STEM Courses Research Articles

Studying the affordances of a technology-based nanoscience module to promote student engagement in learning novel nanoscience and nanotechnology concepts at the middle school level

ABSTRACT Background Nanotechnology, a multidisciplinary field with increasing societal importance, demands for an increase in research abilities and capacities. Yet, nanoscience and nanotechnology (NST) are largely inaccessible to K-12 students. This situation demands efforts in research towards bringing NST learning into K-12 classrooms. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the outcomes of an application-based nanotechnology module, developed for late middle school students. The study focused on exploring student readiness to unpack unfamiliar NST concepts, and the effects engagement with NST had on student attitudes towards STEM subjects. Purpose Participants included a total of three science teachers and 169, grade 8 and 9 students from two public school districts from a northeastern state of the USA over two years. Data was collected and used from students who consented for the study. Design and Methods The NST learning module was developed in three phases, beginning with an introductory session to discuss module content and design. We then designed a module for implementation. Drawing from results from the pilot module and teacher inputs, we revised the pilot module for this study. Surveys, content questionnaires, student reflections, and classroom videos were collected for analysis. Results Students demonstrated conceptual understanding of the working of the AFM after working closely with the tool. Our data highlights students’ readiness to unpack unfamiliar NST concepts. Despite no significant changes, we noticed increases in students’ attitudes towards STEM subjects and careers, and an increase in the number of students who plan to take advanced STEM courses. Conclusion Based on our results, we suggest the use of technology-based experiences to introduce novel ideas of NST as early as eighth grade. The technology-based approach created a new space for contextualized learning. Working with teachers is critical to creating new teaching-learning experiences for K-12 learning, especially in the context of NST.

Virtual escape room and STEM content: Effects on the affective domain on teacher trainess

In recent times, there has been growing disinterest by students in STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). This trend is especially acute in those students who do not take STEM content during their secondary or high school education. This disinterest might be conditioned by negative emotions towards science developed by students during the different educational stages, even from an early age. In this sense, active teaching methodologies, such as gamification, play a fundamental role in fostering positive emotions towards learning STEM content. Within the wide range of gamification methodologies, we find educational Escape Rooms. Due to the current situation generated by COVID-19, many of the lessons have had to be adapted to a virtual format through various online platforms. In this study, in a preliminary manner, we aim to analyze the effects on the affective domain produced by a virtual Escape Room used in a STEM course as an instructional tool to teach contents about the Universe to teachers in training. According to the results obtained, the positive emotions of “happiness”, “satisfaction” and “fun” are significantly increased after the intervention. At the same time, some negative emotions, such as “nervousness”, “frustration” and “worry” also increase, partly due to the components typically found in this type of games. Based on these results, it is concluded that, despite the existence of both positive and negative emotions, the results are promising and the intervention is motivating and stimulating for the students.

Motivation, pedagogy, and gender: examining the multifaceted and dynamic situational responses of women and men in college STEM courses

BackgroundResearch illustrates that student motivations influence learning engagement, persistence, and achievement in powerful ways and that positive motivations are linked to deeper learning, critical thinking, pro-social behavior, and better performance. Most studies of learner motivation, however, are conducted outside of STEM and are focused at the contextual level, which may describe why students attend college or choose a degree program, but not why they engage in classroom activities. Furthermore, there is little research that meaningfully connects learner motivations with gender identity and course pedagogy. This study addresses these gaps by examining the interconnections among course pedagogy, gender, and situational-level motivations, which reveal why learners engage in different course activities and how engagement may vary over time. This detailed perspective on learner motivations is essential for instructors to gain insights into how their pedagogical and course design choices influence students’ motivational responses and to more effectively develop interventions that support positive forms of motivation among all students.ResultsParticipants in the study are undergraduate students enrolled in 72 introductory-level STEM courses across 11 institutions, and the dataset includes over 5000 unique responses to the Situational Motivation Scale, a Self-Determination Theory-based instrument that was administered weekly in each course. Analysis reveals seven typical motivational response types, ranging from a highly control-oriented to a highly autonomous response. Most students express multiple types of motivation during an academic term in a course, illustrating the dynamic nature of motivations. Cluster distributions by gender and pedagogy indicate significant differences in lecture-based learning courses, with women reporting less self-determined motivations compared to men. Motivational response profiles of women and men are both more similar, and more positive overall, in courses that employ active learning.ConclusionsThese findings have important implications for practitioners. The concept of motivational co-expression encourages instructors to move toward a more nuanced appraisal of learner motivation. The stability analyses challenge embedded beliefs about the fixed nature of learner motivation. The gender analyses raise questions about how instructors may more effectively promote the positive motivations of all students through their course design decisions.

