STEM Disciplines Research Articles

“A Group of People to Lean On and Learn From”: Graduate Teaching Assistant Experiences in a Pedagogy-Focused Community of Practice

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) influence undergraduate STEM students’ learning and experience because they teach most lab sections across STEM disciplines. Despite GTAs’ central role in lab teaching, their training is often focused on policies and expectations, rather than teaching effectively. In this study, we took a community of practice (CoP) approach to learning and facilitated a semester-long, pedagogy-focused CoP to address the lack of pedagogical development and support for GTAs. Our purpose was to collect, describe, and develop our understanding of the experiences of GTAs participating in our CoP while teaching reformed undergraduate exercise physiology labs. CoP members completed an asynchronous, SoTL-informed micro-course focused on evidence-informed teaching practices and active student learning support, which was then debriefed at the first CoP meeting. Each subsequent weekly meeting featured 30 minutes of CoP members reflecting on, discussing, and helping each other improve their teaching practices. At the end of the semester, we conducted semi-structured interviews with GTAs to learn about their experiences in the CoP and teaching. We found reflecting on and talking about their teaching was a novel experience for GTAs. They also described implementing teaching practices that were new to them, exercising autonomy, developing confidence, approaching teaching philosophies, and their experiences with psychological safety. Our findings suggest facilitating weekly reflection on teaching in a CoP can provide GTAs with opportunities to develop their teaching practices in meaningful, practical, and (sometimes!) enjoyable ways.

“Oscillating Between Hope and Despair”: A Narrative Case Study of Culture and Coping for Women in Engineering in Higher Education and Industry

Women in engineering in all phases (students, faculty, and industry) are traditionally underrepresented, and have been underrepresented in the field for decades (Eaton et al., 2020). The United States government has invested in STEM disciplines to address the low presence of women in STEM fields and the STEM workforce (National Academy of Sciences, 2016). Lower representation can be attributed to numerous factors, including a lack of institutional commitment, lack of representation throughout students’ upbringing, inappropriate cultural recruitment/outreach efforts, educational discrepancies throughout PK-12, and social expectations among others (Seymour & Hewitt 1997; Geisinger & Raman, 2013; Camacho et al., 2010; Smith et al., 2012). Not only is there low representation in the field of engineering, but also low retention for students, faculty, and industry due to the same factors that impact representation. The current qualitative study is a narrative case study utilizing relational interviewing. Participants included three women in the engineering field-- an undergraduate student, a professional engineer, and a faculty member and administrator. The key themes we uncovered-- Impact of Dominant Culture; Lack of Belonging/Connection; Justification of Existence; Emotional Turmoil; Coping Strategies—are woven throughout and across the narratives. Actionable change that we hope will come from this narrative study include determining ways we can make the engineering field more inclusive at all levels– in the classroom, on co-op, at universities, in academia, and on the field in industry.

Informal STEM learning: Examples from everyday spatial behaviors.

Extensive research has shown a close relationship between spatial abilities and success in STEM disciplines because many STEM problems often require students to reason about spatial information. Everyday spatial behaviors may predate and facilitate the development of spatial skills. Therefore, the current study examined children's everyday spatial behaviors and their associations with broader child development outcomes and individual differences. Based on previous research, we developed an everyday spatial behaviors questionnaire for children (ESBQC). A total of 174 parents and their children aged 4-9 years old participated. In ESBQC, parents rated how much difficulty their children experience with different spatial behaviors, such as putting together a puzzle, retracing a route, or hitting a moving ball. Factor analysis revealed 8 components in ESBQC. The internal reliabilities were relatively high. ESBQC was positively correlated with age but not with sex. Furthermore, ESBQC predicted sense of direction, even after considering age and bias associated with parent reports. Our questionnaire may provide a useful tool for parents and other stakeholders to better understand everyday spatial behaviors and encourage interest and competence in spatial skills, ultimately promoting STEM learning in informal, everyday settings.

STEM sense of belonging for 12-13 year-old talent search participants: Does gender matter?

