Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Systems Thinking Applied To Higher Education Curricula Development, Reza Rahdar, Mark London, Yuetong Lin, Hong Jiang

Publications

Systems Thinking (ST) is a general and yet nebulous term that describes an approach to understanding and working with complexity in the real world. ST seeks to evaluate different behaviors of individual system elements when they operate in isolation as opposed to when they are integrated as part of a larger system and placed within a particular operating environment. The education environment consists of multiple systems with different digital content, learning goals/outcomes that serve different stakeholders including teachers, learners, and administrators. The inherent complexity and interaction among these various educational system elements and functions make this environment a worthy candidate …

The Influence Of In-School Time (Ist) And Out-Of-School Time (Ost) Learning Experiences On Aviation Career Entry, Andrew Koch

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Increased demand for aviation has created a skill and workforce gap. An understanding of how to increase this potential workforce is vital to ensure the ongoing success and sustainability of the commercial aviation industry. This research explores science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs as a potential avenue for increasing the available aviation workforce. Specifically, it explores how STEM programs and their associated learning experiences influence career entry.

Utilizing a mixed methodology approach, this research retrospectively explored the self-reported effect of out-of-school time (OST) and in-school time (IST) STEM experiences on aviation career development. Through interviews, a survey instrument was …

Community In The Online Science Classroom, Emily Faulconer

Publications

As online course offerings rise, it is important to design and facilitate courses to promote community so students feel connected to each other and the instructor and feel a sense of belonging as a scientist. Online discussions are a common feature for building and nurturing community and combating isolation. Discussions stimulate active learning, a strategy to promote participation in knowledge construction. This sense of community and science identity is important for both persistence and performance. I will share efforts to promote community while reducing extraneous cognitive load through discussion design and targeted instructor professional development. I will share data on …

Technology-Enabled Active Learning In Gen Ed Courses, Emily Faulconer

Publications

Technology tools can achieve active learning in asynchronous online courses. The H5P platform promotes self-paced, self-directed active learning through activities including branching scenarios, crosswords, flashcards, and interactive videos. This tool can provide formative feedback through features that allow provision of automatic feedback for a variety of question types (e.g.; fill in the blank, multiple choice, image hotspot, and drag and drop). H5P activities were embedded in the learning management system of two introductory general education courses. Learning analytics data and student perspectives were collected. This data will be used to guide future use of this technology tool in online courses.

H-Stem Infusions In Lower-Level General Education Courses, Emily Faulconer

Publications

This session presents the justification for infusing humanities into lower-level STEM general education courses, pointing to co

Hook, Line, And Sinker: How To Build Dei In Stem Focused Institutional Repositories By Putting Student Research First, Anne Marie Casey, Debra Rodensky

Publications

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) Scholarly Commons is an institutional repository on the bepress Digital Commons platform that highlights the intellectual output of the university’s faculty, staff, and students. Established in May 2013, Scholarly Commons has grown to include faculty, student, and staff research, instructional materials, journals, magazines, conferences, and research data. By August 2022, the collections consisted of more than 34,600 works downloaded nearly 4.9 million times. An important part of this collection is the research submitted by undergraduate students, which offers a variety of diverse voices.

Building Undergraduate Research In A Fully Online Engineering Program, Robert Deters, Brent Terwilliger, Emily Faulconer, Kelly A. George

Publications

This paper describes the creation and implementation of the support network of the Research Scholars Program at the Worldwide campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Funded by an NSF IUSE grant, the purpose of this new program is to increase the opportunity for online engineering and engineering technology students to participate in undergraduate research. Studies have shown that participation in research can have an important impact on students, though online students are likely underrepresented in undergraduate research. The Research Scholars Program uses existing support systems of the campus while also building new components. These new components developed for this project are …

Service-Learning In Undergraduate General Chemistry: A Review, Emily Faulconer, C. J. Y. Kam

