STEM Courses Research Articles

The Role of STEM-Based Sustainability in Business and Management Curricula: Exploring Cognitive and Affective Outcomes in University Students

To address deficiencies in STEM and sustainability in business management and intra-university curricula, we developed and implemented an interdisciplinary STEM-based sustainability curriculum at a university in the Western United States. Six classes participated in curricular efforts including in-person and online sections of a business management course, in-person and online sections of a general elective STEM course, and a matched control course for each ( n = 214). We systematically designed, developed, and implemented curricular interventions—multi-week STEM-based business sustainability modules—using the case teaching method. A comprehensive evaluation with pre- and post-tests was conducted to assess student sustainability cognition and affect. Significant results emerged for sustainability cognition including the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability. Counterintuitively, student sustainability affect did not improve. However, sustainability cognition and affect were significantly correlated on the post-test for treatment students, an indication that cognitive and affective changes share the same directionality. Discussion, implications, limitations, and future research directions are provided.

University Dropout in Engineering: Motives and Student Trajectories.

Dropout in higher education is a concern for students, families, educational institutions, and society. Tertiary education is an important mechanism for empowering people and STEM courses are vital to countries' development. The study combined quantitative and qualitative data. Step 1 was an analysis of personal and contextual variables in a comprehensive examination of dropout in a sample of 1,016 engineering students. In step 2 a short interview by telephone were conducted with 82 students who dropped out, identifying their reasons and their academic/professional situation. In step 3 in-depth interviews were conducted with six students in order to understand the dynamic process of their decisions to leave. The academic/professional situations of students who dropped out were quite varied, for example the same course or a different course at another institution, starting a job, not working or studying, or attending another level of professional training. There were three main reasons for dropping: vocational, learning process and achievement, and reconciling roles. Engineering student dropout is related to vocational and academic achievement. This should be considered in the implementation of programs to reduce the rate of dropout.

Examination of pre-service chemistry teachers’ STEM conceptions through an integrated STEM course

Due to international calls for the use of the integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) approach to train learners pursuing STEM-related careers and citizens who are competitive problem solvers, teachers’ training for the integrated STEM approach is imperative. Given the importance of integrated STEM teacher training, this study aimed to examine how pre-service chemistry teachers’ integrated STEM conceptions have been changed through the integrated STEM course. The STEM reflection protocol was administered to 13 pre-service chemistry teachers both at the beginning and at the end of a 13-week-long integrated STEM course. The training included experiencing STEM activities, studying with mentors, and reflecting on own development. The deductive, inductive, and constant comparative data analysis revealed that most of the pre-service chemistry teachers enriched their STEM conceptions in terms of the engineering design process as a context and integration of the disciplines. However, very few participants’ STEM conceptions remained the same. Integrated STEM teacher education should include an explicit emphasis on disciplines’ integration and engineering design process to enhance pre-service teachers’ integrated STEM conceptions.

Toward the Development of Key Competencies: A Conceptual Framework for the STEM Curriculum Design and a Case Study

National attention has been given to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, which is well recognized as an effective way to cultivate the key competencies of 21st-century talents. However, current STEM education falls short of the desired results. The fundamental reason is that there has not been a clearly and structurally explained systematic construction and effective implementation of STEM curricula. Accordingly, this article systematically expounds on the construction of the STEM curricula system from four aspects. Specifically, we first proposed the components of the STEM competencies as the goal of STEM education to provide a guiding direction for other parts of the design of the STEM curricula. Then, we elaborated on how to cultivate the STEM competencies from two aspects: the design principles of the STEM curricula content and the implementation strategies of STEM teaching. Finally, we explained how to effectively evaluate to monitor and improve the implementation of the STEM curriculum. In addition to the above mentioned, we then presented a case study of STEM courses constructed under the guidance of “think-based instruction theory” (TBIT) to help readers further understand the nature of the STEM curricula.

