Education Commons^™

An Introductory Course In Electrical Circuits And Coding For Deaf And Deafblind Middle School Students, Becca Leininger, Christina Yang, Makayla Quinn, Jeffrey Jalkio, Rahaf Bahajry, Mellissa Ingabire, Annmarie Thomas

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

in is the first Deaf charter school in the United States, opening in 1993. The school serves students in the Twin Cities and Western Wisconsin from ages 2 to 21 who are primarily Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing students, often being visual and/or tactile learners. All students who attend have Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and fall under the special education category, defined by the Minnesota Department of Education as students who “have a disability and need specialized instruction” (Minnesota Department of Education, n.d.). At , students are instructed in American Sign Language (ASL) and English is primarily taught through …

Imagination To Innovation: Design Thinking For Young Learners, Lindsey Herlehy, Cassandra Armstrong

Publications & Research

Design thinking is the intersection of engineering design and social-emotional learning. Today’s learners must be empathetic problem solvers capable of defining problems and designing appropriate solutions to meet the needs of the user. In this session, participants will experience design thinking through literature-based scenarios appropriate for early learners. They will analyze and compare their own models to those of others and compose a lesson that will engage students in the design thinking process.

Families Engineering Together In Communities And At Home: Facilitation Guide, Amber Simpson, Adam V. Maltese, Peter Knox, Jungsun Kim, Jing Yang, Sawsan Werfelli, Kelli Paul, Monika Mayer

Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership Faculty Scholarship

In this publication, we present a program that serves as a bridge between families and learning environments of all kinds, and provides a pathway for engineering design to be incorporated into the everyday lives of families and kids. Supporting families in their home environment, the program offers a fun and approachable introduction to thinking about engineering and bringing these concepts to life. Conversation and engagement between children and caregivers is so important during elementary school years - this program encourages families to think about, discuss, and experience engineering in a fun and accessible way in their home and community environments. …

Associating High School Science, Technology, Engineering, And Math (Stem) Course-Taking With Future Earnings For Non-Stem Employed High School Graduates, Beth Marchant

Dissertations

Problem

Due to the current resurgence of attention given to high school students' taking courses in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), research was needed to examine whether a relationship between the number of STEM courses a high school student, who graduates from high school and works in a non-STEM field, completes and the success of that student 10 years later. One measure of student success, future earnings, can be measured quantitatively and is included in the Education Longitudinal Survey of 2002 (ELS:2002) data set, an ideal source of information to evaluate this issue (Institute of Education Sciences, 2019b).

Method …

Streaming With Butterflies: A Whole School Stream Project, Carey L. Averill, Janet M. Herrelko

Journal of Catholic Education

This study explores the commitment of a school faculty to use the pedagogical practices needed to employ a project-based unit of Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STREAM). The unit of study concentrated on environmental sustainability of butterflies through project-based learning (PBL). Teacher interviews were analyzed to reveal the similarities and differences, strengths and weaknesses in the teachers’ reactions to implementing a cross-curricula content unit designed for a pre-kindergarten (PK) to eighth grade school. Analysis of teacher data and classroom artifacts provided evidence of: content mastery at the student levels; implementation of scaffolding for developmental levels; and the need …

Dual-Country Middle School Science Air Quality Curriculum Guide, Cassandra R. Sendra

Honors Capstones

The focus of this unit is to engage and enrich students’ perspectives on the human impact on Earth in different areas of the world. This unit will allow students to interact and learn about students in another country, learn about the air quality similarities and differences and what could affect the results of testing the air quality in two communities in different parts of the world. The goal of this unit is to have the students understand how humans impact the world around them and to compare their community to another community. The students will be accomplishing this goal utilizing …

The Perceived Impact Of Project-Based Learning (Pbl) On Middle School Students’ Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics (Stem) Identity And Engagement, Jonathan Olivera

Theses and Dissertations

Despite multiple calls to action, the United States educational system is not producing enough viable contributors in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). These fields continue to grow, and the STEM workforce continues to expand. However, the pool of citizens prepared to enter these professions is not keeping up with the demand. Part of this issue can be attributed to a diminishing interest in STEM by students, particularly during their identity forming adolescent years. Active learning strategies have proven successful in preventing this decline with project-based learning (PBL) being one of the most successful active learning strategies. …

Byoe: Making Connections Between Fluid Mechanics And Abstract Painting, Thomas Shepard, Charles Mossey, Jacob Swanson, Colin Huntington, Mary Murphy

