Fostering STEM identity through storytelling: links to belonging, self-efficacy, classroom climate, and lab performance

This study explores how integrating an approach to storytelling, called contextualized storytelling, into the laboratory classroom may be related to students’ self-efficacy, sense of belonging, classroom climate, and lab performance. Contextualized storytelling is designed to help students connect academic content to their lived experiences through personalized narratives. Depending on the course learning outcomes, students shared their stories in written and multimodal formats. Using a mixed-methods case study design, data were collected from 105 first-year students enrolled in General Chemistry I and II through pre- and post-course surveys, storytelling artifacts, and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative findings revealed that storytelling reflection, scientific accuracy, and effort were significantly associated with higher levels of self-efficacy, and all three dimensions positively correlated with both story-based and traditional lab grades. Storytelling creativity also showed a modest positive relationship with students’ perceived improvement in disciplinary belonging. A t -test revealed that women scored significantly higher than men in scientific accuracy and storytelling grades, suggesting gender-based differences in narrative engagement. In addition, while General Chemistry II students achieved higher academic outcomes overall, General Chemistry I students demonstrated stronger personal connections in their storytelling, pointing to distinct affective engagement across courses. Interview data identified effort, personal connection, and group sharing as the storytelling features students found most meaningful to their learning. Together, these results suggest that storytelling connects academic engagement, reflective thinking, and STEM identity development while contributing to inclusive and supportive learning environments. This research offers practical guidance for post-secondary instructors aiming to enhance assessment quality and student connection through narrative-based pedagogy.