More than just the facts: Contributions of subject matter experts to out-of-school time youth programs

Library staff can boost the quality of STEM learning experiences by partnering with SMEs. Purpose: Subject matter experts (SME) contribute more than just their expertise. Between 2018 and 2019, a group of diverse professional engineers and librarians co-facilitated engineering activities at six U.S. libraries serving traditionally underserved populations.

This study investigates the alignment in active learning preferences between youth, library staff, and professional engineer volunteers.

Method

The study's design implemented the Framework for the Observation and Categorization of Instructional Strategies (FOCIS), which identifies seven different types of learning activities: collaborating, competing, performing, discovering, making, teaching, and caretaking. The FOCIS helped researchers evaluate the learning activity preferences of youth participants, engineers, and librarians. Results: The analysis showed that the learning activity preferences of youth and engineers were much more closely aligned than those of librarians.

Conclusions: Alignment between youth-program participants and SME program facilitators has the potential to enrich the program experience and foster active engagement.