Preparing Future Teachers for STEM: The Mobile Making After-school Program

By: Alexandria Hansen, Ph.D., Associate Professor, California State University, Fresno
Myunghwan Shin, Ph.D., Associate Professor, California State University, Fresno
Amaya De Vore, M.S., STEM Educator, California State University, Fresno

Mobile Making facilitators work with Fresno students. Credit: Fresno State

A child’s early interest in science is essential. Without a passion for science ignited before middle school, children are significantly less likely to pursue science in higher education and to enter the science and engineering workforce (Tai, 2006). Unfortunately, within elementary schools across the United States, science is not taught as frequently as other content areas such as reading and mathematics (Banilower et al., 2018). One common reason that science is not prioritized within elementary classrooms is that teachers often report feeling underprepared to engage learners in science due to their own lack of interest or confidence in the subject (e.g., Nadelson et al., 2013). Due to the broad demands of elementary teaching, many teachers often earn undergraduate degrees in Liberal Arts or Education, pathways which typically require less science coursework when compared to other degree options. Fortunately, professional development programs that support elementary teachers in developing their own science understandings are shown to have a strong impact on their interest and confidence (e.g., Maeng, et al., 2020; Murphy & Mancini-Samuelson, 2012; Nadelson et al., 2013). These benefits can directly increase the amount of instructional time they dedicate to teaching science, leading to more exposure for youth.

As two Associate Professors of STEM Education focused on Teacher Education, alongside a dedicated graduate student, we have spent a great deal of our careers to date exploring ways to increase STEM teacher recruitment, retention, and persistence. In this post, we describe our efforts to support future elementary teachers in developing strong interest and confidence in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) through an innovative program called Mobile Making. The program provides training for college students to facilitate hands-on STEM projects with youth in after-school settings. Initially started as a pilot at one school in 2014 at California State University (CSU), San Marcos (Price et al., 2016), it has expanded to three other CSU campuses and served thousands of kids across California (Hansen et al., 2025). A unique feature of this program is that many of the college students who participate plan to become elementary school teachers. We have found a strong, positive impact on these future teachers’ interest and confidence in teaching STEM as a result of this experience. Following, we provide information about the program to assist others who are interested in starting similar initiatives to increase STEM teacher recruitment in their communities and document successes at our CSU campus, Fresno State, in particular.

Mobile Making Program Design

The Mobile Making program follows six design principles: (1) establish university-community partnerships, (2) leverage college students as diverse near-peer facilitators, (3) provide access to resources by bringing materials, tools, and expertise to program sites, (4) employ authentic activities that connect to youth’s everyday lives, (5) solicit ongoing input from youth participants and undergraduate facilitators, and (6) establish legitimacy within the community by embedding the program within the existing structures of the community and addressing local needs. See Price et al. (2023) for a detailed discussion of the design principles.

As this program has been scaled to four CSU campuses, the design principles remain consistent. In all cases, dedicated university faculty and staff have worked to develop partnerships with youth-serving organizations in the community. For example, we have partnered with traditional after-school programs run at local schools, libraries, and community centers such as the Boys & Girls Club. At each site, college students serve as near-peer mentors by bringing tools and materials to engage youth in authentic hands-on STEM projects. We continuously seek feedback from youth participants, college student facilitators, and community partners to improve the program over time, striving to establish legitimacy in the community by providing an effective and enjoyable program that sparks an early interest for youth, many of whom are underserved, in STEM.

At CSU San Marcos and Fresno State, specifically, the program runs through Service-Learning (SL) courses. SL courses embed opportunities for enrolled students to receive course credit for time spent working with a community partner (rather than hourly compensation). The community work must align with course outcomes and enhance the overall learning experience for students. This model ensures the program is sustainable after grant funding concludes. Rather than having to pay college students to visit community sites to facilitate activities with youth, we can offer course credit. The CSU system is a large proponent of SL courses, offering training and support for faculty who are interested in converting existing courses or designing new ones to use a SL model. In our work, one author (Hansen) designed a new SL course for STEM majors, while the other author (Shin) converted an existing course for Liberal Studies students into a SL course. Both courses have been successful in enrolling students, and we have plans to continue offering these courses for many years to come. While we both (Hansen and Shin) have an invested interest in STEM teacher preparation and were eager to take on the design and implementation of SL courses, designing new ones also fulfilled a requirement to earn tenure and promotion and can possibly be an incentive for faculty at other institutions to consider teaching similar courses for the betterment of STEM teacher preparation.

