Abstract
For decades, school students in the West have shown lower levels of interest in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math) than in humanities, arts, finance or the media. But STEM competencies are increasingly in demand in modern societies. A Danish project, Future Learning Lab (FUF), conducted by two Danish ministries in concert with the Katafonden foundation and the Nynaturfag.dk project, aims to find ways to close this STEM gap. The goal is to create both (1) increased student motivation for STEM subjects and (2) better STEM teaching and learning. Recently a number of classes of Danish school students tested a new FUF learning lab designed to meet these goals. Researchers measured student flow during the test period, using ESM (Experience Sampling Method) in combination with observations and interviews. The research found high levels of student flow during the test period, and pointed to the following FUF characteristics as likely causes of the high flow levels detected in the experiment: (1) increased scope for hands-on activities, (2) increased use of open-ended experiments, (3) increased scope for working in groups, (4) increased scope for open internet search, and (5) increased scope for wild “myth buster” STEM activities engendering a (feeling of) lack of control.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow—the psychology of optimal experience. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2003). Good business—leadership, flow and the making of meaning. New York: Hodder & Stoughton.
Egelund, N. (2010). PISA 2009 undersøgelsen—en sammenfatning [PISA 2009—an abbreviation]. Copenhagen: Danmarks Pædagogiske Universitetsforlag.
Egelund, N. (2013). PISA 2012 undersøgelsen—en sammenfatning. [PISA 2012—an abbreviation]. Copenhagen: KORA. Det Nationale Institut for Kommuners og Regioners Analyse og Forskning.
Engeser, S. (Ed.). (2012). Advances in flow research. New York: Springer.
Engeser, S., & Rheinberg, F. (2005). Motivation, Flow-Erleben und Lernleistung in universitären Lernsettings. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie/German Journal of Educational Psychology, 19(3), 259–172.
Engeser, S., & Rheinberg, F. (2008). Flow, performance and moderators of challenge-skill balance. New York: Springer Science+Business Media.
Hektner, J. M., Schmidt, J. A., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2007). Experience sampling method—measuring the quality of everyday life. New York: Sage Publications.
Kormi-Nouri, R., Nilsson, L.-G., & Ohta, N. (2005). The novelty effect: Support for the novelty-encoding hypothesis. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 46, 133–143.
Merit, S., & Nielsen, T. (2006). Vinderkoncepter. [Winner concepts]. Copenhagen: Børsens Forlag.
Rheinberg, F. (2004). Motivationsdiagnostik. Göttingen: Hogrefe.
Rheinberg, F., Vollmeyer, R., & Engeser, S. (2003). Die Erfassung des Flow-Erlebens. In Stiensmeier-Pelster & Rheinberg (Eds.), Diagnostik von Motivation und Selbstkonzept (pp. 261–279). Göttingen: Hogrefe.
Schreiner, C. (2006). Exploring a ROSE-garden; Norwegian youth’s orientations towards science – seen as signs of late modern identities. Doctoral thesis, University of Oslo, Faculty of Education, Olso.
Schreiner, C., & Sjøberg, S. (2004). Sowing the seeds of ROSE. Acta Didactica, no. 4. Oslo: University of Oslo.
Sølberg, J., & Troelsen, R. P. (2008). Et nuanceret billede af interesse for de naturvidenskabelige og teknologiske områder [A detailed picture of interest in scientific and technological fields]. In R.P. Troelsen, & J. Sølberg (Eds.), Den danske ROSE-undersøgelse—en antologi [The Danish Rose-survey—an anthology] (pp. 93–107). Aarhus University, Institut for Curriculumforskning, Danmarks Pædagogiske Universitetsskole.
Thiel, P. (2014). Zero to one. Notes on startups, or how to build the future. New York: Crown Business.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Andersen, F.Ø. (2016). Using ESM to Study Flow in a STEM Project. In: Harmat, L., Ørsted Andersen, F., Ullén, F., Wright, J., Sadlo, G. (eds) Flow Experience. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28634-1_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28634-1_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28632-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28634-1
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)