Background: Informal learning environments increase students' interest in STEM (e.g., Mohr-Schroeder et al. School Sci Math 114: 291-301, 2014) and increase the chances a student will pursue a STEM career (Kitchen et al. Sci Educ 102: 529-547, 2018). The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of an informal STEM summer learning experience…

Diversification of our country's science talent pool is critically needed and can only be achieved by stimulating interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) among students from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds. However, motivating, increasing the number, improving retention rates, and graduation rates of…

Much is known about high school students' attitudes towards science but there is almost no research on what passion for science might look like and how it might be manifested. This exploratory case study took advantage of a unique group of highly gifted science students participating in the Australian Science Olympiad (N = 69) to explore their…

Students (n=161) who attended high school summer science residencies at colleges were surveyed. Quotes from respondents are provided to illustrate the impact of the residency experience on their attitudes toward scientific work. Most participants reported at follow-up that they were studying or working in scientific fields, with no significant…