Pushing Active Learning Into Assessment With a Genetics Escape-Room Final: Gamification to Develop Team Skills in STEM, on Ground and Online

Upper-level, undergraduate STEM courses, which often integrate several disciplines, turn comprehensive finals from assessment tools into torturous hurdles. To extend the benefits of active learning to assessment, we transformed a comprehensive, 300-level Genetics final into a team-based escape room, operable both on ground and online. Quantitative and qualitative data support that this gamification and mastery-based approach in biology significantly improved students’ team skills, problem solving ability, courage to speak up, leadership, eased their stress, and furthered student learning while remaining a valuable assessment tool. A detailed description of student activities is presented for generalization of exam gamification to other STEM disciplines.

Using Push Technology for Maintaining Proficiency and Promoting a Growth Mindset in a STEM Course

Just like physical skills, cognitive skills grow rusty over time unless they are regularly used and practiced. This means that school breaks can have quite negative consequences on student learning. The Keeping in School Shape (KiSS) program is an engaging, innovative and cost-effective intervention that uses push technology to help students maintain proficiency over breaks from school, while also promoting a growth mindset. Theoretically, the KiSS program draws on the well-documented benefits of retrieval practice – the notion that recalling previously material is a very effective way of maintaining cognitive performance. The KiSS program embodies retrieval practice by sending students a multiple-choice mathematics question daily via text messaging or email. A positive mindset regarding the benefits of effort is promoted through feedback messages that encourage program resource use, such as choosing to view a hint and retry a problem instead of giving up. This paper reports on a few aspects of the implementation of the KiSS program at a large university during the summer break for students enrolled in an engineering introductory calculus course sequence.

Benefits and Challenges in the Implementation of an Instructional-Teams Model for Supporting Evidence-Based Instructional Practices in Large-Enrollment STEM Courses

Instructors often encounter challenges in the implementation of evidence-based teaching practices in large-enrollment STEM courses. A novel Instructional-Teams Model (I-TM) seeks to address some of these challenges with the support of student assistants in specialized roles. I-TM roles focus on supporting course and classroom management (instructional managers), formative assessment (learning researchers), and student engagement (learning assistants, who are already a common feature of many large-enrollment STEM courses). We analyzed benefits and challenges in teaching with this model as expressed by participating instructors. Our results support the utility of the I-TM for implementing evidence-based, active-learning instruction in large-enrollment STEM courses.

A Cost-Effective Model to Address Student Readiness Through the Lens of a College Physics Course

Students enter college with widely varying levels of preparation. This is especially visible to faculty and administrators tasked with ensuring student success in core STEM courses and helping underrepresented students succeed. Flexible support strategies are needed. They must be timely and measurable so that limited funds can be optimally allocated. This paper reviews a program that addresses these concerns and is translatable to many higher education settings and disciplines. It is situated in a physics department at a large public research university in an urban city in the southern United States. A group of rotating faculty improved the success rate in an introductory physics course for non-physics majors. A diagnostic exam is used to assess students’ preparation in order to assign some to a peer-led supplementary recitation. An overview of program implementation and results is shared, along with strategies and suggested solutions to further address gaps in success rates in order to provide all students an equitable university experience and chance of success.

Shifts in learning assistants\u2019 self-determination due to COVID-19 disruptions in Calculus II course delivery

BackgroundThe Learning Assistant (LA) model with its subsequent support and training has evidenced significant gains for undergraduate STEM learning and persistence, especially in high-stakes courses like Calculus. Yet, when a swift and unexpected transition occurs from face-to-face to online, remote learning of the LA environment, it is unknown how LAs are able to maintain their motivation (competence, autonomy, and relatedness), adapt to these new challenges, and sustain their student-centered efforts. This study used Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to model theoretical aspects of LAs’ motivations (persistence and performance) both before and after changes were made in delivery of a Calculus II course at Texas Tech University due to COVID-19 interruptions.ResultsAnalysis of weekly written reflections, a focus group session, and a post-course questionnaire of 13 Calculus II LAs throughout Spring semester of 2020 showed that LAs’ reports of competence proportionally decreased when they transitioned online, which was followed by a moderate proportional increase in reports of autonomy (actions they took to adapt to distance instruction) and a dramatic proportional increase in reports of relatedness (to build structures for maintaining communication and building community with undergraduate students).ConclusionsRelatedness emerged as the most salient factor from SDT to maintain LA self-determination due to the COVID-19 facilitated interruption to course delivery in a high-stakes undergraduate STEM course. Given that online learning continues during the pandemic and is likely to continue after, this research provides an understanding to how LAs responded to this event and the mounting importance of relatedness when LAs are working with undergraduate STEM learners. Programmatic recommendations are given for enhancing LA preparation including selecting LAs for autonomy and relatedness factors (in addition to competence), modeling mentoring for remote learners, and coaching in best practices for online instruction.

