Education Commons^™

A Pluriversal Model For Equity In Family And Youth Stem Identity Research Praxis, Remy Dou, Heidi Cian

Department of Teaching and Learning

In this paper presentation, we present how we (re)consider and take into account the consequentiality of both our own (as researchers) and our participants’ onto-epistemological beliefs in relation to STEM and STEM contexts, particularly attending to the relationship between these beliefs and identity development through an ethico-political praxis centered on notions of equity as a pluriverse.

Using Familial Stem Identity To Understand Identity Development Through Social Units, Remy Dou, Heidi Cian

Department of Teaching and Learning

Using case study data, we illustrate the need for a more comprehensive model of STEM identity development that accounts for the STEM affiliation of youths, their caregivers, and siblings–not as a collection of individuals but as a coherent and functional unit. We introduce the concept of familial STEM identity as a framework on which to expand STEM identity development theory, particularly as it relates to learners whose social identities are tightly embedded in family relationships, values, and culture. We emphasize the value of familial STEM identity in the context of diversification of STEM fields and formal and informal STEM programming …

Child Science Identity Interview Guide And Protocol, Heidi Cian, Remy Dou

Department of Teaching and Learning

While many data collection tools exist to elicit how individuals think about prototypical STEM persons (e.g., the Draw-a-Scientist assessment), such tools fail to capture the nuance of how individuals think about STEM and STEM personhood and how those perceptions change according to context and “in real life”. We designed the Child Science Identity Interview Guide and Protocol to learn about how youth see everyday experiences as “STEM” (or a particular subfield) and think of themselves and those in their social orbits as STEM persons.

Impact Of Out-Of-Class Science And Engineering Activities On Physics Identity And Career Intentions, Robynne M. Lock, Zahra Hazari, Geoff Potvin

Department of Teaching and Learning

The number of physics bachelor’s degrees that are awarded in the United States annually is small compared to most other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, and only about one-fifth of these degrees are awarded to women. Understanding the influence of students’ science and engineering experiences on career choices is critical in order to improve future efforts to increase the number of physics majors and the participation of women. In this work, we use a physics identity framework to examine the impact of out-of-class science and engineering activities on three identity dimensions and the relationship between these dimensions and physics …

Practitioner’S Guide To Social Network Analysis: Examining Physics Anxiety In An Active-Learning Setting, Remy Dou, Justyna P. Zwolak

Department of Teaching and Learning

The application of social network analysis (SNA) has recently grown prevalent in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education research. Research on classroom networks has led to greater understandings of student persistence in physics majors, changes in their career-related beliefs (e.g., physics interest), and their academic success. In this paper, we aim to provide a practitioner’s guide to carrying out research using SNA, including how to develop data collection instruments, setup protocols for gathering data, as well as identify network methodologies relevant to a wide range of research questions beyond what one might find in a typical primer. We illustrate these …

Digital Graduations And Reunions, Mandayam Thirunarayanan

Department of Teaching and Learning

• Online students deserve the same rituals of graduation as place-based students, and the same opportunities to hold reunions with their sometimes worldwide cohort of peers.

• Digital graduations and reunions can provide these options for online students, using avatars and appropriate scenes on virtual reality platforms.

• Besides the increased engagement with the institution and possibly the alumni association, these virtual convocations can save travel costs otherwise required for the widely distributed online participants to attend in person

Does Postsecondary Persistence In Stem Vary By Gender?, Barbara King

Department of Teaching and Learning

The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is often explained by women’s greater likelihood to leave STEM at each key juncture from elementary school into the workforce. It is important to examine this more closely and look for points in the pipeline where gender equity exists. This study uses nationally representative data from a recent cohort of college students to investigate thoroughly gender differences in STEM persistence. Results indicate that no significant gender differences in persistence exist. This finding holds among those in computer science, engineering, mathematics, and physical science, and for those in life science. …

Traversing Stem: Creating Pathways For Social Justice In The United States, Remy Dou

Department of Teaching and Learning

The system that once motivated Americans to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers now presents obstacles to racial and ethnic minorities, women, and the poor. This paper highlights both the advantages and hindrances inherent in STEM professions while advocating for improved access to these pathways.

