For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST)

The ultimate goal that FIRST strives for is an increase in the likelihood of FIRST participants declaring a science or technology related major in college and entering into the STEM workforce.

The short to medium-term outcomes to reach this goal include:
1.Increase in the # of students interested in STEM.
2.Increased awareness of the role of STEM in the world.
3.Increase in 21st century work/life skills (team work, problem solving, critical thinking)
4.Exposure to FIRST values (Gracious Professionalism, Coopertition).
5.Increased applied knowledge or application of STEM concepts.
6.Increased awareness of STEM careers.
7.Increased feeling of connected ness to an adult/mentor/coach.
8.Greater educational aspirations (desire to get good grades, take challenging courses, finish
high school) and school engagement.
9.Increased STEM self- efficacy.
10.Increased interest in having a STEM career.
11.Increased likelihood to consider college for any major.
12.Increased access to college scholarships (FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition).
13.Increased access to part time or summer jobs in STEM and STEM internships (FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition).
14.Integration of the values of Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition® in work/life.
15.Increased team building and celebration of achievements in science, technology, engineering and math.

The current FIRST strategic plan outlines the following goals: By 2017, we envision close to 4,500 FIRST Robotics Competition teams, 6,000 FIRST Tech Challenge teams, 20,000 FIRST LEGO League teams, and 14,000 FIRST LEGO League Jr. teams reaching approximately 450,000 students in that year alone.

Strategies incorporated in FIRST to encourage advanced STEM education include:
-Providing activities that focus on real life problems and issues that have relevance to students: Providing activities that mirror real life problems and that are important to students promotes STEM interest.
-Hands-On Activities: Hands on activities, relevant topics and cooperative learning strategies increases student's engagement.
-Mentors: Providing mentors in STEM who can model what professionals do may increase interest in the field. The likelihood to pursue a STEM degree increases when combining hands-on science experiences with mentorship.
-Group learning/Teams: Cooperative learning (learning in groups) provides emotional bonding that can result in greater commitment to group goals, feelings of responsibility, willingness to take on difficult tasks, increased motivation, satisfaction and morale, willingness to listen to group members, and productivity.
-Intention to major in STEM: Student intention to major in STEM while in high school may be a stronger predictor of successful earning of STEM degrees than GPA or SAT
-Combination of Factors: Opportunity for success may increase when a program combines hands on learning, mentoring, and teamwork focused on a group goal. Students who participate in FIRST are likely to have positive short term outcomes; the more one participates in FIRST (program progression, length of time), the greater likelihood of longer lasting, positive impact.

These strategies are incorporated into each of the four programs provided by FIRST. Research suggests that each of the factors on their own increases the chances that students will become interested in STEM. Combining strategies may further increase the likelihood that students will gain an interest in STEM, and over time, result in an intention to go on to post-secondary education and training in STEM.

The need for inspiring today's youth to pursue education and career fields in STEM are well documented by many sources. FIRST addresses this need in a unique way by giving students an opportunity to learn while doing. FIRST programs are designed to offer students in K-12 a progression where they become engaged at an early age. FIRST believes that the key to increasing the number of young people entering science and technology careers is to reach them directly through our programs.

Since its inception in 1989, FIRST has impacted hundreds of thousands of students and the growth and reach continues as we scale up our capacity to serve more students. The current FIRST strategic plan outlines the following goals: By 2017, we envision close to 4,500 FIRST Robotics Competition teams, 6,000 FIRST Tech Challenge teams, 20,000 FIRST LEGO League teams, and 14,000 FIRST LEGO League Jr. teams. Extending the FIRST experience to many more students throughout their school careers will make a tremendous difference in their lives, their schools, and the standing of the U.S. within the global community of scientists and educators.

Measuring Impact: FIRST® and Brandeis University have launched a multi-year longitudinal study of three of FIRST's
major programs: the FIRST® LEGO® League, FIRST® Tech Challenge and FIRST® Robotics Competition Programs. The goal
of the study is to provide needed data on the long-term impacts of FIRST programs on key outcomes, including student interest in science and technology, college-going, STEM majors, STEM careers, and practical life and workplace skills (communications, teamwork, problem-solving, etc.).
The study is also designed to help answer questions about what elements of the FIRST program experience are particularly important. The FIRST Longitudinal Study represents a unique opportunity to document the longer-term impacts of FIRST on the interests, attitudes, and decisions of participating youth. The study will allow FIRST to learn more about the impacts of the individual programs, the progression of youth through different programs, and the degree to which FIRST experiences in middle and high school affect the choice of major and career in college. It is hoped that the study will provide the evidence that FIRST needs to support its continued growth and to gain recognition as one of the premier STEM-related programs in the country.

FIRST began collaborating with colleges, universities, professional associations and corporations in 2002 to offer college scholarships to participants of FIRST programs. This is official recognition of the knowledge and technical and life skills these students have gained from participating in a FIRST competition. The program has grown tremendously through the years, and for 2016, we now have over 130 confirmed scholarship providers that are making available almost 900 individual scholarship opportunities with a total value of more than $29,000,000.

The long-term outcomes on students who participate in FIRST include:
-Science and technology education and career path included in future “consideration set"
-Increased likelihood and success in any career a student chooses, including one in science and technology
-Increased likelihood of success in science and technology education and careers
-Increased technological literacy