Inspiring Children with STEM-Rich Making Activities

Fresno State’s Mobile Making Program was designed to serve children from underserved communities. Participants include 4th to 6th grade students attending elementary schools within the Fresno Unified School District (FUSD), the third largest school district in California. FUSD students come from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, with the majority identifying as Latinx or Asian. Many are from low-income households and have limited access to STEM learning opportunities outside the standard curriculum. In response, our program aims to provide these children with meaningful exposure to STEM and create an environment where they can discover their potential. Since its launch in Fall 2022 in the Fresno area, the program has reached over 1,500 children across 10 elementary schools.

The Mobile Making Program offers hands-on activities that encourage creative problem solving and exploration. Rooted in a learner-centered, play-based approach known as “learning by making,” the program emphasizes experiential learning over rote instruction. Activities focus on experimentation, iteration, and inquiry, helping students build critical thinking and creative skills. College student facilitators served as mentors and collaborators, fostering a safe and supportive environment for youth to learn alongside their peers. These experiences also help both the college students and youth strengthen communication, collaboration, and teamwork skills in meaningful and authentic ways.

For example, students participated in a DIY flashlight activity where they learned about basic circuits and electrical flow. They connected batteries, wires, switches, and LEDs to build their own working flashlights, gaining hands-on experience with basic electronics. In another activity, students used motors, markers, and plastic cups to build scribble bots—robots that draw random patterns as they move—allowing them to explore concepts like vibration, balance, and structural stability.

They also engaged with Sphero BOLT+, a programmable spherical robot, using block-based coding to complete movement challenges and solve creative tasks. These “making” experiences deepened students’ STEM understanding while building confidence and a sense of agency as problem solvers and creators. The flashlight, scribble bot, and spherical robot are shown below.

Figure 1. From left to right: DIY Flashlight, Scribble Bot, and Sphero BOLT+

Engaging Future and Prospective Teachers

At Fresno State, the Mobile Making program and related SL courses engage two types of college students: (1) Liberal Studies majors with firm plans to become future elementary teachers after graduation, and (2) STEM majors with varied or unknown career aspirations. For the Liberal Studies students who do not take many STEM courses, the program provides opportunities to deepen their own STEM content knowledge and gain practice facilitating STEM projects with youth. For the STEM majors who have deeper content knowledge due to their coursework, the program provides opportunities for them to “try on” teaching as a potential career. This two-pronged approach is important: we are increasing the STEM interest and confidence of Liberal Studies students and allowing STEM students to consider teaching as a potential career.

For both groups of students, the SL courses and experiences facilitating the Mobile Making program are similar. They attend class sessions with faculty (the two authors of this post) to learn about effective teaching approaches for diverse groups of learners and practice the facilitation of STEM activities. They also visit after-school sites five times over the course of the semester to facilitate activities with youth. After each visit, students are required to complete field notes reflecting on their experiences working with youth, discuss their takeaways in larger class discussions, and complete an end-of-semester portfolio to reflect on their cumulative experience.

Positive Impacts

One way we evaluate the impact of these experiences on future and prospective teachers is through a pre/post survey. Across three semesters from 2022-2024, our program engaged 146 college students who consented to participate in our research. Surveys were administered at the beginning and end of each semester, seeking to measure changes in their interest and confidence in STEM, their confidence in teaching STEM disciplines, and their development of 21st century skills such as communication, collaboration, leadership, and problem-solving.

Analysis revealed statistically significant growth across all measured areas (See Figure 2). For example, students demonstrated notable gains in their confidence in teaching STEM, particularly engineering (Z = 7.73, p < .001), science (Z = 6.79, p < .001), and technology (Z = 6.31, p < .001). Interest and confidence in each individual STEM discipline also improved, with the highest gains observed for confidence in engineering (Z = 7.51, p < .001) and science (Z = 6.02, p < .001).

