Cyber Value and Interest Development: Assessment of a STEM Career Intervention for High School Students

Abstract

The authors empirically examine theeffectiveness of an intervention program designed to facilitate interest incyber science among high school students (N= 60). Pretest-posttest and mediation designs were used to model self-reportdata that were collected at precamp, during a cyber-related task at midcamp,and at postcamp. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed a significanttwo-way interaction whereby perceived value of cyber science increased frompretest to posttest for girls but decreased for boys. Situational interest wasalso found to mediate the relationship between Investigative vocationalinterest type and cyber self-efficacy. Implications for future cyberintervention programs as well as areas of additional research are discussed