Poster Q17 - Heartwheels! STEM Mobile Outreach Program

Introduction: Participation in informal extracurricular STEM activities is one of the most significant factors driving a young person’s interest in a STEM career, especially when designed to be fun, experiential, voluntary, open-ended, and not graded, leading students and their families to develop impactful STEM-positive identities. Broadening and cultivating people from diverse backgrounds, environments, and institutions to participate in STEM activities is important, especially for those who may not receive encouragement or have access to STEM resources and educational opportunities. We created Heartwheels! STEM Mobile Outreach, an innovative experiential educational program designed as a portable version of our cardiovascular research laboratory to share with area schools and communities to engage young people in the cardiovascular sciences and technologies, stimulate analytical and critical thinking skills, promote heart-healthy living, and ignite interest in a future STEM career.

Materials and

Methods: Heartwheels! STEM Mobile Outreach engages participants through applied, hands-on, interactive activities with pig heart dissection and mock flow loops (science), medical devices (technology), instrumentation and sensors (engineering), and calibration and validation methods and models (math). Learning objectives include understanding cardiovascular anatomy and physiology, advanced technologies and emerging medical devices, and the benefits of a heart healthy lifestyle that helps participants envision themselves succeeding in rewarding STEM careers. At the conclusion of each Heartwheels! event, participants complete an anonymous evaluation to share their feedback on the quality of their experience using a 1-5 rating scale (1=poor, 5=excellent) with space for open-ended comments. This feedback enables us to iteratively refine and improve participant experience for future events.

Results, Conclusions, and Discussions: Approximately 9,990 attendees of all ages and backgrounds have participated in 39 Heartwheels! events, ranging from small groups of nine students to 1,500+ children and their families at high foot traffic events held in partnership with the Kentucky Science Center (KYSC, Louisville KY). Nineteen events took place in the authors’ research laboratory at the University of Louisville, eighteen at outreach locations (high schools, KYSC), and two virtually. Hands-on activities including manipulating mock flow loops to change pressures and flows in real-time, assembly and disassembly of anatomical heart models, and interaction with clinical cardiovascular devices, were well-received by participants and their families. Results from participant evaluations included, “This was a fun educational experience” (mean 4.6 ± 0.6), “I learned new things” (4.9 ± 0.3), “I got to see and interact with cool things” (4.7 ± 0.9), “This event should be held again for future participants” (4.8 ± 0.4), and “I’d like to have a STEM job someday” (4.8 ± 0.6). Key takeaways from their open-ended responses emphasized “educational” and “interactive”, that they liked the hands-on aspects, and that they had fun, and this was regardless of the age, educational level, or experience of the participant.

The ultimate goal of Heartwheels! is to make connections: 1) Connect fun and meaningful cardiovascular-based STEM experiential experiences (that might otherwise only exist inside a research laboratory or industry facility) with participants of all ages, experiences, and backgrounds, including those from underrepresented and underserved rural and inner-city communities. This is of particular importance within the state of Kentucky, which has a poverty rate 44% higher than the US average and has been ranked as the 8th least educated state. 2) Connect participant evaluation and assessment back into the STEM curricula to continuously improve and advance the effectiveness of future Heartwheels! events. 3) Connect and attract participants, who may otherwise have never had exposure to STEM activities, to foster newfound interest, confidence, and excitement in considering a future STEM career, as STEM literacy is critical to enhancing individuals, families, society, and the future workforce.

Acknowledgements (Optional): Heartwheels! STEM Mobile Outreach is supported in part by a grant from the NSF KY EPSCoR EOC program and a Kentucky Academy of Science Athey Science Education and Outreach Grant.