Assessment of an Activity to Promote Community Building, Inclusion and Perseverance in Introductory College STEM Courses

Community, inclusion, and perseverance are essential to the field of STEM education. To promote these values, we developed two discussion-based activities for implementation in introductory college STEM courses. Both activities incorporate watching videos that portray scientists telling the stories of how they became prominent in their field, in-class discussions, and individual reflection. The first activity addresses diversity, community building, and inclusion in the classroom, while the second activity focuses on perseverance and student definitions of success. These activities were fully implemented into three sections of introductory biology during Fall 2020, with one additional section serving as a control. We assessed how effectively these activities addressed their learning goals through a novel pre-/post-survey that incorporated questions from CURE, ASPECT, PITS, and the Classroom Community Scale in addition to original questions.

Interpreting the investigative science learning environment (ISLE) for its implementation in Indonesian STEM education

This paper reports a qualitative inquiry to investigate the application of the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach as a framework for teaching and learning physics. The aims of this study are to investigate how ISLE processes are applied, what the perspectives of instructors and students on the ISLE approach are, how the ISLE approach could be possibly applied in the physics courses and other STEM courses in Indonesia. Participants in this inquiry consist of the inventor of ISLE, three ISLE instructors, and students in an ISLE lab session. We used qualitative case study method and narrative data analysis in the process of evaluating data from observations, interviews, and ISLE-based learning materials and publications. It was found that the ISLE approach was applied smoothly in the class and lab sessions. The ISLE instructors are those who believe in the philosophical and epistemological reasoning behind the framework and the importance to nurture students’ scientific abilities. Some students liked the ISLE approach, some didn’t. Those who liked ISLE found that they enjoyed the process of thinking and discussing in learning. It is very likely to apply the ISLE approach in Indonesia for physics courses, but it will be challenging for other subjects.

Grand Challenges: Building interdisciplinary communities to tackle complex global issues

The scientific enterprise holds the most promise for addressing urgent societal challenges when diversity, inclusivity, and collaboration are fostered within the science community. This requires that scientists develop personal and interpersonal competencies that allow them to participate in diverse, inclusive, and collaborative endeavors. Within STEM education, persistence and success in science and math are also influenced by such personal and interpersonal experiences. The personal connection students feel to the class material, the nature and tone of interactions among students and faculty, the sense of agency that students develop around accessing the “hidden curriculum” (office hours, research experiences, and other academic support or leadership experiences), and the sense of mattering and belonging, are all important factors in helping students develop an identity as a scientist. At our small liberal arts college, a survey of 800 students in science and math courses revealed that women, students of color, first generation to college students, and students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds disproportionately report these factors as barriers to their academic success in science and math classes. We are exploring whether we can foster a diverse, inclusive, and collaborative community of science while also lowering barriers to student success through the creation of opportunities for students and faculty to come together in interdisciplinary Grand Challenge learning collectives. Learning collectives tacklecomplex societal issues that students care deeply about and which can be addressed only through collaboration among different disciplines and lived experiences. We report on outcomes and lessons learned from a Grand Challenges learning collective focused on Global Climate Change. A set of linked introductory STEM courses (Calculus, Physics, Chemistry, Data Science, Psychology) and freshman writing seminars (Sociology, History, Earth Science) addressed climate change from their own disciplinary perspectives while providing opportunities for students to engage in climate change work in foundational science courses. Work inside classes was supported by community conversations and events outside of class. At the conclusion of the introductory level courses, students explored opportunities to continue building the community by serving as near-peer mentors, by engaging in student research experiences or community-engaged learning experiences, or serving as a student Catalyst working to improve inclusion. Fundamental to the evolution of the learning collective was a program of professional and personal development for faculty and students. Working groups, formed around topics of common interest, aimed to build capacity for inclusion and equity. Faculty participants expressed the need for sustained support as they examined their teaching practices and experimented with ways to foster greater inclusivity. Students deeply valued out-of-class conversations and interactions with faculty that humanize the scientific enterprise and that help them foster their own identity as a scientist.