A Study Of Undergraduate Students’ Use Of Educational Technologies, Mandayam Thirunarayanan, Carolyn Castillo, Amanda Gauzens, Elizabeth Lamacchia, Stephanie Reynolds, Fiorella Tovar

Department of Teaching and Learning

A qualitative study was conducted to investigate the use of technology by undergraduate students at a large public research university. Forty student interviews were conducted, 20 female students and 20 male students. Students were asked questions about their technology usage, such as: "How do you use technology for academic purposes," What kinds of technological devices do you use," "What software and applications do you use?" Students’ were also asked questions about the usage of technology in classrooms and the university’s technology resources. The findings of this study indicate that a variety of commonly available technological tools such as email, web …

Survey Of 11th And 12th Grade Students Who Have Completed Online Courses, Mandayam Thirunarayanan

Department of Teaching and Learning

A survey was conducted to determine eleventh and twelfth grade students’ experiences in and thoughts about online courses that they completed. Ninety-one eleventh and two hundred and thirty-one twelfth grade students participated in the study. The study participants were enrolled in a charter middle/high school in a diverse metropolitan city in the US. The survey contained items that were designed to determine study participants’ likings and preferences for taking online versus face-to-face courses, their thoughts about academic misconduct in online courses, and thoughts about communication and interaction with online teachers / facilitators. The study participants were also asked whether it …

Using Digital Participatory Research To Foster Glocal Competence: Constructing Multimedia Projects As A Form Of Global And Civic Citizenship, Sarah Mathew

Department of Teaching and Learning

Digital Participatory Research (DPR) combines grass-roots participatory research and photojournalism, asks students to investigate assets and issues within their community, and facilitates civic participation by using problem-posing and praxis-orientated methods. Although there is a vast amount of research documenting the impact of DPR at the local level, there is limited research about the use of this methodology to facilitate global competence. This study presents the results from a multi-case study analysis of two groups simultaneously engaging in the DPR project; one in Miami, Florida and one in Kingston, Jamaica. This research study examines whether this methodology helps contribute to glocal …

Equity Investigation Of Attitudinal Shifts In Introductory Physics, Adrienne Traxler, Eric Brewe

Department of Teaching and Learning

We report on seven years of attitudinal data using the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey from University Modeling Instruction (UMI) sections of introductory physics at Florida International University. University Modeling Instruction is a curricular and pedagogical transformation of introductory university physics that engages students in building and testing conceptual models in an integrated lab and lecture learning environment. This work expands upon previous studies that reported consistently positive attitude shifts in UMI courses; here, we disaggregate the data by gender and ethnicity to look for any disparities in the pattern of favorable shifts. We find that women and students …

Life-Integrated Evolving Digital Diplomas, Mandayam Thirunarayanan

Department of Teaching and Learning

• A digital diploma could serve as a record of a person's life, organized around the awarding of different diplomas indicating various levels of educational achievement.
• The owner of the diploma could add family and personal history, including events, people, and places important to his or her life story.
• Publicly available digital diplomas could inform future generations as well as the current one, highlighting good and bad episodes in a person's life and serving as a resource for future research into communities and events.

Factors That Affect The Physical Science Career Interest Of Female Students: Testing Five Common Hypotheses, Zahra Hazari, Geoff Potvin, Robynne M. Lock, Florin Lung, Gerhard Sonnert, Philip M. Sadler

Department of Teaching and Learning

There are many hypotheses regarding factors that may encourage female students to pursue careers in the physical sciences. Using multivariate matching methods on national data drawn from the Persistence Research in Science and Engineering (PRiSE) project (n=7505), we test the following five commonly held beliefs regarding what factors might impact females’ physical science career interest: (i) having a single-sex physics class, (ii) having a female physics teacher, (iii) having female scientist guest speakers in physics class, (iv) discussing the work of female scientists in physics class, and (v) discussing the underrepresentation of women in physics class. The effect of these …

Investigating Student Communities With Network Analysis Of Interactions In A Physics Learning Center, Eric Brewe, Laird Kramer, Vashti Sawtelle

Department of Teaching and Learning

Developing a sense of community among students is one of the three pillars of an overall reform effort to increase participation in physics, and the sciences more broadly, at Florida International University. The emergence of a research and learning community, embedded within a course reform effort, has contributed to increased recruitment and retention of physics majors. We utilize social network analysis to quantify interactions in Florida International University’s Physics Learning Center (PLC) that support the development of academic and social integration. The tools of social network analysis allow us to visualize and quantify student interactions and characterize the roles of …

Moving Toward Change: Institutionalizing Reform Through Implementation Of The Learning Assistant Model And Open Source Tutorials, Renee Michelle Goertzen, Eric Brewe, Laird H. Kramer, Leanne Wells, David Jones

Department of Teaching and Learning

Florida International University has undergone a reform in the introductory physics classes by focusing on the laboratory component of these classes. We present results from the secondary implementation of two research-based instructional strategies: the implementation of the Learning Assistant model as developed by the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Open Source Tutorial curriculum developed at the University of Maryland, College Park. We examine the results of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) for introductory students over five years (n=872) and find that the mean raw gain of students in transformed lab sections was 0.243, while the mean raw gain …

Transactional Distance Theory: Should It Be Revised To Exclude Student-Student Interactions?, Mandayam Thirunarayanan, Elizabeth C. Ferris, Stanley P. Pressey, Wellington Andrees