Publications

Background: Service-learning is gaining recognition as a valuable pedagogy for students to gain both academic and psychosocial benefits. This high-impact practice allows students to achieve course learning objectives while contributing to their community's needs. A review from 2007 revealed a lack of research focused on the topic in the prior decade, despite the interest that was shown by the American Chemical Society in 2000. Purpose: This review of recent case studies on the topic provides future researchers and practitioners with an understanding of the current state of service-learning in undergraduate chemistry courses. Methodology/Approach: To create a representative sample of recent …

Online Undergraduate Research In Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics Courses, Emily K. Faulconer

Publications

What constitutes research can vary across fields. Even within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, the definition of research is flexible. For example, although science research and engineering research use similar methods and both produce valuable insights into the nature of our physical world, they have notably different focuses, with sciences aimed at expanding the outer edges of our knowledge and engineering fixed on systematic structuring of knowledge for application (National Academy of Engineering, 1995). Regardless of the STEM discipline, undergraduate research is a mentored experience in which students engage in original work, disseminating their outcomes to a larger …

Undergraduate Research In A Fully Online Engineering Program: Building The Framework Of Support, Emily Faulconer, Robert Deters, Brent Terwilliger

Publications

Undergraduate engineering programs often face low persistence and retention.

• Females and ethnic minorities are underrepresented and show lower persistence
• Certain minorities may be less likely to enroll in online programs
• Lower persistence and retention in online students across disciplines

Undergraduate research may increase persistence and retention.

• Online students likely underrepresented due to access limitations

Stem Education As A Vital Preventive Response To A Pandemic, Emily Faulconer, Katherine Baker, Oliver Grundmann, Sarah Haines, Tyra Hall-Pogar

Publications

T he extraordinary work to develop feasible vaccines, effective medical treatments, and accurate epidemiological studies to alleviate the SARS-CoV2 pandemic would not have been possible without collaboration between academia, industry, government laboratories, and regulatory agencies that speak the common language researchers around the world know—science!

Assessment As A Learning Opportunity: Feedforward With Multiple Attempts, Emily Faulconer

Publications

High quality feedback is well-known to provide multiple student benefits, especially if students are provided the opportunity to apply the feedback. It reasons, then, that we can support student success on summative assessments by combining multiple attempts with high-quality immediate feedback. This study explores student behaviors, performance, and perspectives regarding this strategy.

Stem Laboratory Safety On A Shoestring, Emily K. Faulconer

Publications

Classroom laboratory activities promote learner development in scientific reasoning and interest in science. Learner safety is a critical concern. Many states have adopted OSHA standards (e.g. The Laboratory Standard 29 CFR 1910.1450 or Hazard Communication Standard 29 CFR 1910.1200) or developed their own standards to protect public school teachers and staff, but these do not extend to students.

Infographic: Career Readiness Challenge (Crc) Summary, Melanie Canfield, Leroy Long Iii, James J. Pembridge, Matthew Verleger Dr.

Publications

This infographic summarizes the final report from a study titled, Gamified Online Platform to Support Student-Athlete Career Readiness, funded by the NCAA Innovations in Research and Practice Grant Program. The purpose of the study was to create a gamified online career readiness program to enhance attitudes towards career planning and support the translation of professional competencies. Over a span of seven weeks, 116 student-athletes from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) - Daytona Beach participated in the study. The student-athletes competed in three different sports. Among ERAU student-athletes, the highest contribution of professional competencies involved: a) leadership, b) communication and c) collaboration. …

Infographic: Black Unicorns - Pre-College Access To Stem And Non-Revenue Sports, Kobe Reese, Leroy Long Iii, Morris R. Council Iii, Sharnnia Artis

Publications

This infographic was created to support the article titled Black Unicorns: STEM Access for Black Student-Athletes in Non-Revenue Sports. The article is for the 3rd Annual Conference of CoNECD - Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity. The infographic covers Black students' pre-college access to non-revenue generating sports and STEM. Suggested recommendations are included.

