STEM Degree Programs Research Articles

Using Continuous Online Assessment of Learning Outcomes for Grading: A Case Study

In recent years, the problem of the number of students enrolled in STEM courses falling below the minimum required to carry out the courses has worsened. This situation, which used to occur primarily in degree programs at the end of their life cycle, is increasingly happening in active STEM degree programs as well. The declining attractiveness of traditional STEM degree programs and negative demographic trends are seen as the main causes of this problem. To assist students and their teachers in this situation, a novel approach to grading student work based on the level at which students achieve learning outcomes in an online system was explored. Since the focus was on STEM students, math-based tasks were used to assess student knowledge within the online system. In addition to the accuracy of the final results of the tasks, the accuracy of the intermediate results was also monitored. Each result was linked to the corresponding concepts, which in turn were linked to the corresponding learning outcomes. By entering correct intermediate and final results, the online system was able to monitor student success in mastering concepts and learning outcomes. The implemented online system utilizes fuzzy inference to calculate the levels at which students have achieved the learning outcomes. These levels are continuously recalculated during the semester and presented to the students through generated recommendations after each solved task. The proposed approach has positively impacted students’ motivation to learn during the semester, as confirmed by an anonymous questionnaire. Additionally, the results have shown that the final level at which students have achieved the learning outcomes within the online system, calculated at the end of the semester, can be used for grading and is comparable to the grades students would achieve in traditional midterm and final exams, thus helping teachers with their workload.

"Figuring out your place at a school like this:" Intersectionality and sense of belonging among STEM and non-STEM college students.

Students' sense of belonging in college-an individual's feelings of contentment, mattering, importance, and "finding one's place" in a social setting-can influence choice of major and career trajectory. We contribute to the belongingness literature through a mixed methods intersectional study of students attending a STEM-focused public university we call Meadow State University (MSU). We assess the potential for students' intersecting social identities to differentially influence their experiences with intersectional oppression-subjection to multiple systems of oppression due to simultaneous membership in more than one marginalized group-that, in turn, may influence their college pathways. In addition, we explore whether intersectional differences affect sense of belonging differently in STEM and non-STEM majors. We employ a mixed-methods approach, informed by critical quantitative methods and in-depth interviews. We utilize quantitative institutional data measuring college satisfaction, expressed as "willingness to return" to the same university, for over 3,000 students during two academic years (2013-14 and 2016-17). Survey data explores college satisfaction as an indicator of intersectional differences in student experiences. Then, we analyze 37 in-depth interviews, collected between 2014-2016 at the same institution, to further contextualize the intersectional variation suggested by survey results. Willingness to return is influenced by major, as well as academic, social, and campus belonging. Moreover, the extent to which these factors affected outcomes additionally varied by race/ethnicity, gender, family income, other background factors, and the ways these factors may intersect. Important components of academic belonging included faculty-student interactions, perceptions of academic support, and a privileging of STEM degree programs and students over non-STEM students and their degree programs at MSU. Faculty responsiveness and high impact practices like internships played an important role, particularly in STEM programs. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that, particularly for students of color and those subject to intersectional oppression due to multiple marginalized identities, satisfaction with academics did not always outweigh deficiencies in other areas of campus life shaping belongingness. Our mixed-methods approach contributes insights into how and why students' background, individual choices, and institutional practices concurrently-and intersectionally-influence their ability to form a sense of belonging on campus. Structural changes are required to end practices that support intersecting systems of oppression by favoring White, upper-income men as the "default" STEM students in the U.S. Our research supports growing evidence that institutions must actively build models of inclusion for underrepresented and marginalized groups that address inequitable and unjust practices, providing transformative mentoring and educational guidance that attends to intersectional oppression, in order to effectively support the next generation of women and scholars of color.

Social Support and Motivation in STEM Degree Students: Gender Differences in Relations with Burnout and Academic Success

Existing research underscores the importance of both social-environmental factors (e.g., social support) and psychological factors (e.g., motivation) as buffers against attrition, low performance, and psychological maladjustment in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degree programs. Female STEM students in particular contend with additional academic challenges that can hamper their motivation and performance. This study investigated the relations between social support (personal vs. academic) and well-being, persistence, and academic outcomes as mediated by self-determined motivation and moderated by gender. Structural equation modelling with 221 STEM undergraduates showed significant indirect paths between personal support and STEM career intentions via autonomous motivation. Multigroup analyses further showed male STEM students to benefit more from both personal and academic supports, as well as from greater autonomous motivation, with the academic risks of controlled motivation observed primarily for female STEM students. Implications for motivationally supportive teaching practices in STEM degree programs are discussed.

