POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE OF NEW YORK UNIVERSITY Figure 8. Prof. Porfiri, high school student Andrew Chen, and student participants discuss the design of robotic fish. Results of the Program Students were given two surveys, one several days before participating in the activity (preassessment) and one immediately after (postassessment). An image of the preassessment given before the activity is shown in Figure 9. The preassessment is partitioned into two sections (fill-in-the-blank questions and statements S1-S7) with which students must rate their agreement. The postassessment includes fill-in-the-blank questions and statements S1-S7 as well as statements S8-S10, reported in the caption of Figure 10, and a drawing component. The surveys are intended to analyze the students' notion/understanding of engineering professions, their interest in STEM careers, and the feasibility of these careers to them. The fill-in-the-blank questions ask for basic demographic information (the student's school and grade) as Dear Student, We would like to hear from you before we meet you at the New York Aquarium. We will use your input in evaluating our program in comparison to similar activities outside Brooklyn and all over the United States. Thanks for helping us! Professor Porfiri and the Dynamical Systems Laboratory 1. What school do you go to? 2. What grade are you in? 3. What is your favorite subject in school? 4. What's your favorite marine animal? 5. What do you want to be when you grow up? 6. What is one thing engineers do? Check one box for each statement to show how much you agree or disagree. Statements Engineering is fun. Engineers are cool. I know many engineers. Many kids in my class could become engineers. Engineering is important for the future of our world. Engineers don't need to know much about nature. I want to be an engineer when I grow up. Agree a lot Agree Disagree Disagree a lot Figure 9. An assessment completed by students before participating in the activity, with statements S1-S7 appearing in a table format. 36 * IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE * june 2013