Grade Expectations: The Role of First-Year Grades in Predicting the Pursuit of STEM Majors for First- and Continuing-Generation Students

ABSTRACT Earning poor grades in early science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) college courses decreases the likelihood that a student will major in STEM. However, grades in first-year STEM courses do not impact students evenly, making it hard to know if early “gatekeeping” courses selectively push some students out of STEM. This descriptive study examines the relationship between grades and STEM persistence for first- and continuing-generation students. Using transcript and survey data from three moderately-selective postsecondary institutions, I find that among students with high STEM GPAs, first-generation students are less likely than their continuing-generation peers to persist in STEM, net background preparation and characteristics. Moreover, first-year STEM grades alone account for a substantial portion of the differences in the likelihoods of studying STEM. While first-generation students are slightly less responsive to their early STEM grades than continuing-generation students, their comparatively lower early STEM grades are a significant driver of persistence differences.

Predicting final grades in STEM courses: A path analysis of academic motivation and course-related behavior using self-determination theory

Within self-determination theory, a considerable amount of previous research has shown that autonomous motivation is associated with higher levels of academic achievement and wellness among students. However, it is notable that few studies have included large samples of undergraduates who are enrolled in science courses. Moreover, to our knowledge no previous research has investigated the associations among autonomous and controlled motivations, course attendance, time spent studying, perceived course difficulty, and final course grades simultaneously. The current study was designed to begin to fill this gap in the literature. In the fall (33 course sections) and spring (29 course sections) semesters, undergraduate students (N = 1284) who were enrolled in general chemistry, organic chemistry, and human anatomy and physiology courses responded to a 24-item survey at the beginning (Time 1) and at the end (Time 2) of the semester. The results revealed considerable stability in motivation over time as well as strong association between autonomous and controlled motivations at each time point. Autonomous motivation at Time 2 predicted higher levels of time spent studying and final course grades, and lower levels of perceived course difficulty. Controlled motivation at Time 2 predicted higher levels of course attendance, time spent studying, and perceived course difficulty, and lower levels of final course grades. These findings indicate that both autonomous and controlled motivations contribute to final course grades (albeit in opposite directions) and highlight the importance of creating need-supportive educational climates that facilitate the cultivation of autonomous motivation.

How College Credit in High School Impacts Postsecondary Course-Taking: The Role of Advanced Placement Exams

Abstract This paper uses Advanced Placement (AP) exams to examine how receiving college credit in high school alters students’ subsequent human capital investment. Using data from one large state, I link high school students to postsecondary transcripts from in-state, public institutions. I estimate causal impacts using a regression discontinuity that compares students with essentially identical AP performance but who receive different offers of college credit. I find that female students who earn credit from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) exams take higher level STEM courses, significantly increasing their depth of study, with no observed impacts for male students. As a result, the male–female gap in STEM courses taken shrinks by roughly one third to two thirds, depending on the outcome studied. Earning non-STEM AP credit increases overall coursework in non-STEM courses and increases the breadth of study across departments. Early credit policies help assist colleges to produce graduates whose skills aligns with commonly cited social or economic priorities, such as developing STEM graduates with stronger skills, particularly among traditionally underrepresented groups.