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

This bring your own experiment (BYOE) paper details two iterations of a hands-on painting project that has been well-received by fluid mechanics students. In the conception of this project the authors have explored many of the relevant parameters for different painting techniques: drip painting, pendulum painting spray painting, and acrylic pours – one subset of which is spinning pours. These methods were explored both in terms of relevant fluid mechanic phenomenon as well as with hands-on experimentation, reviewing instructional videos and talking with artists. These efforts led to creation of short instructional videos that students can watch before undertaking their …

Designing And Implementing A Novel Graduate Program To Develop Transdisciplinary Leaders In Urban Sustainability, Megan M. Wallen, Ingrid Guerra-Lopez, Louay Meroueh, Rayman Mohamed, Andrea Sankar, Pradeep Sopory, Ryan Watkins, Donna R. Kashian

Biological Sciences Faculty Research Publications

Urban settings, where >50% of the world's population resides, are increasingly faced with environmental challenges that threaten their sustainability. Aging infrastructure, water and air pollution, and increasing recognition of environmental injustices highlight the need for professionals to employ complex scientific reasoning across disciplines where they can effectively address the multifaceted issues of urban sustainability. Here we present an innovative model for preparing the next generation of public, private, and academic leaders to address complex problems in urban sustainability. Specifically, we outline the design and implementation of an integrated, adaptable graduate training program, with the goals of science leadership, curriculum relevancy, …

Supporting Students With An Autism Spectrum Disorder In Engineering: K-12 And Beyond, Jennifer L. Kouo, Alexis Hahn, Sarah Morton, Jay Gregorio

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Individuals with disabilities, including individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. With the importance of STEM skills in future employment and other disciplines, effective instructional strategies must be identified to enhance early and sustained access to STEM for students with ASD. However, the literature identifying effective STEM-specific supports and practices for this population of students is sparse and regarding engineering, there are no empirical studies that focus on teaching engineering skills to students with ASD. Therefore, the article aims to provide an overview of the available literature on the perspectives …

Build Your Own Body Mod: Empowerment Through Prototyping And Design, Anaiss Arreola, Katherine R. Ganim

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

When you don’t have a hand, what could you have instead? This article introduces the impact of inviting youth with disabilities to learn tools and technology to design their own solutions and advocate for their own future. This approach to programming is rooted in a mindset of designing WITH, not FOR. Not only are design outcomes improved when users are incorporated into the process, but this approach has been shown to improve confidence in creating one’s own solutions. These programs include hands-on “design-your-own-body-mod” workshops, as well as a budding inclusive design consultancy led by youth with disabilities. Through this programming, …

Scope Process: Fostering Students' Design Outcome Effectiveness, Andrew J. Hughes, Cameron D. Denson

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to help Technology and Engineering Educators scaffold engineering design and problem-solving experiences so that students taking technology and engineering courses will develop an improved ability to design. Technology and Engineering Education seems to increasingly focus on problem-solving, design, and engineering. Technology and Engineering Education is not the only discipline with this focus. The fact that both Science and Technology and Engineering Education are similarly focused on the teaching and learning of engineering begs the question of what separates technology and engineering educators from science educators in the teaching of engineering? Lewis (2004) cautioned that …

Engineering Technology Programs Outreach To K-12, Alok Verma

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The Engineering Technology (ET) degree emphasizes hands-on application and implementation. Graduates holding this degree play a valuable role in economically growing the US and keeping it internationally competitive. However, “engineering and engineering technology, are widely misunderstood… the public sector (employers, students, high-school counselors, politicians and the general public) needs to be educated as to the particular value of each,” according to Engineering.com [1]. The National Academy of Engineering states, “Unlike the much better-known field of engineering, engineering technology is unfamiliar to most Americans and goes unmentioned in most policy discussions about the US technical workforce. This is even though workers …

A Combined Approach To Evaluating Student Engagement In A Virtual Laboratory Environment, Aster Sigel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study measured student engagement with galvanic skin response (GSR) using a one group randomized pretest–posttest design in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning environment to develop effective intervention strategies for engaging students in STEM learning experiences. Student engagement is a multi-dimensional interrelated construct, consisting of emotional, behavioral, and cognitive components, and varies in different subjects and learning environments. Student engagement in higher education is associated with academic achievement, retention, and graduation. In this study, the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive engagement data of 30 college students were obtained using self-report surveys, observation and physiological data, which was recorded …

Students’ With Blindness And Visual Impairments Level Of Engagement In Science And Engineering Practices, Tiffany A. Wild, Natalie Shaheen, Danene K. Fast, Julia Averill, Karen Koehler, Kathleen Farrand

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

There is a lack of research on science-process skills and abilities of students with blindness and visual impairments to apply those skills (Jones, Forrester, Robertson, Gardner, & Taylor, 2012). This study aims to provide additional information on how students with blindness and visual impairment are engaged in science and engineering practices in order for teachers to gain a better understanding of how students with visual impairments can learn engineering practices. The Student Inquiry Review (Hilson & Wild, 2015) that examines the scientific and engineering practices as defined in the Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Core Ideas …