Infographic: Division 1 - Power 5 Football Stars In Stem, Sydney Jones, Leroy Long Iii

Publications

In this infographic, football stars studying degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are showcased. The infographic focuses on racial/ethnic minoritized students who pursue STEM degrees and play football at a university in a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 - Power 5 conference. For each football star, their name, university and major are included. While pursuing majors such as biology, engineering and psychology, these diverse individuals provide counterexamples of who can pursue rigorous majors and high-demand sports.

Infographic: Division 1 And Stem, Mckenzie Jackson, Leroy Long Iii

Publications

In this infographic, basketball players studying degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are highlighted. The infographic focuses on female and male racial/ethnic minoritized students who pursue STEM degrees and play basketball at universities in a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 conference. For each basketball player, their name, university, major and accomplishments are depicted. As STEM majors in fields like engineering and economics, these diverse students provide counterexamples of who can pursue rigorous majors and high-demand sports.

Seeing And Understanding Data, Beverly Wood, Charlotte Bolch

Publications

Visual displays of data are commonly used today in media reports online or in print. For example, data visualizations are sometimes used as a marketing tool to convince people to purchase a certain product, or they are displayed in articles or magazines as a way to graphically display data to emphasize a certain point. In general, it is hard to imagine the majority of disciplines in science and mathematics not using data visualizations. However, before standard data visualization techniques were developed (and accepted by the community), mathematicians and scientists very rarely used graphical displays or pictures to represent empirical data.

Infographic: Career Competencies Of Erau Student-Athletes, Melanie Canfield, Leroy Long Iii, James J. Pembridge

Publications

This infographic includes five word clouds containing the perceived career competencies of student-athletes at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU). Embry-Riddle is a mid-sized private Southeastern university that competes in the Sunshine State Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division II. Findings from one-on-one interviews with 16 current or past ERAU student-athletes led to the creation of the infographic's five word clouds. Among ERAU student-athletes, the most commonly perceived career competencies are a) career preparation, b) professionalism, c) communication and d) collaboration.

Infographic: Stem And Medical Careers Related To Sports, Melanie Canfield, Leroy Long Iii

Publications

This infographic includes science, technology, engineering, math and medical (STEMM) careers related to sports. The targeted audience for the infographic is college counselors, professors, coaches and student-athletes who pursue STEMM degrees while playing a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sport. The infographic may also be useful to K-12 students, parents, teachers and coaches. A job description, average salary, and undergraduate major are listed for a variety of careers such as data scientist, video game designer, sports engineer, sports economist, physical therapist, and mental health clinician.

Institutional Barriers To Black And Latino Male Collegians’ Success In Engineering And Related Stem Fields, Leroy Long Iii, Trevion S. Henderson, Michael Steven Williams Dr,

Publications

Diverse people and perspectives are needed to spur innovation and tackle societal problems. A wealth of untapped intellectual and economic potential exists among historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups – including Blacks and Latinos – who have not had equitable access to engineering and related STEM fields. For Blacks and Latinos who are accepted into engineering and related STEM fields, they face a number of barriers to their success which lead to low retention and graduation rates. In historically male-dominated fields such as engineering and related STEM disciplines, Black and Latino men have remained underrepresented at the student and faculty ranks. To …

Updated Guidelines, Updated Curriculum: The Gaise College Report And Introductory Statistics For The Modern Student, Beverly Wood, Megan Mocko, Michelle Everson, Nicholas J. Horton, Paul Velleman

Publications

Since the 2005 American Statistical Association's (ASA) endorsement of the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) College Report, changes in the statistics field and statistics education have had a major impact on the teaching and learning of statistics. We now live in a world where "Statistics - the science of learning from data - is the fastest-growing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) undergraduate degree in the United States," according to the ASA, and where many jobs demand an understanding of how to explore and make sense of data. In light of these new reports and other …

Infographic: Be An Engineer, Leroy L. Long Iii, William Wanyagah

Publications

Infographic on how to become an engineer.

