Education Commons^™

P-39 Interdisciplinary Diffusion Lab, Sable Canales, Chloe Gaban, Mickey Kutzner

Celebration of Research and Creative Scholarship

Diffusion is a principle in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. The rate of diffusion is affected by temperature, particle size, concentration, and material type. Students can model the rate of diffusion based on particle size by contrasting blue and yellow dyes. Two petri dishes containing agar-agar receive a drop of dye at the center. The radius of expansion is recorded over time. The variance of the distribution grows as 𝜎2=4𝐷𝑡, where 𝜎2 is the variance, D is the diffusion constant, and t is time. Graphing variance versus time gives a slope of 4D. Diffusion constants vary by particle size, allowing for …

Teaching Tough (Math) Topics (T^3): Survey Of High School Teachers, Darl Rassi

Scholar Week 2016 - present

The goal of this survey was to investigate which Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II, topics practicing secondary mathematics teachers found to be the most difficult to teach. A survey was created and sent to high school teachers within a 60-mile radius of Olivet. The research team described and categorized the responses.

Increase Faculty Awareness Through Personal Experiences In Active Stem Teaching And Learning At A Christian University, Aram Agajanian

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Jesus Christ taught through parables, examples, teamwork, repetitions, and questions, which are the foundations of active teaching and learning. The purpose of this presentation is to increase and invoke faculty involvement in active teaching for optimal student achievement. To emulate Jesus, educators should continually implement hands-on lab experiments; peer-to-peer, project-based, and brain-based teaching methods in their classes. Mentoring students includes providing help through office hours, teaching assistants, weekly homework and exam review sessions, and study groups. Relating to students through social occasions such as meals at the cafeteria; attending the student organizations and sports events, concerts, competitions are additional creative …

Materials For Clean Energy, Ashwin Ramasubramaniam, Omar A. Abdelrahman

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

The need to transition to new and cleaner forms of energy has never been more imperative in the face of climate change. At the same time, the twin pressures from increasing global demand for energy and the scarcity of critical materials needed for new energy technologies impose additional challenges in making the transition to clean energy sources. In this workshop, we will explore how theory, modeling, and experiment are rising to the challenge of designing inexpensive, earth-abundant materials to enable the next generation of clean energy technologies. The goals of this workshop are: 1) to integrate concepts from chemistry, physics …

From Lcd To Living Liquid Crystals, Shuang Zhou

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Liquid crystals are a family of materials that can flow like a liquid, while having orientation order, like a crystal. Traditional liquid crystals are formed by small rod- or disk-shaped organic molecules that spontaneously align with each other. The orientation direction of the liquid crystals molecules, or the director, is sensitive to external fields. For example, a few volt of electric field can cause the director rotate 90 degrees and completely change the optical property of the sample. The susceptibility to external fields made liquid crystals an ideal material for optical switching applications, the best example of which is the …

Exploring Youths’ Decision To Participate In Stem Afterschool Programs, Brooke M. Stafford, Virginia L. J. Bolshakova

Indiana STEM Education Conference

STEM afterschool programs offer a range of academic, social, and emotional outcomes to support positive youth development. In particular, STEM afterschool programs have been shown to increase student self-efficacy and interest in pursuing STEM careers (Chan et al., 2020; Dabney et al., 2012). Youth must first choose to attend the STEM afterschool programs to gain the many benefits offered. However, participation in such programs decreases as youth get older and encounter additional competing interests (i.e., home responsibilities, jobs, etc.). To get youth to attend, STEM afterschool programs must meet the needs of youth by leveraging resources, activities, and relationships.

This …

What Are The Benefits Of Stem Integration In Mathematics Classrooms In Underserved Schools? A Literature Review, Steve Heinold

Indiana STEM Education Conference

The importance of mathematics education and STEM education in K-12 education in the United States is peaking. High stakes testing and focus on 21st Century skills have many schools scrambling to increase test scores while better preparing their students for the “real world.” This literature review looks at the history of STEM education in the United States and the recent focus on STEM integration into core individual subject classrooms, especially mathematics. This review also analyzes the effectiveness of STEM integration to help students from underserved schools and communities. While there is some evidence that engaging and responsive after-school STEM programs …