Students also reported significant growth in key 21st century skills. The largest improvements were seen in problem-solving (Z = 7.17, p < .001), followed by communication (Z = 6.69, p < .001), collaboration (Z = 5.42, p < .001), and leadership (Z = 4.51, p < .001). These findings suggest that participating in the Mobile Making program strengthened future and prospective teachers’ understanding and interest in STEM and fostered essential professional skills for their future careers.

Figure 2. Ranked Z-Scores

Conclusion

The Mobile Making program provides a unique opportunity for future and prospective teachers to increase their interest and confidence across individual STEM disciplines and their interest and confidence in teaching STEM. Simultaneously, the program provides important early and playful exposure to STEM for youth in underserved communities, potentially increasing their interest and confidence as well. Our program model is sustainable and can easily be adapted by universities and youth-serving organizations. By leveraging university-community partnerships, the Mobile Making program is creating positive change for both youth and the college student facilitators. Moreover, our ongoing research suggests that this program is strengthening and potentially increasing the number of future STEM teachers in classrooms today. For faculty interested in starting similar programs at their institutions, we recommend the following:

• Start small! Just one community partner (e.g., school, library) is enough to begin this work. Indeed, this approach allowed us to begin the work and scale over time as lessons were learned. Do not feel pressure to provide programming for an entire district or community at the beginning.
• Consider the Service-Learning course model. If you have tenure and promotion requirements to design new courses, this could be a perfect opportunity to fulfill that need. We strongly urge faculty to consider how a new course will help students meet graduation requirements to ensure consistent enrollment. In our work, Shin converted a required capstone course while Hansen designed a new Upper-Division elective that was quite unique from other STEM courses and attracts students due to its novelty.
• Use university resources. Many institutions have offices or staff dedicated to increasing community partnerships. Seek these resources out when starting community initiatives for contacts and support.
• Start with low-tech materials and activities. Many engaging STEM activities can be completed using simple materials such as cardboard, glue, and basic art supplies. Do not feel like you need high-tech tools (e.g., tablets, robotics equipment, 3D-printers) before working with youth.
• Document program growth and expansion over time and seek additional funding. We have been fortunate to receive funding from federal agencies and private corporations with a vested interested in growing STEM talent locally. By documenting our work, we have been able to apply for additional funding opportunities to support the purchasing of new tools and materials to use in our program across sectors.

Acknowledgments

The Mobile Making program is supported by the National Science Foundation (Awards #1423612, #1612775, #2215653, #2215656, #2215655, 2215654).

Alexandria Hansen, Ph.D., Associate Professor, California State University, Fresno
akhansen@csufresno.edu

Alexandria Hansen is an Associate Professor of STEM Education in the Department of Biology at California State University, Fresno. Her research investigates ways to broaden participation in K-16+ STEM across formal and informal spaces (e.g., museums, afterschool programs). Past research efforts include a focus on integrating technology in classroom in both the computer science and engineering disciplines, with a special focus on digital fabrication (or 3D-printing). Previously, she was a middle school science teacher in Los Angeles and enjoys teaching courses for future science teachers.

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Myunghwan Shin, Ph.D., Associate Professor, California State University, Fresno
mshin@mail.fresnostate.edu

Myunghwan Shin is an Associate Professor of STEM Education in the Department of Liberal Studies at California State University, Fresno. His research focuses on broadening participation in science and STEM education among children from underserved communities and designing inspiring, engaging, and equitable learning environments. He is also deeply involved in science and STEM teacher education, preparing future elementary and middle school teachers.

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Amaya De Vore, M.S., STEM Educator, California State University, Fresno
amayadevore@mail.fresnostate.edu

Amaya De Vore is a recent biology graduate from Fresno State with a passion for STEM education, equity, and community-based learning. Her master’s research explored how hands-on, service-learning experiences—like mobile making and outreach programs—impact college students’ confidence, interest in STEM, and development of 21st-century skills. Beginning in Fall 2025, she will be teaching Human Biology at a local community college in California’s Central Valley. Amaya hopes to continue her journey in higher education as a biology professor, helping students connect science to real-world issues and their own communities.