Small course interventions focused on whole-person development increase aspects of student affect for women, Asian and first-generation students

Students from historically excluded groups are more likely to persist in STEM if they believe that what they learn can provide them with tools to better their communities. One way to achieve this is to contextualize course content in ways that empower students to develop positive identities with science. Given the disproportionate ostracism of persons excluded based on ethnicity or race (PEERs) from STEM degree programs, we examined student responses to incorporating modules that emphasized either the relevance of course content or whole-person development into discussion sections of a large-enrollment introductory environmental sciences course. Reflection activities in the relevance sections emphasized how the course content related to societal problems of interest, while reflection activities in the whole-person development sections focused on how to use college and career to live a fulfilled, productive life. To measure the impact of these different reflection modules, we administered pre−/post-surveys with questions that queried life satisfaction, science motivation, sense of belonging, and expectations for college. Results demonstrate that women, Asian students, and students with neither parent attending college demonstrated significant increases in specific aspects of student affect like personal science motivation, life satisfaction and/or sense of belonging regardless of intervention type. Small psycho-social interventions like these can be added to existing course structures to improve student affect and potentially serve as a steppingstone to bigger course reforms.

A Web of Support: A Critical Narrative Analysis of Black Women's Relationships in STEM Disciplines

Abstract: While nearly half (40%) of Black students leave STEM disciplines, and racialized and gendered social and environmental factors play a role in STEM pathways of Black women, less known is how relationships and critical social capital facilitate undergraduate STEM success. Using a critical narrative approach, we explored how strong relationships at Spelman College helped Black women thrive in STEM degree programs at HBCUs and beyond. Findings focused on three out of 105 narratives suggest that Black women strategically created dynamic webs of support that included families, faculty, and administrators in and out of STEM disciplines, often leading to increased opportunities and a greater likelihood of persistence.

Integrating a sustainability education model into STEM courses at a tribal college

Indigenous scholars have been historically excluded from Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) and are currently underrepresented in STEM degree programs and jobs. Having a population with STEM skills is crucial for rural sovereign Native American communities to manage their natural resources, infrastructures, and technologies. Thus, STEM education must be transformed to welcome and support the achievement of Indigenous scholars. This research explores the impacts of implementing a Sustainability Education (SE) pedagogy in science courses at a tribal college that serves rural and semirural Native American students. Using pre- and post- surveys as well as phenomenographic interviews this work aims to understand student attitudes towards the combined science and sustainability curriculum. Results indicate that students are receptive to this curriculum and that they have a positive experience in sustainability focused science courses. Additionally, the SE science courses positively impacted students’ science identities, which has been shown to contribute to persistence in science. Tribal Colleges and Universities and other institutions of higher learning can use this work to better understand what leads to Indigenous student success in STEM and update pedagogies accordingly.

Diversifying Representations of Female Scientists on Social Media: A Case Study From the Women Doing Science Instagram

In the absence of real-life role models, women scientists portrayed in the media enable young women to imagine themselves as future scientists. Both traditional media and social media have the potential to provide role models, but their representations of scientists reinforce, rather than challenge, long-standing gendered stereotypes. Women Doing Science, a social media effort, was founded by the authors to address this representation gap by sharing daily photos of diverse women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) with accompanying research descriptions in English and in other languages. To date, Women Doing Science has highlighted over 800 scientists to an audience of ~100,000 followers from around the world, who are primarily women in undergraduate and graduate STEM degree programs. Here, we evaluate the success of the Women Doing Science Instagram page in portraying women scientists with diverse racial and national identities. Furthermore, we explore which aspects of posts drive higher engagement from the audience. We find that our Instagram audience has higher engagement with posts featuring Women of Color, multiple languages, and posts that challenge stereotypes associated with women in STEM. In addition, we find that Women of Color are more likely to include additional aspects of their identity in their biographies, and that a primary reason our audience follows the page is because of the diversity portrayed in the posts. These results imply the powerful potential for social media platforms like Instagram to source diverse role models that expand conventional images of STEM professionals and allow international audiences to develop their STEM identities.