From disorganised study methods to disorganisation: new perspectives on a neglected study strategy

ABSTRACT Disorganisation refers to the difficulty that some learners have developing an organised approach to studying. The aim of the present study was to explore antecedents and consequences of disorganisation and individual differences in how disorganisation occurs. A questionnaire was administered to 177 French first-year students enrolled on STEM courses. Results of multiple regression analysis showed that social integration and performance-avoidance goals are negative predictors of disorganisation, and weak prior achievement a positive one. A cluster analysis revealed that disorganisation can be associated with either a large or a small amount of time spent studying. Students also differed from one another on engagement-related variables according to time spent studying. The article argues that disorganisation may be associated with engagement when students undergo the transition to higher education. The conclusion outlines some practical implications for teaching, and proposes directions for future research.

Organic Chemistry Students’ Written Descriptions and Explanations of Resonance and Its Influence on Reactivity

Resonance is a fundamental concept that is necessary for students’ successful learning in organic chemistry. However, there is a need to know more about both (1) what students find important when describing resonance and (2) students’ conceptual understanding. This research seeks to address this discrepancy by examining second-semester organic chemistry students’ responses to a writing-to-learn (WTL) assignment focused on resonance. This work is guided by the cognitive process theory of writing and studies within undergraduate STEM and chemistry courses that indicate the usefulness of WTL assignments for examining how students convey their understanding of fundamental concepts. We analyzed students’ responses to a WTL assignment designed to elicit students’ explanations of resonance and its influence on reactivity to a general, nonscientific audience. The goal of our analysis was to identify the features students found important when explaining resonance and to gain insight regarding their conceptual understanding. The analysis was guided by an analytical framework outlining the learning objectives for resonance at the introductory organic chemistry level. We identified various elements in students’ writing, including (1) the analogies or examples students used to explain resonance, (2) the basic definitions of the concept students included, and (3) the various ways students described the influence of resonance on reactivity. Our findings indicate that students generally described resonance with an operational rather than conceptual definition, focusing on the process of drawing resonance structures rather than providing conceptual explanations. Furthermore, we identified that students tended to associate resonance with stability, with many students often extending this association to make overgeneralized statements about the influence of resonance on reactivity.

Measuring Career Adaptability in a Sample of Italian University Students: Psychometric Properties and Relations with the Age, Gender, and STEM/No STEM Courses

The continuous transformation of the labor market, characterized by great instability and uncertainty, and by rapid technological changes, has strongly influenced the construction and management of career paths. Nowadays, individuals are faced with careers that are fluid and boundaryless, characterized by discontinuity and a variety of organizations to deal with. In this scenario, the ability to adapt and react to continuous changes in the labor market and in organizations is now a priority for workers. This study presents the psychometric properties of the construct of Career Ability measured through Proactive Personality and Boundaryless Mindset as proxy variables in a sample of 579 adults enrolled at the University of Cagliari (Italy), or recently graduated therein. We aim to rate the factorial structure of the items and to evaluate their multi-group invariance regarding the gender variable. Moreover, the criterion and concurrent validity were assessed. The instrument shows good psychometric characteristics; factorial structure, factorial invariance in relation to the gender variable, concurrent, and criterion validities were confirmed.

Roles matter: Graduate student perceptions of active learning in the STEM courses they take and those they teach.

Despite many calls to reform undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education to incorporate active learning into classes, there has been little attention paid to graduate level classrooms or courses taught by graduate students. Here, we set out to understand if and how STEM graduate students' perceptions of active learning change in the classes they take versus those they teach. We found that graduate students had taken relatively few graduate level classes using active learning and they felt that more time should be devoted to active learning in the courses they were taking. Teaching assistants felt that they were devoting the right amount of class time to active learning in the classes they taught. Graduate students also felt that they were using teaching methods in the classes they taught that were different from those they thought should be used when teaching undergraduates and were different from how they preferred to learn when taking classes.

