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Students entering microbiology laboratories often have limited experience with fundamental laboratory techniques, making it difficult to simultaneously develop technical proficiency and conceptual understanding. Informal STEM learning environments provide opportunities for authentic, hands-on scientific experiences that complement traditional classroom instruction; however, quantitative assessments of laboratory skill development within these settings remain limited. This study investigated whether inexpensive, scaffolded, analogy-based laboratory activities improved laboratory competency among participants in the Agricultural Microbiome Program (AMP), a five-day informal agricultural microbiology program for rising ninth- and tenth-grade students. Laboratory techniques were introduced through scaffolded activities designed to reinforce underlying concepts before students worked with biological materials. For example, students practiced quadrant streaking using paintbrushes, paint, and ethanol to model aseptic technique and microbial dilution before streaking bacterial cultures for single-colony isolation. Similar scaffolded activities supported pipetting, Gram staining, and microscope use through repeated guided practice before authentic laboratory application. Laboratory competencies were assessed before and after instruction using standardized instructor-completed performance rubrics developed by the AMP educational team and reviewed by the scientific team. Students demonstrated significant improvements across all assessed laboratory competencies. Mean proficiency increased from 2.41 to 3.55 for pipetting, 2.05 to 3.27 for quadrant streaking, 2.23 to 3.64 for Gram staining, and 1.95 to 3.59 for microscope use (all p < 0.001). An overall laboratory competency score, calculated as the mean of all assessed laboratory skills, also increased significantly from 2.28 to 3.46 (p < 0.001). These findings demonstrate that scaffolded, analogy-based instruction within an informal STEM learning environment can effectively prepare novice learners for authentic microbiology laboratory practice. By allowing students to build procedural competency before handling biological samples, this instructional approach provides an adaptable, evidence-based strategy that can be readily adopted in informal outreach programs, secondary classrooms, and introductory undergraduate microbiology laboratories.