Gaps in STEM performance have narrowed over the last 50 years (Leaper et al., 2012; National Science Foundation, 2013). Nonetheless, disparities remain in many STEM fields – with the largest occurring in the physical sciences, computer science, and engineering (UNESCO., 2012). Although gender gaps in science and math performance have been closing, gaps in STEM self-concept and aspirations continue. We investigated academically advanced 12–13 year-old students’ sense of belonging to STEM disciplines and examined the relationship among STEM sense of belonging, STEM classroom/peer climate, amount of STEM exposure, and the strength of self-identification with STEM. Although previous research established that features of the STEM classroom/peer climate can promote as well as detract from underrepresented students’ interest and retention in STEM (Riegle-Crumb et al., 2006; Roberts et al., 2018; Stake & Nickens, 2005), less is known about constructs that underlie STEM sense of belonging. Our results indicated no significant difference in STEM sense of belonging between academically advanced females and males. However, there is a statistically significant interaction between gender and self-identification with STEM. Key predictors of STEM sense of belonging identified by our regression model include classroom/peer climate and STEM self-identification.

Gender and higher education in African universities: A critical discourse analysis of key policy mandates in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda

In this comparative project, we analyze three policy documents that have guided gender-based higher education initiatives in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. Two research questions guided our work: (1) How do key policy documents conceptualize gender equity? and (2) How is gender equity discussed in relation to economic priorities and sociopolitical realities in each country? To address these questions, we conducted a critical discourse analysis of the following: Kenya’s Education and Training Gender Policy in Kenya, Rwanda’s Education Sector Strategic Plan 2018/19–-–022/23, and Uganda’s Gender in Education Policy. Corroborating the work of other scholars, we found that all three documents shared (1) an increased commitment to gender equality, (2) persistent underrepresentation of women in higher education despite increased participation of women over time, and (3) markedly low gender parity in STEM disciplines. Our findings are significant because they confirm that there is a disconnect between stated policy goals and actual student outcomes, which limits institutional success and economic development. Additionally, our analysis highlights differences in the strength in commitment to gender equity in policy mandates in these three countries. This is a key issue which warrants further research attention.

Evading Race: STEM Faculty Struggle to Acknowledge Racialized Classroom Events.

Undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) classrooms are not race-neutral spaces, and instructors have the power to center racial equity and inclusion in their instructional practices. Yet how instructors think about race and racism can impact whether and how they adopt inclusive practices. We examined how 39 undergraduate STEM instructors noticed anti-Black racialized events that were experienced by students in classroom narratives. We created narrative cases that described multiple common, harmful anti-Black racialized experiences based on extant research and guidance from an expert advisory board. Instructors responded to cases by describing the problems they noticed. Using frameworks of racial noticing and color-evasive racial ideology, we conducted qualitative content analysis of instructor responses. Color-evasive racial ideology was pervasive, with most responses (54%) avoiding any discussion of race, and few responses acknowledging race or racism in more than one event (10%). We characterized six forms of color-evasiveness. This study adds to a growing body of literature indicating that color-evasion is pervasive in STEM culture. Instructors would benefit from professional development that specifically aims to counter color-evasiveness and anti-Blackness in teaching. Furthermore, STEM disciplines must pursue systemic change so that our organizations value, expect, promote, and reward the development and enactment of a critical racial consciousness.

Sexual Violence against Women in STEM: A Test of Backlash Theory Among Undergraduate Women.

It has been argued that increasing the number of women in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields could mitigate violence against women by advancing gender equality. However, some research points to a "backlash" effect wherein gains in gender equality are associated with heighted sexual violence (SV) against women. In this study, we compare SV against undergraduate women majoring in STEM disciplines to those majoring in non-STEM disciplines. Data were collected between July and October of 2020 from undergraduate women (N = 318) at five institutions of higher education in the United States. Sampling was stratified by STEM versus non-STEM majors and male-dominated versus gender-balanced majors. SV was measured using the revised Sexual Experiences Survey. Results indicated that women majoring in STEM disciplines that are gender balanced reported more SV victimization in the form of sexual coercion, attempted sexual coercion, attempted rape, and rape compared to their peers in both gender-balanced and male-dominated non-STEM and male-dominated STEM majors. These associations held even after controlling for age, race/ethnicity, victimization prior to college, sexual orientation, college binge drinking, and hard drug use during college. These data suggest that the risk of repeated SV victimization within STEM populations may be a threat to sustained gender parity in these fields and ultimately to gender equality and equity. Gender balance in STEM should not be furthered without addressing the potential use of SV as a potential means of social control over women.

