use are the main problems
with current products.
46% of young people stop stud-
ying STEM subjects because they
loose interest or find it too difficult.
83% of young people surveyed
stated they had never completed a
STEM activity as part of a group.
Concept Generation activities included;
• Focus group with explorer scouts
• Visit to Glasgow Science Centre
• Word generation activity with female S3 students