Department of Teaching and Learning

A survey was conducted to determine university students' opinions about the three kinds of interactions, student-course instructor, student-course content, and student-student, which are considered to be important and even essential according to transactional distance theory. The survey also included an item about the fourth kind of interaction mentioned in the literature, which is learner-interface interaction. One hundred and seventy students who were enrolled in different sections of online courses participated in the study and completed a survey during the second half of the semester, after they have had opportunities to interact with the instructor, course website and with other students …

“Digital Nerds” And “Digital Normals”: Not “Digital Natives” And “Digital Immigrants”, Mandayam Thirunarayanan, Herminia Lezcano, Myra Mckee, Gus Roque

Department of Teaching and Learning

The designations “digital immigrants” and “digital natives” have become quite popular among educators in the United States and perhaps other countries. However, the two designations are not based on research. A survey of 359 college students who were born in the digital age showed that participants exhibited both “native” as well as “immigrant” behaviors. The authors discuss the findings of the study and propose the two alternative designations “digital nerds” and “digital normals.”

Cheating In Online Courses: A Qualitative Study, Manuel Vilchez, Mandayam Thirunarayanan

Department of Teaching and Learning

The purpose of this study was to explore the ways students have cheated in online courses. Ten students who had either cheated in online courses or knew of others who had cheated in online courses were interviewed for the study. The participants’ responses to the interview questions were analyzed using qualitative methods of data analysis. The results show that the majority of the participants had cheated or knew of someone who had cheated in online courses. Working together with other students, referring to class notes, textbooks, and other useful course materials while taking online tests and quizzes, and using Internet …

Students’ Content Preferences For Taking Online Courses, Mandayam Thirunarayanan, Ivette Bayo, Ryan Slater

Department of Teaching and Learning

A survey was conducted to determine university students‟ course taking preferences in different content areas. Courses that were included in this study were taken from the undergraduate catalog of a university in a large and diverse metropolitan area. More than 35,000 students are currently enrolled in this university that serves students from all over the world, including the Caribbean and Latin American countries. One hundred and thirteen students participated in this study. A convenience sampling method was used to select the study participants. The study did find significant differences between males and females in terms of online course taking preferences. …

Students’ Content Preferences For Taking Online Courses, Mandayam Thirunarayanan, Ivette Bayo, Ryan Slater

Department of Teaching and Learning

A survey was conducted to determine university students’ course taking preferences in different content areas. Courses that were included in this study were taken from the undergraduate catalog of a university in a large and diverse metropolitan area. More than 35,000 students are currently enrolled in this university that serves students from all over the world, including the Caribbean and Latin American countries. One hundred and thirteen students participated in this study. A convenience sampling method was used to select the study participants. The study did find significant differences between males and females in terms of online course taking preferences. …

Students’ Content Preferences For Taking Online Course, Mandayam Thirunarayanan, Ivette Bayo, Ryan Slater

Department of Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Will You Hire The Services Of Professionals Who Completed Their Professional Preparation Completely Online?, Mandayam Thirunarayanan

Department of Teaching and Learning

More and more people are obtaining their credentials online every year. This number is likely to continue to grow for several years before it begins to level off. Research has shown there is some skepticism and bias among potential employers against potential employees who have earned their credentials in fully online settings. Such research is restricted to employers in organizations. However, a number of individuals and families do also hire or contract the services of various professionals who serve individuals and families. The purpose of this exploratory study is to determine if individuals will or will not contract the services …

Validation Study Of The Colorado Learning Attitudes About Science Survey At A Hispanic-Serving Institution, Vashti Sawtelle, Eric Brewe, Laird Kramer

Department of Teaching and Learning

The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) has been widely acknowledged as a useful measure of student cognitive attitudes about science and learning. The initial University of Colorado validation study included only 20% non-Caucasian student populations. In this Brief Report we extend their validation to include a predominately under-represented minority population. We validated the CLASS instrument at Florida International University, a Hispanic-serving institution, by interviewing students in introductory physics classes using a semistructured protocol, examining students’ responses on the CLASS item statements, and comparing them to the items’ intended meaning. We find that in our predominately Hispanic population, 94% …

Modeling Instruction: Positive Attitudinal Shifts In Introductory Physics Measured With Class, Eric Brewe, Laird Kramer, George O'Brien

Department of Teaching and Learning

Among the most surprising findings in Physics Education Research is the lack of positive results on attitudinal measures, such as Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) and Maryland Physics Expectations Survey (MPEX). The uniformity with which physics teaching manages to negatively shift attitudes toward physics learning is striking. Strategies which have been shown to improve conceptual learning, such as interactive engagement and studio-format classes, provide more authentic science experiences for students; yet do not seem to be sufficient to produce positive attitudinal results. Florida International University’s Physics Education Research Group has implemented Modeling Instruction in University Physics classes as …

Technology As A 'Flotation Device', Mandayam Thirunarayanan, Taylor Campbell

Department of Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.