Evaluation of Sparticl STEM Website for Teens

Produced by Twin Cities Public Television, St. Paul, MN, and supported by 3M, Sparticl is a free web and mobile service intended for teens but open to all. For Sparticl, experts have curated existing web videos, games, articles and activities to provide a digital library representing the very best in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. For the evaluation of Sparticl, Multimedia Research recruited 64 eighth graders from six states to explore Sparticl for a minimum of two hours. Teens experienced a broad expanse of what website has to offer, a wide range of content categories and resource media types. Teens enjoyed exploring Sparticl because of the range of information available, the ease of use and the variety of learning formats, particularly the game format. However, they raised concerns about inoperable and/or slow external sites, issues of usability, and the limited range of topics. Four of ten teens described earning points as a motivational reward, and two of ten considered points to be fun or interesting; yet two of ten participants felt that they did not understand the purpose of points. Teens valued Sparticl. A majority of teens reported that they will return to the website either for help with a school project or topic or because the site provides interesting information. Most users, particularly the girls, were likely to recommend Sparticl to others. Teens valued Sparticl because it has pulled together the best STEM websites in one place, but some users also found the keyword search routine and limited resources to be a disadvantage. Teens shared Sparticl with others. Two-thirds of teens told friends or teachers about the site; and eight out of ten teens shared memorable Sparticl content with family and friends. Sparticl increased interest in and awareness of STEM careers. One-quarter of our teens increased their interest in STEM jobs or careers. Two-thirds of participants reported learning from Sparticl about STEM jobs or careers. Exposure to the website also raised teens’ awareness of the wide range of STEM fields and raised awareness of specific jobs within fields. Teens learned from Sparticl. All teens recalled content from at least one of the main Sparticl content categories, and half of the teens recalled at least one fact or described at least one cause, relationship or process from their Sparticl exploration. Number of resources explored related to higher recall in each category, and the resources of Earth & Space and Body & Brain were the most memorable. Girls were significantly more likely than boys to recall specifics from the categories of Body & Brain and Living Things. Additionally, using Sparticl broadened teens’ definition of science to include the concept that science is important. Sparticl sparked teens’ curiosity. Exposure to Sparticl resources increased the specificity of topics teens were curious about and increased their interest in topics. Half of the teens reported that their curiosities were sparked by something on Sparticl and that they would go to the website for answers to their questions. Sparticl changed how teens value science. After exposure to Sparticl, teens significantly increased their valuation of the importance of knowing and studying science and the utility of science in solving everyday problems. When asked for an example of how science, technology or engineering is valuable to society, four out of ten teens specifically referenced a Sparticl resource.

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