California State University, Bakersfield Fab Lab: 'Making' a Difference in Middle School Students' STEM Attitudes

The Fab Lab at California State University, Bakersfield provided a 1-week, half-day summer program for local area middle school students. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect this summer program had on their attitudes towards science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The theoretical framework used for this study was based on Bandura’s (1977) self-efficacy theory. Self-efficacy, or one’s belief in his or her ability to perform behaviors necessary to produce specific achievements, increases as a result of the self-guided learning. Results of the paired t-tests show a marked difference between male and female 2016 participants (n= 49) and 2017 participants (n=31). Of the 2016 participants, significance was found on overall attitudes within the engineering and technology subset (one area), male attitudes within the math, science, and engineering and technology subset (five areas), and female attitudes within the math subset (one area). The results of the 2017 program also show statistical significance in the engineering and technology subset overall, one area in the math subset for males, and three areas of science for females.