Effects of Personalized Peer Tutoring with Students that are Under-Represented and/or in STEM Fields.

The First2 Club at Fairmont State University started a peer-tutoring program during the 2020/2021 academic year to help support STEM and under-represented students by offering free and personalized tutoring. This tutoring initiative currently has four tutors. The student tutors range from sophomore to senior and are all Natural Science majors. The tutors have set tutoring dates and appointments available to meet with students. Most tutoring is one-on-one, but can also be in a group setting. After the meetings, students complete a survey. Preliminary results show 73 tutoring sessions in chemistry, biology, and physics courses. These courses tend to be the courses with the highest turn-over rate. Students tutored met the following demographics: female, first-generation, LGBTQ, minority, and male. Thus far the peer-tutoring program has been successful in reaching underrepresented students in STEM courses in the hope to increase the pass rate. Results of grade increase have not been assessed.

Mixed results from a multiple regression analysis of supplemental instruction courses in introductory physics

Providing less prepared students with supplemental instruction (SI) in introductory STEM courses has long been used as a model in math, chemistry, and biology education to improve student performance, but this model has received little attention in physics education research. We analyzed the course performance of students enrolled in SI courses for introductory mechanics and electricity and magnetism (E&M) at Stanford University compared with those not enrolled in the SI courses over a two-year period. We calculated the benefit of the SI course using multiple linear regression to control for students’ level of high school physics and math preparation. We found that the SI course had a significant positive effect on student performance in E&M, but that an SI course with a nearly identical format had no effect on student performance in mechanics. We explored several different potential explanations for why this might be the case and were unable to find any that could explain this difference. This suggests that there are complexities in the design of SI courses that are not fully understood or captured by existing theories as to how they work.

Triage and Recovery of STEM Laboratory Skills.

The global COVID-19 pandemic left universities with few options but to turn to remote learning. With much effort, STEM courses made this change in modality; however, many laboratory skills, such as measurement and handling equipment, are more difficult to teach in an online learning environment. A cohort of instructors who are part of the NSF RCN-UBE funded Sustainable, Transformative Engagement across a Multi-Institution/Multidisciplinary STEM (STEM)2 Network (a working group of faculty from two community colleges and three 4-year universities) analyzed introductory biology and chemistry courses to identify essential laboratory skills that students will need in advanced courses. Seven essential laboratory proficiencies were derived from reviewing disciplinary guiding documents such as AAAS Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education, the American Society for Microbiology Recommended Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Microbiology Education, and the American Chemical Society Guidelines for Chemistry: data analysis, scientific writing, proper handling and disposal of laboratory materials, discipline-specific techniques, measurement, lab safety and personal protective equipment, and interpersonal and collaborative skills. Our analysis has determined that some of these skills are difficult to develop in a remote or online setting but could be recovered with appropriate interventions. Skill recovery procedures suggested include a skills “boot camp,” department or college coordinated club events, and a triage course. The authors recommend that one of these three recovery mechanisms be offered to bridge this skill gap and better prepare STEM students for upper-level science courses and the real world.

Social justice meets STEM education

Education It is critical that STEM students learn how science has been implicated in creating social inequities over time. Ali et al. describe a method for incorporating social justice themes into an organic chemistry curriculum. Instructors deliberately infused social justice themes into a standard curriculum by including key compounds that have had important social, cultural, and environmental impacts. Students then predicted products and identified functional groups of compounds now placed in a historical and social context. Although most of the students agreed that this method made the material more relevant, only 4% reported social justice discussions in other STEM courses, highlighting a plethora of missed opportunities. STEM instructors across disciplines are encouraged to emulate this approach and infuse social justice into their courses. J. Chem. Educ. 97 , 3984 (2020).

