Out‐of‐school‐time programs for youth that are focused on STEM content are often seen as affording opportunities to increase youth engagement, interest, and knowledge in STEM domains, yet we know relatively little about how youth actually experience such programs. In this article, we explore how experiences and activities employed in the delivery of summer STEM programs are associated with youth engagement during programming, and whether youth characteristics moderate these relationships. Data were collected from 203 youth (ages 10–16) in nine summer programs using multiple methods including video, experience sampling, and surveys. Through the use of cross‐classified, multi‐level models, we found that youth reported higher engagement in program activities they perceived to be more challenging and relevant, and in activities, they perceived to have more affordances for learning or developing skills. Gender moderated these relationships such that the positive relationships observed among males were muted or nonexistent for girls. We further identify that program activities are differently associated with fostering challenge, relevance, and learning. Findings have implications for out‐of‐school STEM programming for youth.

中文翻译：

---

经验，活动和个人特征是参与以STEM为重点的夏季计划的预测指标

经常将针对STEM内容的针对年轻人的课外计划看作是提供机会，以提高年轻人在STEM领域的参与度，兴趣和知识，但是我们对年轻人如何实际体验此类计划知之甚少。在本文中，我们探讨了在夏季STEM计划的交付中使用的经验和活动如何与编程期间的青年参与相关联，以及青年特征是否缓和了这些关系。使用多种方法（包括视频，经验抽样和调查）从九个夏季计划的203名青年（10至16岁）中收集了数据。通过使用交叉分类的多层次模型，我们发现青年报告称他们对自己认为更具挑战性和相关性的计划活动以及活动的参与度更高，他们认为自己有更多的学习或发展技能的能力。性别调节了这些关系，以致于男性中观察到的积极关系对于女孩而言是无声的或不存在的。我们进一步发现，计划活动与促进挑战，相关性和学习有不同的关联。研究结果对青少年的校外STEM编程有影响。