Antecedents and Consequences of Emotion Regulation in STEM Degree Programs

Antecedents and Consequences of Emotion Regulation in STEM Degree Programs

Design and implementation of a cohort‐based undergraduate research experience in the agricultural sciences

AbstractScience, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is consistently seen as a top priority; however, STEM programs often suffer from low retention. Students who start in STEM degree programs often lose interest or face obstacles that cause them to leave. Here, we describe a non‐traditional approach meant to encourage a range of students to pursue or continue their STEM education. Active learning approaches have long been touted to stimulate long‐term interest and prepare students for a career in natural science. We provide a case study of an interdisciplinary, cohort‐centric, mentor‐guided summer research internship. By establishing an understanding of how science is currently conducted in agriculture, through several faculty mentors, the program allowed students to embrace their core interests while being able to fit into larger interdisciplinary narratives which provided motivation to continue their path in STEM education.

Resources for Supporting Students With and Without Disabilities in Your Physics Courses

All students deserve access to effective, equitable physics education. Postsecondary faculty have been shown to be unprepared to support students with disabilities in their classes, and popular, research-based introductory physics curricula do not adequately plan for variations in learners’ needs, abilities, and interests. It is urgent to address this disparity because students with disabilities are enrolling in postsecondary education at increasing rates and enroll in STEM degree programs at steady rates. Specifically, in 2014, the National Center on Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) found that 10.5% of students enrolled in science and engineering degree programs identified with a disability. The purpose of this paper is to provide resources that instructors can use in their classes to promote accessibility and support all learners. In this paper we: 1) provide a brief review of the literature related to supporting students with disabilities in the context of STEM; 2) describe Universal Design for Learning, which is a design framework intended to encourage development of curricula that support all learners; and 3) provide a list of resources that physics instructors can use to increase support for students with disabilities.

The Efficacy of a Blended Peer Mentoring Experience for Racial and Ethnic Minority Women in STEM Pilot Study: Academic, Professional, and Psychosocial Outcomes for Mentors and Mentees

To address the persistent underrepresentation of women and racial and ethnic minorities in STEM, the current study utilized a quasi-experimental posttest waitlist control group approach to examine the effect of a 1-year virtual peer mentoring program on the academic, professional, and psychosocial outcomes of graduate mentors and undergraduate mentees enrolled in STEM degree programs at two historically black institutions. The findings demonstrated that mentors and mentees participating in the mentoring program experienced increased levels of community, STEM achievement, career self-efficacy, and intent to persist in STEM degrees and careers. Mentors experienced increased interest in science, engineering, and technology, and mentees experienced increased interest in science, engineering, and mathematics. The implications of the program, especially among women and racial and ethnic minorities enrolled in historically black institutions, are discussed, as well as suggestions for future study.

Addressing the Gender Gap: Women’s Perceived Barriers to Pursuing STEM Careers

This national study used the Delphi method to identify perceived barriers women face in the pursuit of STEM careers. The study used a series of three web-based questionnaires. The first round of the study used a questionnaire with an open-ended question to facilitate the generation of a wide array of response categories. In round two, respondents were asked to rate the 24 perceived barriers from round one on a Likert-type scale and to make changes as necessary. In round three, respondents were asked to provide a dichotomous indication of whether they agreed or disagreed with each of the items. Consensus on 22 perceived barriers was reached after three rounds. The major barriers identified by the respondents were: male domination of STEM careers, lack of awareness of educational and career opportunities, STEM education and toys directed at boys, a lack of female mentors/role models, minimization of barriers, personal expectations, the time required to become proficient in a STEM field, lack of encouragement from men, and the perceived glass ceiling of women in STEM careers. It is recommended that future research focus on the efficacy of formal, informal, and non-formal education models toward increasing awareness of educational and career opportunities in STEM. Researching effective methods to recruit and retain females in STEM degree programs is also suggested.

Mathematical Prerequisites for STEM Programs: What do University Instructors Expect from New STEM Undergraduates?

In many countries STEM degree programs face high dropout rates, which are often attributed to insufficient mathematical preparation of incoming undergraduates. However, it is largely unclear which mathematical prerequisites universities expect from their new STEM undergraduates. There are hardly official documents and it is even an open question whether there is a consensus among university instructors. The main goal of this study is therefore to describe the expected mathematical prerequisites for new STEM undergraduates. We conducted a Delphi study with German university instructors for first semester mathematics courses in STEM programs. The participants identified 179 prerequisites addressing: (1) mathematical content, (2) mathematical processes, (3) views about the nature of mathematics, and (4) personal characteristics. For 140 of these prerequisites there was a consensus regarding their necessity among the university instructors. The expected mathematical prerequisites are mainly on a basic level and do not require formalistic or abstract mathematical knowledge or abilities.