Why Do They Enroll in This Course? Undergraduates’ Course Choice From a Motivational Perspective

Why do students pick various courses? Interdisciplinary research has highlighted the role of structural constraints, normative expectations, and individual motivation as the joint influences of agency and structure in the service of life goals. Here, we examined undergraduates’ reasons for course choices for their most difficult and most important courses. We compared the reasons for non-major vs. major courses, for freshman vs. juniors, and across different disciplines. College students selected courses that fulfilled their major or breadth requirements, particularly in their freshman year. STEM courses were taken more for career development reasons than other disciplines, particularly humanities courses; social sciences courses were taken more for interest than STEM courses; and humanities courses were taken more for intellectual broadening than STEM courses.

Incorporating Ecosystem Services into STEM Education

The framework of ecosystem services (ES) and disservices (ED) has increasingly been used in various science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, including soil science. The objectives of this study were to use ES/ED concepts to extend and test an existing lecture and laboratory exercise on soil organic carbon (SOC) in an online introductory soil science course (FNR 2040: Soil Information Systems) taught to Clemson University students from various STEM disciplines (forestry, wildlife biology, and environmental and natural resources) in Fall 2020. The laboratory exercise was extended with a series of reusable learning objects (RLOs), which are self-contained digital modules commonly utilized in e-learning. The laboratory exercise consisted of identifying ES and calculating the avoided social cost of carbon (SC-CO2) from soil organic carbon stocks in the assigned soil’s topsoil horizon. The laboratory exercise effectively increased student familiarity with ES/ED as indicated by the post-assessment survey with a +24.4% increase in the moderately familiar category and a +36.1% increase in the extremely familiar category. The graded online quiz consisted of ten questions and was taken by 51 students with an average score of 8.7 (out of 10). A post-assessment survey indicated that most of the students found that the laboratory was an effective way to learn about ES/ED with examples from soil science. Detailed students’ comments indicated enjoyment of learning (e.g., calculations, applying new knowledge), the value of multimedia (e.g., PowerPoint, video), the flexibility of learning (e.g., different parts in the laboratory), the applicability of content (e.g., real-world examples), and criticism (e.g., tedious calculations). A word cloud based on students’ comments about their experience with the laboratory exercise on soil ES indicated the most common words used by students to describe their experience, such as “soil services”, “learning”, “enjoyed”, and “ecosystems”, among others. Incorporating ES/ED into an undergraduate STEM course enabled students to connect ES/ED provided by soil with the societal systems reliant on the soil resources.

Instructor strategies to aid implementation of active learning: a systematic literature review

BackgroundDespite the evidence supporting the effectiveness of active learning in undergraduate STEM courses, the adoption of active learning has been slow. One barrier to adoption is instructors’ concerns about students’ affective and behavioral responses to active learning, especially student resistance. Numerous education researchers have documented their use of active learning in STEM classrooms. However, there is no research yet that systematically analyzes these studies for strategies to aid implementation of active learning and address students’ affective and behavioral responses. In this paper, we conduct a systematic literature review and identify 29 journal articles and conference papers that researched active learning, affective and behavioral student responses, and recommended at least one strategy for implementing active learning. In this paper, we ask: (1) What are the characteristics of studies that examine affective and behavioral outcomes of active learning and provide instructor strategies? (2) What instructor strategies to aid implementation of active learning do the authors of these studies provide?ResultsIn our review, we noted that most active learning activities involved in-class problem solving within a traditional lecture-based course (N = 21). We found mostly positive affective and behavioral outcomes for students’ self-reports of learning, participation in the activities, and course satisfaction (N = 23). From our analysis of the 29 studies, we identified eight strategies to aid implementation of active learning based on three categories. Explanation strategies included providing students with clarifications and reasons for using active learning. Facilitation strategies entailed working with students and ensuring that the activity functions as intended. Planning strategies involved working outside of the class to improve the active learning experience.ConclusionTo increase the adoption of active learning and address students’ responses to active learning, this study provides strategies to support instructors. The eight strategies are listed with evidence from numerous studies within our review on affective and behavioral responses to active learning. Future work should examine instructor strategies and their connection with other affective outcomes, such as identity, interests, and emotions.