Stem On A Budget 2.0: A Basic Guide For Teaching Stem In Ops Afterschool Programs, Tyrome Williams

Criss Library Faculty Publications

This guide was written with the goal of providing a rough lesson plan, which could act as a supplemental guide for sustainable activities in order to better serve their students and children in the Omaha area. The STEM lessons I chose in this guide are engaging, hold educational value, and are cost effective if used properly. This book contains valuable information to supplement STEM learning. Whether you’re a teacher, instructor, supervisor for children, or a substitute; you will always be the most valuable asset in your classroom. This is a free use document and should not be sold for any …

Enabling And Threatening Factors Affecting Persistence. A Qualitative And Quantitative Study On Rural First-Generation Stem Students’ And Stem Faculty's Perspectives., Travis A. Miller

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This study focuses on the factors that enable and threaten rural first-generation STEM students’ persistence. Limited empirical studies are available that focus on rural first-generation STEM majors’ persistence. Quantitative analysis was conducted using Kruskal Wallis H and Mann-Whitney U tests to determine any significant differences with the survey results. Content and thematic analysis was conducted on the student and faculty interviews to determine themes of enabling and threatening factors affecting persistence.

Enabling factors affecting persistence were found to be: Drive or Motivation, Experiences and skills, and Support. These were both faculty and student interview themes whereas a …

Stem Opportunities - High School 2019, Huey-Xian Kelly Wong, Madeleine Rauhauser, Annie Morgan Nelson

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

This publication details the lesson plan for the “Opportunities in STEM” club for the summer of 2019. This club began out of a desire to educate high school students about the opportunities and careers available in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. Often, students feel that the prospect of entering a STEM field is daunting and out of their grasp. What it means to be a scientist is often unclear, and students never consider opportunities out of the fear of the unknown, particularly when science is associated with complexity and difficulty. This lesson plan integrates experiments with a wealth …

Stem On A Budget: A Basic Guide For Teaching Stem In Ops Afterschool Programs, Tyrome Williams

Criss Library Faculty Publications

This guide was written with the goal of providing a rough lesson plan, which could act as a supplemental guide for sustainable activities at sites in the Omaha area to better serve their students and children. The STEM lessons I chose in this book are engaging, hold education value, and are cost effective if used properly. This book contains valuable information to supplement STEM learning. Whether you’re a teacher, instructor, supervisor for children, or a substitute; you will always be the most valuable asset in your classroom. This is a free use document and should not be sold for any …

Exploring Engineering Club, Samantha Corey, Stephen Yaghmour

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

Exploring Engineering Club provides an introduction to a variety of engineering problems and piques the students’ interest in engineering by accompanying the information with hands-on problem solving activities mainly related to structural engineering. The activities will often be done in teams which will teach good teamwork skills, as well as problem solving and critical thinking.

Counseling Program Intervention For Improving African American Students’ Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics Dual Enrollment Participation, Sonja L. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

African Americans are underrepresented at all points in the STEM pipeline from K-12 coursework into professional careers. The reasons for this underrepresentation are varied and reflect a myriad of contributing factors based on early academic experiences, sociocultural influences, and the effects of standardized testing. The three-fold purpose of this study was to implement a counseling program to inform nine African American study participants about the dual enrollment opportunity at their high school, to gain perspective about the factors which shaped their STEM disposition, and to determine the effect of the program on their attitudes about dual enrollment participation. The study …

Approaches To Integrating Engineering In Stem Units And Student Achievement Gains, Elizabeth A. Crotty, Selcen S. Guzey, Gillian H. Roehrig, Aran W. Glancy, Elizabeth A. Ring-Whalen, Tamara J. Moore

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

This study examined different approaches to integrating engineering practices in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum units. These various approaches were correlated with student outcomes on engineering assessment items. There are numerous reform documents in the USA and around the world that emphasize the need to incorporate engineering into science education. The authors of this study contend that different approaches to integrating engineering in STEM units correlate to larger student achievement gains in engineering, based on assessment items developed from the Framework for Quality K–12 Engineering Education (Moore, Glancy, Tank, Kersten, & Smith, 2014). The goal of this work …

Evaluating Student Perceptions And Learning Outcomes: Differences Between Sla-Able And Non-Sla-Able Introductory Programming Courses, Christina M. Frederick, Matthew B. Pierce, Andrew Griggs, Lulu Sun