Gender imbalance in doctoral education: an analysis of the Spanish university system (1977–2021)

Doctoral education is a key feature of university systems, as well as a basic foundation of scientific practice. That period culminates in a dissertation and examination of the candidate that has been studied from several points of view. This paper reports the results of an analysis on the evolution and characteristics of gender imbalance of a complete doctoral system for a wide period of time. Data from the database Teseo was used in order to identify the individuals involved in the process, the scientific fields in which the dissertations where classified, and the institutions in which the examination took place. Results: the Spanish system shows a clear evolution towards gender balance, but also some concerning trends that are worth tracking. Seemingly, STEM disciplines look to be evolving more slowly than other branches of science in several aspects. A leaky pipeline is characterized in this system around the roles of supervisors, candidates, members and chairs of the dissertation committees. Gender assortativity is also studied and described, and its possible effects discussed around the academic relations that surround doctoral examination.

Comparing the effectiveness of video and stereoscopic 360° virtual reality‐supported instruction in high school biology courses

AbstractThe promise of using immersive technologies in learning has increasingly been attracting researchers' and practitioners' attention. However, relevant empirical works are usually conducted in fully controlled Virtual Reality (VR) laboratories, as opposed to conventional settings. This quasi‐experimental study compares the effectiveness of video learning resources to that of stereoscopic 360° VR, as supplements to the traditional instructional approach. The potential of such methods was examined in high school settings, in the context of the ‘Life and Evolution’ module, with participants (n = 70) divided equally into control and experimental groups. As a point of reference (control condition), we considered the adoption of Video Learning Resources, as students are more acquainted with this instructional method. In the intervention approach (experimental condition), students adopted the use of low‐end mobile‐VR (VeeR Mini VR Goggles). The key findings indicate differences in the learning motivation, confidence and satisfaction, but no statistically significant difference was identified regarding the factual or conceptual knowledge gains. The study offers insights on the potential of the investigated technologies in the subject of secondary school Biology and further provides implications for theory and practice. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Researchers' interest over the potential of Virtual Reality on different STEM disciplines is increasing consistently. An increasing number of efforts can be identified discussing the integration of multimedia learning resources in the secondary school context. Empirical studies on the subject of Biology are focusing on students' academic performance and achievement but not on learning motivation and satisfaction. What this paper adds This quasi‐experimental study comparatively examines academic performance, with the focus being on learning motivation and satisfaction, across different modalities (stereoscopic 360° Virtual Reality applications‐VR, Video Learning Recourses‐VLR). The findings demonstrate that both instructional methods are sufficient in enhancing students' knowledge acquisition and academic performance. The adoption of stereoscopic 360° VR influences students' learning motivation and impacts long‐term memory retention. Implications for practice and policy Educators are advised to consider the systematic adoption of “immersive” multimedia tools to enhance the subject of Biology as they can greatly encourage scientific inquiry. Instructional designers are advised to adopt open educational resources aligned to the curriculum of the local context. Educational researchers are advised to integrate stereoscopic 360°‐VR solutions in the conventional classroom settings.