STEM-based Project for Everyday Life Created by Pre Service Students and Its Implication of Pedagogical Competence for Science Teacher

STEM Education has become framework of lifelong, life-wide, and life-deep across the word in Science Education. Some research investigated about how student comprehend science concept and its related into technology, engineering and mathematics lead to science conception in more deep insight. Pre service science teacher has important role to build and disseminate STEM approaches into science teaching practices. This study aims to investigate how preservice science teacher create STEM- based project concerning on essential science concepts. About 72 pre service students of Science Education Study Program in STEM course involved in this study who work in group of four students each. During eight weeks they begin with group discussion, group presentation to share their project idea, supported with journal review, preparing project, designed first project, peer review, improving project until finalizing projects. About eight from eighteen titles of their projects have been selected to be deeply analyzed further because of similar based science concept referred to changes in electrical energy into motion in some various project they created. The title projects are: a) electric broom; b) simple mixer; c) mini vacuum cleaner; d) Air conditioner recharge; e) blender; f) earth rotation; g) locomotive; h) mini generator. Based on group discussion, group review, and interview there were found seven kinds of their understanding of STEM begin with lack explanation of scientific reason, theoretical explanation only, good explanation of scientific reason, ability to apply STEM in daily life, lack implementation of Reduce-reuse-recycle, and good implementation of reduce-reuse-recycle. Implication of STEM-based project into science teaching learning material have been discussed.

Making a First Impression: Exploring What Instructors Do and Say on the First Day of Introductory STEM Courses.

Student impressions formed during the first day of class can impact course satisfaction and performance. Despite its potential importance, little is known about how instructors format the first day of class. Here, we report on observations of the first day of class in 23 introductory science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses. We first described how introductory STEM instructors structure their class time by characterizing topics covered on the first day through inductive coding of class videos. We found that all instructors discussed policies and basic information. However, a cluster analysis revealed two groups of instructors who differed primarily in their level of STEM content coverage. We then coded the videos with the noncontent Instructor Talk framework, which organizes the statements instructors make unrelated to disciplinary content into several categories and subcategories. Instructors generally focused on building the instructor–student relationship and establishing classroom culture. Qualitative analysis indicated that instructors varied in the specificity of their noncontent statements and may have sent mixed messages by making negatively phrased statements with seemingly positive intentions. These results uncovered variation in instructor actions on the first day of class and can help instructors more effectively plan this day by providing messages that set students up for success.

What really impacts the use of active learning in undergraduate STEM education? Results from a national survey of chemistry, mathematics, and physics instructors.

Six common beliefs about the usage of active learning in introductory STEM courses are investigated using survey data from 3769 instructors. Three beliefs focus on contextual factors: class size, classroom setup, and teaching evaluations; three focus on individual factors: security of employment, research activity, and prior exposure. The analysis indicates that instructors in all situations can and do employ active learning in their courses. However, with the exception of security of employment, trends in the data are consistent with beliefs about the impact of these factors on usage of active learning. We discuss implications of these results for institutional and departmental policies to facilitate the use of active learning.

What Questions Are on the Minds of STEM Undergraduate Students and How Can They Be Addressed?

Addressing common student questions in introductory STEM courses early in the term is one way that instructors can ensure that their students have all been presented with information about how to succeed in their courses. However, categorizing student questions and identifying evidence-based resources to address student questions takes time, and instructors may not be able to easily collect and respond to student questions at the beginning of every course. To help faculty effectively anticipate and respond to student questions, we 1) administered surveys in multiple STEM courses to identify common student questions, 2) conducted a qualitative analysis to determine categories of student questions (e.g., what are best practices for studying, how can in- and out-of- course time be effectively used), and 3) collaboratively identified advice on how course instructors can answer these questions. Here, we share tips, evidence-based strategies, and resources from faculty that instructors can use to develop their own responses for students. We hope that educators can use these common student questions as a starting point to proactively address questions throughout the course and that the compiled resources will allow instructors to easily find materials that can be considered for their own courses.