The Perceptions of Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments on Students with Visual Impairments and Graphing: How to Teach

Many gaps exist in what is known around teaching students with visual impairments (SVI) about how to use graphs (Rosenblum et al., 2018; Rosenblum & Herzberg, 2015; Zebehazy & Wilton, 2014a;2014b;2014c). When teachers first experience a student with a visual impairment, some of the questions that come to mind are: How can I be sure this student understands what I am saying about these graphs I show on the board? Will this student be able to keep up? The study herein, based on findings from Author (2018), serves as a guide for teachers to consider in the case that SVI enroll in their STEM courses. The author reports findings that answer questions that focus on how to teach SVI so they can be successful in mathematics and science courses, as well as the kinds of individuals who, given their unique training and experience with SVI, can be helpful resources.

Motivation and Sense of Belonging in the Large Enrollment Introductory General and Organic Chemistry Remote Courses

The rapid shift from face-to-face to remote instruction in 2020 has resulted in recalibration of lecture and laboratory pedagogy. This research analyzed the impact of remote learning on student motivation and sense of belonging in large enrollment chemistry courses. Student responses were parsed according to specific demographics including gender, academic standing, first-generation status, and ethnicity. Research objectives included the analysis of how remote learning impacted specific demographics to develop guidelines for best practices moving forward for hybrid or online courses. Our findings show that second year students (sophomores) were the most impacted of the academic standing cohorts. Sophomores reported a statistically greater change in motivation after the start of the semester and statistically lower satisfaction with their performance on assignments. Females reported statistically lower motivation and a statistically lower sense of belonging in the course and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Black/African students reported a statistically lower motivation for remote learning than Asian/Pacific Islander and White/Caucasian students. Finally, both White/Caucasian and Black/African students reported a statistically lower sense of belonging in the course and in STEM fields than Asian/Pacific islander students. Finally, statistical differences were not observed based upon first-generation status. The research indicates that students were differentially impacted by the shift to remote learning. From these findings, a stronger understanding of how specific demographics are differentially impacted by remote learning in STEM courses is provided, granting greater insight into best practices moving forward.

The role of stereotype threat in ethnically minoritized students’ science motivation: A four-year longitudinal study of achievement and persistence in STEM

Grounded in expectancy-value and stereotype threat theories, this four-year longitudinal study examined associations between changes in stereotype threat and motivation (self-efficacy, task values, and perceived costs) among 425 undergraduates from racial/ethnic groups typically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Growth analyses indicated that students’ stereotype threat and perceived cost of studying science increased during college, whereas science self-efficacy, intrinsic value, and attainment value declined. Parallel growth analyses suggested that higher initial stereotype threat related to a faster decline in attainment value and faster increase in perceived costs throughout college. Higher initial levels and a steeper increase in stereotype threat related to lower STEM GPA. Higher initial levels and a slower decline in motivation variables related to higher STEM GPA and more completed STEM courses. These findings provide empirical evidence for the relations between stereotype threat and motivation among underrepresented minority students during a key developmental period.

A framework for developing community-focused medical physics outreach programs.

PurposeIn STEM education and careers, underrepresented minorities (URMs) experience higher attrition than non‐URM counterparts. Informal educational experiences, such as outreach, have been identified to increase URM awareness and enrollment in STEM. The objectives of this work were to (1) elucidate the current state of racial and ethnic diversity in medical physics and (2) provide a community‐focused framework for building effective outreach programs geared toward K‐12 URM students and their families.MethodsSelf‐reported racial and ethnic identity data from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) members were obtained to identify the percentage of URM members. Outreach programming was developed for home or away events. Home events occurred at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Medical Physics; away events occurred at public community institutions that served URM and economically disadvantaged populations. Demonstrations, hands‐on activities, and presentations covered radiation detection, radiotherapy, medical imaging, and medical physics career paths. High school students were asked about their awareness of medical physics prior to outreach events. Likert‐scale surveys evaluated student level of agreement (1 = Strongly disagree to 5 = Strongly agree) that home events increased their career interests in medicine and physics and interest in pursuing STEM coursework.ResultsAverage percentage of AAPM URM members was 10.7% from 2014 to 2020. From 2016 to 2020, 42 outreach events occurred near or within the Madison metro area. Over 1900 individuals participated in outreach events, with 50 participants on average per event. The majority of home event participants indicated their interest in medical careers increased (65.4%) and were inspired to pursue more STEM courses (73.1%) after the program.ConclusionsOur medical physics outreach program demonstrates a means of increasing awareness and interest around medical physics, particularly for underrepresented individuals. This article addresses gaps in the literature for how to create and implement effective, community‐focused medical physics outreach programs.

