NEW DIRECTIONS FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, NO. 105, SPRING 2005 © WILEY PERIODICALS, INC. 121 Experience sampling methodology was used to mea- sure engagement during the after-school hours. Experiences that combined high levels of intrinsic motivation with concerted effort and enjoyment were more likely at after-school programs than elsewhere. 7 Activities, engagement, and emotion in after-school programs (and elsewhere) Deborah Lowe Vandell, David J. Shernoff, Kim M. Pierce, Daniel M. Bolt, Kimberly Dadisman, B. Bradford Brown EXPERIENCES THAT ARE deeply engaging and enjoyable, engender full concentration, and present a balance between challenge and skill propel or push development forward. 1 For the past twenty years, researchers have sought to locate environments in which this combination of effort, skill, interest, and enjoyment is more likely. In one study of white middle-class youth, for example, Larson com- pared adolescents’ experiences at school, at home, and during struc- tured voluntary activities (organized sports and community service, for example) and found that these settings differed markedly. 2 Dur- ing classwork and homework, adolescents reported high levels of concentration and challenge but low levels of intrinsic motivation. While watching television and while hanging out with friends, students reported low concentration and effort but high intrinsic