Publications

Engineering, computer science and subsequently knowledge of programming language is an increasingly vital skill in today’s workforce. First year engineering students are introduced to programming in addition to rigorous course loads in their first year. Second Language Acquisition (SLA) has been applied to programming course content delivery and has shown promise as an effective means of better educating new students. Results will be presented from a NSF funded study conducted over the past two years. SLA was applied to an introductory engineering course that teaches basic programming skills in a Blended learning environment (SLA-aBLe). This study examined four semesters worth …

Transforming Lives At Sheridan : A Tribute To Dr. Mozammel Khan, Lorraine Fraser, Mozammel Khan, Iain Mcnab, Jack Urowitz, Soumitra Nandi, Srinivas Ganapathyraju, Kam Ho, Daniel Zrymiak

Books and Websites

The original 2017 edition of this title was published in recognition of Dr. Mozammel Khan’s career in quality assurance instruction and positive impact on graduates of Sheridan College’s Quality Assurance Manfacturing Management program (PQUAS), with proceeds from the book supporting the Mozammel Khan scholarship Foundation. Khan, originally from Bangladesh, taught in Singapore before immigrating to Canada in the 1990s, where he founded the first post-secondary QA program of its kind in Ontario at Sheridan College.

Editor Lorraine Fraser collects heartfelt letters of appreciation to Khan from alumni of the PQUAS program, who share memories, successes and challenges from their time …

Steam In Arabia, Troy Bickham

The STEAM Journal

In late 2014 Texas A&M University at Qatar, which is a small branch campus focusing on engineering, launched its own STEAM initiative. Its goals are to better integrate the liberal arts into the engineering curriculum and to demonstrate the relevance of the arts to STEM-based education and research. What follows is a description of the initiative and the reception it has received.

An Examination Of Accessible Hands-On Science Learning Experiences, Self-Confidence In One’S Capacity To Function In The Sciences, And Motivation And Interest In Scientific Studies And Careers., Mick D. Isaacson, Cary Supalo, Michelle Michaels, Alan Roth

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This study examined the potential relationship of accessible hands-on science learning experiences to the development of positive beliefs concerning one’s capacity to function in the sciences and motivation to consider science as a college major and career. Findings from Likert survey items given before and after engaging in accessible hands-on science laboratories show that students who were blind or had low vision (BLV) were more likely to agree with the following items after engaging in accessible science experiences: 1) I plan on enrolling as a science major in college; 2) My educational experiences, so far, have given me the …

A Predictive Correlation Study: What Human Capital And Demographic Factors Relate To Credential Completion For Stem Students?, Rick Jenkins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation examines the educational attainment of college STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) students in Arkansas in an attempt to identify the human capital factors that predict completion of a STEM degree or certificate. Students seeking STEM credentials (having STEM majors) were identified using the state higher education database from the state of Arkansas, including public four-year universities and two-year colleges. STEM students from 32 colleges and universities were included from three cohorts and tracked for six academic years. The criterion variable was STEM credential earned, whether or not the student earned any STEM undergraduate credentials. The predictor human …

An Insurmountable Gap: Can We Balance Incoming And Outgoing Erasmus Exchanges Among Engineering Students?, Susan O'Shaughnessy

Stream 2: Curriculum

Because of the global power of English and being situated in an English-speaking country, Irish higher education institutions do not have to try very hard to attract Erasmus students from across Europe. However, persuading Irish students, particularly students of engineering, to undertake an Erasmus exchange in another European country is a much more difficult process. This paper outlines the recent history of Erasmus exchanges of engineering students to and from the Technological University Dublin and examines the push and pulls factors that affect these exchanges. It presents the results of a small-scale research project into the factors that encourage or …

Engineering Education For High-Ability Students, Branson Lawrence, Diane Hinterlong, Laurie S. Sutherland

Publications & Research

Over the course of their careers, engineers command a breadth and depth of knowledge from science, mathematics, society, politics, and economics that is needed for continuously updating their knowledge of the latest discoveries and advances. Driven by curiosity and enabled by rapid information technology, engineers are kept abreast of the latest advancements almost instantaneously. Today’s scientific knowledge is fluid and complex, yet these traits of engineering remain constant: the ability to define structure, plan, repeatedly evaluate, and align results to the initial objective. Engineering teachers need to facilitate their students’ ability to access information effectively and to apply it appropriately, …

Teacher Influence On Elementary School Students’ Participation In Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics, Courtney Hartman

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of elementary school teachers on encouraging students’ interest and participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The researcher sought to understand what methods teachers use in their classrooms to encourage students to participate in STEM subjects and programs. This mixed methods study consisted of a questionnaire to collect quantitative data, as well as an interview of selected teachers who participated in the questionnaire to collect qualitative data. The data was analyzed to determine the overall perceptions of teachers regarding the importance of encouraging students to participate in STEM. The qualitative …