Virtual Simulation Experiments: A Teaching Option for Complex and Hazardous Chemistry Experiments

Teaching through experiments has always been an indispensable teaching method in chemistry and other STEM disciplines. Letting more students have access to experiments at the frontier of scientific research is essential to stimulating students’ interest in chemistry. With the advancement of computer technology, virtual simulation experiments (VSEs) provide a new method to perform chemical experiments for the students who might have no resources to conduct an experiment. Here, a VSE of preparation and test analysis of flexible nanochannel membrane materials is designed by our group at Xiamen University in China, which is an interactive learning platform for studying and practicing experiments reported in the latest scientific articles. The objective pursued herein is to equip students with the appropriate tools and strategies required to perform a dangerous or complex chemical experiment. Multiexperimental paths are designed in different experimental modules and steps to meet students’ exploration needs. Our platform suits both on- and off-campus undergraduates or graduates with open access. After practicing 5–6 times, students can gain more professional skills and get higher scores in the test section as the feedback. VSE could become a remote-flexible experimental teaching method with a safer process, lower cost, and wider academic community, especially during the pandemic or in the postpandemic era.

Career in Geology: An Educational Project in Geosciences for the Enhancement of Student Learning in STEM Disciplines

For about 15 years, Italian universities have been experiencing a shortage in the choice of degree programs concerning Earth Sciences, in accordance with the national trend of disaffection to STEM disciplines, both for educational reasons and because of problems in the labor market. To counter this phenomenon, in 2016, the Ministry launched the National Geology Plan (NGP) through which universities interacted directly with educational institutions in their territory. Although the numbers were small, the increase in enrollment was encouraging until the 2018/2019 academic year, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The local project “GEOLAB-UNISANNIO” of the University of Sannio in Benevento is trying to implement an educational program related to STEM fields. The authors believe that either all undergraduates or the public in general would benefit from improved Geoscience education. Accordingly, the authors, as the scientific leaders of an educational program (“Career in Geology”) under the GEOLAB–UNISANNIO project, foresee the positive effects on students’ basic scientific knowledge and academic careers of this type of approach in students’ retaining. This educational program is illustrated in its articulations with the results obtained (field experiences, production of scientific reports and posters, documentaries, general satisfaction).

Science communication: The link to enable enquiry-based learning in under-resourced schools

Improving skills in STEM disciplines has been identified as essential in meeting South Africa’s economic growth targets. Despite this, learner uptake and completion rates within these subjects is currently well below international standards. We therefore examined key stages within the science education system to identify factors contributing to the low throughput in science education. We reviewed how national science policy changes have impacted the curriculum and teaching practices across different education establishments and socio-economic groups. We highlight that 80% of public schools have a lack of resources for practical learning, making it difficult for teachers to implement enquiry-based teaching methods. We explored strategies for effective engagement with science from the science communication literature and present recommendations to improve learner engagement with science in under-resourced school settings. Whilst education reform is needed at a national scale, we make a case for using science communication practices in science classes as a more immediate solution to generate greater interest and understanding, and encourage learners to pursue careers in science.Significance: We examined key challenges in the science education and training pipeline in South Africa and recommend the use of science communication practices to design resources to enhance science teaching and learning in under-resourced schools. Exploring ways of integrating informal learning tools into schools could be a simple approach to improve science teaching and learning in developing countries such as South Africa where infrastructural deficit poses a longer-term barrier to learning.

Training the Next Generation of Researchers in the Organ-on-Chip Field

Organ-on-chip (OoC) technology bridges the principles of biology and engineering to create a new generation of in vitro models and involves highly interdisciplinary collaboration across STEM disciplines. Training the next generation of scientists, technicians and policy makers is a challenge that requires a tailored effort. To promote the qualification, usability, uptake and long-term development of OoC technology, we designed a questionnaire to evaluate the key aspects for training, identify the major stakeholders to be trained, their professional level and specific skillset. The 151 respondents unanimously agreed on the need to train the next generation of OoC researchers and that the training should be provided early, in interdisciplinary subjects and throughout the researchers’ career. We identified two key training priorities: (i) training scientists with a biology background in microfabrication and microfluidics principles and (ii) training OoC developers in pharmacology/toxicology. This makes training in OoC a transdisciplinary challenge rather than an interdisciplinary one. The data acquired and analyzed here serves to guide training initiatives for preparing competent and transdisciplinary researchers, capable of assuring the successful development and application of OoC technologies in academic research, pharmaceutical/chemical/cosmetic industries, personalized medicine and clinical trials on chip.