Infographic: Institutional Barriers To Black And Latino Male Collegians’ Success In Engineering And Related Stem Fields, Leroy L. Long Iii, William Wanyagah

Publications

Infographic was created to support the article Institutional Barriers to Black and Latino Male Collegian's Success in Engineering and Related Stem Fields, which can be read here:

A Comparison Of Online And Traditional Chemistry Lecture And Lab, E. K. Faulconer, J. C. Griffith, Beverly L. Wood, S. Acharyya, D. L. Roberts

Publications

While the equivalence between online and traditional classrooms has been well researched, very little effort has been expended to do such comparisons for college level introductory chemistry. The existing literature has only one study that investigated chemistry lectures at an entire course level as opposed to particular course components such as individual topics or exams. Regarding lab courses, only one study is available and it involves moderating variables that are largely uncontrolled. In this work, we compared the student pass rates, withdrawal rates, and grade distributions between asynchronous online and traditional formats of an introductory chemistry lecture as well as …

Real Data Is Messy... And Manageable, Beverly Wood, Carl Clark

Publications

Using real data in an introductory statistics course is a delicate balance between reality and manageability. The internet is awash with data that is useful for students to answer questions of interest to them but it is not always formatted as neatly as textbook data. The ASA's recently endorsed GAISE College Report 2016 points to the plausibility of considering multivariable thinking even if only at a rudimentary level. With both messy and multivariable data in mind, we present some activities/projects and sources for data to give introductory students the opportunity to engage with real data.

Using Journals To Assess Non-Stem Student Learning In Stem Courses: A Case Study In Cybersecurity Education, Gary Kessler, Glenn S. Dardick, Douglas L. Holton

Publications

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University offers a minor course of study in cybersecurity as an option in our undergraduate Homeland Security program. Since the students are, by and large, social scientists, the focus of the program is to build hyper-awareness of how cybersecurity integrates within their professional aspirations rather than to provide cybersecurity career-level proficiency. Assessing student learning of the technical aspects cannot be performed using traditional tests, as they would not properly measure what the students are learning in a practical sense. Instead, we employ journals and self-reflection to ask the students to express and demonstrate their learning. Although somewhat harder …

Stem Education Discrepancy In The United States And Singapore, Elizabeth K. Worsham, Aaron Clevenger, Kelly A. Whealan-George

Beyond: Undergraduate Research Journal

One of the hottest topics over the past several years has been science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. The United States is lagging behind in the STEM education rankings as compared to its counterparts in Europe and Asia, including Singapore, ranked second overall in math and science based on the Program of International Student Assessment. Even as such a small country, Singapore has one of the best education systems in the world, one of the busiest ports, and is a leader in the science and technology market. One factor of this is the family life and the culture that …

Gaiseing Into The New Guidelines, Robert Carver, Megan Mocko, Jeffrey Witmer, Beverly Wood

Publications

The first GAISE College Report came out in 2005. Over the past ten years our discipline has changed in many ways, including but not limited to what type of data is easily available, the technology that we use, as well as how we teach students. In this presentation we will briefly start with how the new GAISE 2016 guidelines and goals have changed, including the two new emphases of statistical thinking: giving students experience with multivariable thinking and with the investigative process. So how do you start to implement these new ideas? In this presentation, we will demonstrate an activity …

Multivariate Thinking In An Intro Stats Course – Is It Possible?, Beverly Wood

Publications

Many of our students have an intuitive sense that there is more to the story than univariate or bivariate data can tell us. We can acknowledge and encourage that habit of digging deeper by demonstrating some ways to look at additional variables. Simpson’s paradox and side-by-side scatter plots are ways to provide a glimpse of more complex analysis that are accessible to students in an introductory course with or without strong quantitative skills.