Abstract
This innovative practice category full paper contains the outline of an upper elementary grade afterschool STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) extra-curricular activity (STEM Club) in which the students learn how to design and build a situation sensing robot like the Mars Rover. The participants (n = 40) in this study will be fourth-grade students from a low socio-economic elementary school. These students will participate in seven, one-hour long, weekly-STEM Club sessions led by STEM professionals from a Tier one research university. The experimental group will participate in hands-on STEM activities situated in a real-world context with microcontrollers, sensors, motors, and other electric and electronic robotic components. Additionally, this group will focus on the basics of coding, algorithmic thinking, situation sensing, and human-robot interaction. The experimental group will design, build, and test a situation-sensing robot while the control group will develop an online game. All students will complete pre-and post-test surveys to measure their change in perceptions and attitudes toward STEM academics and career paths change in their engineering identity.