Higher research productivity = more pay? Gender pay-for-productivity inequity across disciplines

Gender pay equity for academics continues to be elusive. Adding to scholarship around structural barriers to gender equity in academic settings, we investigate the link between scholarly performance and compensation. We expect high research productivity to be differentially associated with compensation outcomes for men and women. Building on social role theory, we hypothesize that these relationships are contingent upon whether researchers are inside or outside of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Using the h-index, compensation, and researcher demographics for 3033 STEM and social and behavioral sciences (SBS) researchers from 17 R1 universities, we applied multilevel modeling techniques and showed that cumulative research productivity was more strongly related to compensation for men versus women researchers. However, these effects only held in STEM disciplines but not in SBS disciplines. Based on these results, we recommend that institutions consider changing how pay analyses are conducted and advocate for adding explicit modeling of scientific performance-compensation links as part of routine pay equity analyses.

The Effects of a Mathematics Remedial Program on Mathematics Success and Achievement among Beginning Mathematics Major Students : A regression discontinuity analysis

The proficiency in Mathematics skills is fundamental to success in the STEM disciplines. In the US, beginning college students who are placed in remedial/developmental Mathematics courses frequently struggle to achieve academic success (Fay,2020). Therefore, Mathematics remediation in college has become an important concern, and providing Mathematics remediation is a prevalent way to help the students who may not be fully prepared for college-level courses. Programs vary however, and the effectiveness of a particular remedial Mathematics program must be empirically demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to apply the sharp regression discontinuity (RD) technique to determine the effectiveness of the Jack Leaps Summer (JLS) Mathematic remediation program in supporting improved Mathematics learning outcomes among newly admitted Mathematics students in the South Dakota State University. The researchers studied the newly admitted Fall 2019 cohort of Mathematics majors (n=423). The results indicated that students whose pretest score was lower than the cut-off point and who were assigned to the JLS program, experienced significantly higher scores on the post-test (Math 101 final score). Based on these results, there is evidence that the JLS program is effective in meeting its primary objective.

Impact of social media distraction on student evaluation of teacher effectiveness

PurposeThe study examines the impact of social media distraction on the relationship between student engagement and student evaluations of teachers (SET) in management education, part of the STEM disciplines. While it is widely accepted that student engagement and evaluation of teachers are two important constructs of active learning systems, their links, especially in the context of management education, have not been explored. This study seeks to fill this research gap as teachers' appraisal and career growth greatly depend on SET across higher education institutes worldwide.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 247 student participants from higher education institutes/universities using a questionnaire-based survey. Further, 15 students were interviewed to glean insights from their feelings regarding social media distractions and how it impacts their engagement and evaluation of teachers. For the quantitative and qualitative analyses, multiple regression and thematic analysis were applied, respectively. A word tree was developed to determine the association between experiences and contexts.FindingsThe results indicate that social media distraction moderates the relationship between students' cognitive engagement and their evaluation of teaching faculty. Social media distractions disrupt student engagement inside the classroom, leading to wrong/biased assessments of teachers' performance. Additionally, cognitive and emotional engagement significantly impacted student evaluations of the management college faculty.Originality/valueThe authors’ findings enable educators in higher education systems, specifically management education, to rethink the faculty feedback system and social media distractions impeding student engagement other than SET drawbacks.

ADVANCEMENT EXPERIENCES OF WOMEN IN ACADEMIC SENIOR LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IN STEM DISCIPLINES: A DELPHI ANALYSIS