Making Sense of Persistence in Scientific Purgatory: A Multi-Institutional Analysis of Instructors in Introductory Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Courses

ABSTRACTPrior research points to a variety of factors that influence student persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree programs. Little attention, however, has been given to how STEM faculty understand these processes and subsequently frame their role in supporting students. To address this gap, this article reports on an analysis of the interpretive frames through which instructors of introductory STEM courses make sense of the factors that influence student persistence and success in STEM degree programs. Interview data were collected from 73 instructors of introductory STEM courses at six predominantly white institutions of higher education across the United States. The coding of interviews included concept and theoretical coding using cluster analysis, multidimensional scaling, and correspondence analysis. The coding process identified six unique interpretive frames through which instructors made sense of student persistence. These frames varied greatly in the ways that students were perceived to have agency in shaping their persistence and success in STEM, as well as the steps that can be taken to ameliorate social inequalities in these outcomes. The findings thus have important implications for how researchers and program designers frame strategies that can support student persistence outcomes in STEM degree programs.

Development and evaluation of the organic chemistry‐specific achievement emotions questionnaire (AEQ‐OCHEM)

AbstractAffect is associated with success and persistence in STEM courses and degree programs. Measurement tools that produce valid and reliable data are essential to capturing the impact of evidenced‐based instructional practices and reformed curricula on learning. We report the development of the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire for use in postsecondary organic chemistry courses (AEQ‐OCHEM). Instrument development was based on the control‐value theory of achievement emotions and included a revision of the seminal Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ) used to measure institutional‐level learning. A thorough psychometric evaluation of the AEQ‐OCHEM was conducted including alternative measurement models and an extensive investigation of the nomological framework. All AEQ‐OCHEM subscales were determined to be coherent and distinct. Implications for future research using the AEQ‐OCHEM are offered. A call for the development of more discipline‐ and course‐based instruments is made. Finally, tools that measure achievement emotions in the context of instructional laboratories and undergraduate research are needed for more robust considerations of affect in STEM contexts.

Rise of the 'Quants' in Financial Services: Regulation and Crowding Out of Routine Jobs

We document three stylized facts regarding employment in financial services: (a) the share of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workers grew by 30% between 2011 and 2017; (b) while the earnings premium of working in finance has grown, the STEM premium in finance has declined since 2011; and (c) regulatory restrictions in the financial services have grown faster than other sectors. We investigate three economic mechanisms underlying the employment patterns: (a) capital-skill complementarity, (b) relabeling of non-STEM into STEM degree programs, and (c) regulation. We show that only the rise in regulation can explain these joint dynamics.

What Types of Instructional Shifts Do Students Experience? Investigating Active Learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Classes across Key Transition Points from Middle School to the University Level

Despite the need for a strong Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) workforce, there is a high attrition rate for students who intend to complete undergraduate majors in these disciplines. Students who leave STEM degree programs often cite uninspiring instruction in introductory courses, including traditional lecturing, as a reason. While undergraduate courses play a critical role in STEM retention, little is understood about the instructional transitions students encounter upon moving from secondary to post-secondary STEM courses. This study compares classroom observation data collected using the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) from over 450 middle school, high school, introductory-level university, and advanced-level university classes across STEM disciplines. We find similarities between middle school and high school classroom instruction, which are characterized by a large proportion of time spent on active-learning instructional strategies, such as small-group activities and peer discussion. In contrast, introductory and advanced university instructors devote more time to instructor-centered teaching strategies, such as lecturing. These instructor-centered teaching strategies are present in classes regardless of class enrollment size, class period length, or whether or not the class includes a separate laboratory section. Middle school, high school, and university instructors were also surveyed about their views of what STEM instructional practices are most common at each educational level and asked to provide an explanation of those perceptions. Instructors from all levels struggled to predict the level of lecturing practices and often expressed uncertainty about what instruction looks like at levels other than their own. These findings suggest that more opportunities need to be created for instructors across multiple levels of the education system to share their active learning teaching practices and discuss the transitions students are making between different educational levels.