COVID-19 and Undergraduates with Disabilities: Challenges Resulting from the Rapid Transition to Online Course Delivery for Students with Disabilities in Undergraduate STEM at Large-Enrollment Institutions.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused nearly all colleges and universities to transition in-person courses to an online format. In this study, we explored how the rapid transition to online instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic affected students with disabilities. We interviewed 66 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) undergraduates with disabilities at seven large-enrollment institutions during Spring 2020. We probed to what extent students were able to access their existing accommodations, to what extent the online environment required novel accommodations, and what factors prevented students from being properly accommodated in STEM courses. Using inductive coding, we identified that students were unable to access previously established accommodations, such as reduced-distraction testing and note-takers. We also found that the online learning environment presented novel challenges for students with disabilities that may have been lessened with the implementation of accommodations. Finally, we found that instructors making decisions about what accommodations were appropriate for students and disability resource centers neglecting to contact students after the transition to online instruction prevented students from receiving the accommodations that they required in STEM courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study illuminates current gaps in the support of students with disabilities and pinpoints ways to make online STEM learning environments more inclusive for students with disabilities.

Affirmative Action, Mismatch, and Economic Mobility after California’s Proposition 209

Abstract Proposition 209 banned race-based affirmative action at California public universities in 1998. Using a difference-in-differences research design and a newly constructed longitudinal database linking all 1994–2002 University of California applicants to their educational experiences and wages, I show that ending affirmative action caused underrepresented minority (URM) freshman applicants to cascade into lower-quality colleges. The “mismatch hypothesis” implies that this cascade would provide net educational benefits to URM applicants, but their degree attainment declined overall and in STEM fields, especially among less academically qualified applicants. URM applicants’ average wages in their twenties and thirties subsequently declined, driven by declines among Hispanic applicants. These declines are not explained by URM students' performance or persistence in STEM course sequences, which were unchanged after Prop 209. Ending affirmative action also deterred thousands of qualified URM students from applying to any UC campus. Complementary regression discontinuity and institutional value-added analyses suggest that affirmative action’s net educational and wage benefits for URM applicants exceed its net costs for on-the-margin white and Asian applicants.

Place-Based Environmental Civic Science: Urban Students Using STEM for Public Good

In the United States, Black and Latinx students are underrepresented in STEM courses and careers due to a dearth of culturally relevant opportunities, which in turn are connected to broader issues of social justice. Place-based environmental civic science offers potential for addressing these issues by enabling students to apply their STEM learning to mitigate local environmental problems. By civic science we refer to science in which all citizens, not just experts, engage for the public good. In this paper, we report on a study in which we followed middle-and high-school science and math classes in urban schools serving racial/ethnic minoritized students as they engaged in an innovative contextualized curriculum—a place-based civic science model in which students work with STEM community partners to address an environmental issue in their community. We draw from students’ open-ended reflections on what they learned from participating in place-based environmental civic science projects that could help their communities. Thematic analyses of reflections collected from 291 students point to beliefs in the usefulness of science to effect community change. Students articulated the science they learned or used in the project and how it could affect their community; they made references to real world applications of science in their project work and made links between STEM and civic contributions. In their own words, the majority of students noted ways that STEM was relevant to their communities now or in the future; in addition, a subset of students expressed changes in their thinking about how they personally could apply science to positively impact their communities and the ties between STEM and social justice. Analyses also point to a sense of confidence and purpose students gained from using STEM learning for their goals of community contribution. Results of this study suggest that focusing on local place as a foundation for students’ STEM learning and linking that learning to the civic contributions they can make, cultivates students’ perceptions of how they can use science to benefit their communities. Findings also suggest that engaging students in place-based civic science work provides effective foundations for nurturing STEM interest and addressing the underrepresentation of youth of color in STEM.