This article explores structural support systems that lead to women's advancement and hindrance factors that either catalyze or delay women's career acceleration in higher education, specifically within STEM-related and workforce education disciplines. Through a consensus-building approach, a four-round Delphi analysis explored the experiences and perceptions of 17 panelists who currently or formerly served in a senior-ranked position within a higher education setting at five institutions in the Southeast United States. The panel included women who met the eligibility criteria as subject matter experts and held positions as deans in a STEM discipline, principal investigators over federally funded STEM and workforce education programs, and assistant vice presidents. A consensus was reached on nine factors supporting advancement and three factors inhibiting advancement for a total of 12 factors that were considered relevant to the research questions based on the mean score of 3.50. The panelists identified the following factors as relevant for supporting advancement: support systems, personal attributes, willingness to advance, leadership skills, curiosity about new family obligations and lack of compensation were the leading hindrances experiences, role models, opportunities for leadership roles, experiences in undergraduate and graduate studies, and awareness of institutional environments; and those for inhibiting advancement: conflicting family obligations, lack of compensation, and personal concerns. Support systems and personal attributes were the top-rated factors contributing to advancement, while conflicting family obligations and lack of compensation were the leading hindrances.

Materials are social constructs, but they also have agency

A puzzling matter about materials, particularly structural materials, is that they exhibit both a rather extraordinary extension in time, bridging over many historical and prehistorical ages, and a dynamic dimension, changing as they are in time to the point that materials may not be easily recognized as similar today as thousands of years ago. To understand this dichotomy, it is necessary to reach beyond materials science and STEM disciplines and to collect concepts and methods from SSH. Materials and energy are at the core of the physical world in which society functions: they provide the structure of the artifacts that we need, along with the ability to make and use them. They do not exist in an absolute, Aristotelian world, but are invented along historical time, by people to meet their needs, hic et nunc. Materials are social constructs, as is the “theory” (technology, science in modern language) that gives us the keys for making them. As society changes historically, people’s needs evolve and “new” materials are created on the shoulders of older ones, in a kind of evolutionary process. This is the view of social constructivism. This evolutionary metaphor is a first explanation of the continuity between, say, iron from a Roman bloomery and steel, as a contemporary commercial product. This has been formulated as the Social Cycle of Materials (SCM) by sociologists of Knowledge and Innovation, as a process of continuous innovation in which materials are socially constructed over and over again, a process often called “progress”. The continuity from old to new materials needs to be explained by some other model, however, to be fully understood: indeed, why is iron enduring so much, when it might have been displaced by another material at each evolutionary step and it didn’t. The explanation we propose is to accept that “materials have agency”, i.e. that they themselves are the actors of their own perenniality. This refers to another model, the Actor Network Theory (ANT) of Latour et al., which analyzes how change is pulled by a combined network of actors, that include people, organizations, non-human living entities and inanimate things as well.

Exploring Assessment Approaches of STEM Learning in Extended Reality Environments

This paper explores assessment approaches within the unique context of Extended Reality (XR) learning environments, which offer immersive and contextualized experiences. Focusing on STEM disciplines, the paper presents four distinctive XR-based assessment cases, exploring the discipline, context, purpose, and results of each. These insights aim to contribute to a richer understanding of learning assessment in XR environments and provide direction for future assessment designs in this emerging field.

Preparing a Diverse Future Workforce in Marine and Fisheries Science: The NOAA Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center (LMRCSC) was established in 2001 as a multi-institutional collaborative program with the goal of preparing a diverse future STEM workforce in marine and fisheries sciences. Using best practices for recruiting, mentoring, and training students, the Center has had a significant impact on the number of individuals from underrepresented groups earning degrees in NOAA-related sciences. From 2001 to 2022, the LMRCSC recruited and trained 1,092 students (516 BS, 241 MS, 89 PhD, and 246 non-degree students), and graduated 630 (401 BS/BA, 173 MS/MA, 56 PhD) students. About 77% of the graduates belong to underrepresented groups. Of the LMRCSC graduates, 41 work for NOAA or NOAA contractors. Since 2016, 67 graduate students have taken part in internships at NOAA Laboratories across the United States. Institutional capacities built using NOAA funds have enabled Historically Black Colleges and Universities collaborating with the Center to leverage funds to develop several programs, including a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates site in marine and estuarine science. The NOAA LMRCSC has become a model collaborative educational partnership that should be replicated elsewhere to enhance diversity in STEM disciplines, particularly the geosciences.