Geospatial Intelligence Workforce Development in a Changing World – An HBCU Focus

Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) plays a vital role in dealing with climate change and global water, energy, and food security. The GEOINT community needs a cadre of diverse and well-trained workforce skilled in technical aspects and societal impacts to harness the plethora of information being generated globally. Academia has to adapt and respond creatively to train and educate the next generation of GEOINT analysts and also address the negative stereotypes and academic isolation that result in African Americans avoiding STEM majors. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in particular are helping develop and nurture a pool of diverse GEOINT analysts by increasing student visibility and the quality of STEM degree programs and offering GEOINT education that acts as a bridge discipline between social and physical sciences. Direct contact with government agencies, participation in accreditation and certification activities and interactions between HBCUs are creating robust platforms on which GEOINT focused certificates, minors, and future degree programs are being developed. These offerings help students acquire knowledge and credentials that enhance their employability beyond their primary degree choice. This paper summarizes the status of the current education development efforts being implemented at HBCUs with the goal of integrating these efforts to promote GEOINT education.

Navigating Uncharted Waters: First-Generation Native Hawaiian College Students in STEM

This qualitative study explored the experiences of 10 Native Hawaiian members of Hawai‘i’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) community to understand how they navigate their cultural and professional identities. This article explores one of the major themes—being first-generation college students—and the narrators’ inspirations, influences, and challenges as first-generation college students in STEM-related degree programs. Within this context, the participants explore the impact of support networks, going beyond the educational level of their parents, as well as feelings of inferiority, tokenism, and marginalization as one of the few Native Hawaiian students in STEM degree programs. These findings are substantial in that they offer understanding related to a distinct racial/ethnic minority that is underrepresented in higher education and the sciences.

BOOK/MEDIA REVIEWS

Beyond Stock Stories and Folktales: African Americans' Paths to STEM Fields, edited by Henry T. Frierson and William F. Tate. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group, 2011, 332 pp. $134.95, hardcover.The research collected in Beyond Stock Stories and Folktales: African Americans ' Paths to STEM Fields seeks to add new rigor to investigations of why African American students earn science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees, and work in STEM occupations at a considerably lower rate than White students. While these disparities and their long persistence are well known anecdotes, stock stories, and folktales seem to dominate explanations of the phenomenon, rather than provide evidence. The papers organized by Henry Frierson and William Tate do an excellent job filling this gap, improving our understanding of the multiple dimensions of STEM disparities. Moreover, the book's weaknesses offer an opportunity for future research to grow out of Frierson and Tate's volume.The book is divided into five parts. The first (chapters one through three) describes the undergraduate experience for African Americans more broadly. The second part, chapters four through six, focus on males and the third part, chapters seven through nine, on females. Part four, chapters ten through twelve, addresses methods of ameliorating STEM disparities although these strategies are also alluded to in earlier chapters. Finally, part five, chapters thirteen through fifteen, reviews the experience of African Americans in PhD programs and faculty positions. The structure of the book is an appealing feature of Beyond Stock Stories and Folktales, because it highlights the quite different experiences of African Americans by gender and career stage. For example, the analysis of African American females in STEM degree programs provided in chapter seven reveals that they are approximately twice as likely as African American men to earn STEM degrees, a difference that is strongest in the life sciences. However, chapter 8 demonstrates that the strong performance of African American females relative to males in degree attainment is not replicated in the gender composition of STEM faculty, where women are outnumbered by men, even at HBCUs. African American men and women thus experience disparities at different points along the STEM pipeline.Chapter one identifies STEM programs that are successful and unsuccessful at producing African American graduate students relative to what would be predicted on the basis of the school's characteristics, particularly the racial composition of its undergraduate population. A similar approach is used in chapter twelve although the analysis in this later chapter is limited to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Assessing questions about STEM disparities to the data in this way is essential, and these chapters form important bookends for the volume, but it is necessary to note the limitations of these analyses as well. Outliers, both positive and negative, are always anticipated in any population. Chapter one and twelve's identification of programs that produce an unexpectedly high number of African Americans is therefore only a first step in understanding success in remedying STEM disparities. A crucial question is whether this success is random or the result of a specific practice, and whether that practice can be duplicated elsewhere or scaled up.Such questions are ably taken up in subsequent chapters. Perhaps the best example is the exceptional analysis of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County's Meyerhoff Scholar's Program (MSP) in chapter three, a program that is referenced by other contributors as well. The Meyerhoff program offers scholarships, advising, mentorship, peer support, internships, and research opportunities to African American-and after 1996, non-African American-STEM students. What is particularly appealing about the third chapter is that it offers a convincing counter-factual (those students who decline MSP offers, but continue to study STEM elsewhere) which can be used to help attribute the resounding success of Meyerhoff students to the Meyerhoff program itself. …