Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

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 …

Teachers' Perceptions On Women In Stem: Breaking The Stereotypes, Lili Zhou, Alankrita Chhikara, Stephanie Oudghiri, Araba A. Z. Osei-Tutu, Razak Kwame Dwomoh

Indiana STEM Education Conference

We designed and offered a Professional Development (PD) course for K-12 in-service teachers and educators across Indiana to address critical theory on race, immigration, English Language Learners (ELLs), and gender. In this study, we investigate teachers’ perceptions on gender stereotypes in STEM from the PD course. We report findings from the analysis of participants’ responses from pre-course surveys and posed discussions during the course.

K-12 Teachers' Perceptions Of Stem, Brittany Vancil, Emily Nicholson

Indiana STEM Education Conference

Integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) has been a recent trend in education. We set out to understand how K-12 teachers define STEM, their comfort level with teaching STEM, perspectives on the pros and cons of STEM, and the teaching tools and platforms they use. Our research concludes with the implications for teachers, administrators, curriculum developers, and researchers, as well as helpful resources.

Steppin' Into The Future: Connecting Bipoc Youth To Stem Careers, Jessica V. Forrester, Lesa M. Covington Clarkson, Elena A. Gullickson

Indiana STEM Education Conference

Exposure to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers is essential for urban education in order to diminish deficit-based assumptions about who can succeed in STEM. Prepare2Nspire (P2N) acts as an extracurricular tutoring outlet for in-school mathematics learning as well as an opportunity for youth to become exposed to STEM careers through various methods. First, undergraduate mentutors of color represent a number of STEM academic majors. Second, P2N invites STEM professionals of color to discuss how they use various mathematics skills within their career. The purpose of introducing students of color to underrepresented college students and STEM professionals is to …

Contents, William S. Walker Iii, Lynn A. Bryan Ph. D., S. Selcen Guzey, Elizabeth Suazo-Flores

Indiana STEM Education Conference

No abstract provided.

Engaging Elementary School Students And Their Parents In After-School Stem Activities, Yury A. Kuleshov, Anne M. Lucietto

Indiana STEM Education Conference

The authors are implementing a program to engage elementary school students and parents in after-school STEM activities to promote technical disciplines and STEM career paths. Children from Hispanic communities are often left behind when promoting STEM among the youth. The program will be available in two languages, English and Spanish, to address the gap. The authors will conduct post-program surveys with the parents of the participating children to access participants’ perception of STEM. The results will guide future STEM activities among elementary school students in the local community and be useful for other STEM teachers, who target Hispanic and other …

Bridging The Gap: Connecting High School Students To Advanced Stem Education Through Online Learning Modules, Kathleen Jurecka, Stacey D. Lyle Rpls

Indiana STEM Education Conference

Texas A&M researchers worked in partnership with the VA to extend the memorialization of Texas A&M Aggie veterans enshrined in the Houston National Cemetery though the Aggie Legacy Project. This was accomplished using advanced technologies to create a 3D module of the cemetery, an artificial intelligence to read and record headstone content, interactive maps, and biographical tributes to Texas A&M veterans. The team also created educational content designed to introduce K 12 students to these technologies with the intent to help students explore STEM career paths early , allowing time to make informed decisions regarding future career opportunities.

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 …

Goals And Proceedings Information, Preface And Acknowledgments, William S. Walker Iii, Lynn A. Bryan Ph. D., S. Selcen Guzey, Elizabeth Suazo-Flores

Indiana STEM Education Conference

No abstract provided.

Built Environment And Well-Being Of Stem Women Employed In The Petroleum Sector, Natalie Robinson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Male-dominated occupations have received increased attention concerning the environmental health and retention of its specialized workforce. Research studies on the impact of the environment suggest that ecological and infrastructure conditions of the workplace affect the psychological health and physical well-being of employees across both public and private industries. Presently, in the context of the oil and gas and engineering field, there is a literature gap in exploring whether workplace conditions or adverse circumstances in male-dominated built environments negatively affect the psychological well-being and retention of women employed in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) occupations. For the current qualitative study, …

Representations And Perceptions Of Sexual Pleasure In Undergraduate Anatomy And Physiology (A&P) Courses, Brenda Kucha Anak Ganeng

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The World Health Organization defines sexual pleasure as an important part of positive sexual experiences and sexual health. Despite its importance, sexual pleasure is often omitted from sexual health programming and curricula. Undergraduate human anatomy and physiology (A&P) courses serve as avenues where students who intend to go into health care learn foundational knowledge about human body systems and health; however, to our knowledge, there has been no documentation of if and how A&P students learn about sexual pleasure. A&P textbooks serve as an important resource for curriculum design and learning. I sought to answer the following research question: How …

Using Reflection To Promote Success In Community College Mathematics, Sherilin Ruth Heise

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Community college mathematics faculty have instituted changes to address inadequate preparation of incoming students to learn college-level mathematics. However, they could do more to develop student cognitive capabilities to enable underprepared students to successfully learn college mathematics. This basic qualitative study examined the perceptions of community college mathematics instructors who made their classrooms more reflective, including using reflection as an instruction activity for students entering college underprepared to learn college-level mathematics. The conceptual framework consisted of Baxter Magolda’s epistemological reflection model of college student development and Schoenfeld’s theoretical model for teaching mathematics. Open coding of interviews with 10 community college …

Motivation And Statistics Anxiety Among Adult Online Learners: The Mediating Role Of Self-Regulated Learning, Angela Hubbard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Students who experience statistics anxiety have reported struggling with academic performance, an increase in academic dishonesty, and an aversion to careers or majors that are perceived to rely on statistical skills. Research has suggested that statistics anxiety is related to lower levels of motivation; however, it remains unknown if, or to what extent, self-regulated learning skills, including management of time and effort, complex cognitive strategy use, simple cognitive strategy use, contacts with others, and academic thinking may play a role in the relationship between motivation and statistics anxiety. This research study relies on the theoretical foundation of social cognitive theory, …

Introduction To Series And Parallel Circuits, Craig E. Shepherd, Shannon M. Smith

Library Faculty Publications and Presentations

This lesson begins with an introduction on electricity and how it is formed at the molecular level. It then lets learners explore and define a circuit. This introduction is followed by an exploration where learners develop series and parallel circuits using LED lights and motors. Learners then consider what constitutes a series and parallel circuit, open and closed circuit, and a short circuit. The lesson concludes by having learners consider advantages, limitations, and instructional uses of various electronics kits (e.g., Snap Circuits, littleBits, LilyPad, paper circuits, conductive dough) based on their ability to display circuit paths.

Newgrange Skyscape In Stellarium, Frank Prendergast

Articles

Newgrange Skyscape in Stellarium is a new customised landscape planetarium model giving the user the unique ability to interrogate the dynamic sky above the Boyne Valley on any date of interest during the hours of daylight or darkness. Archaeological, astronomical and topographical points of interest are labelled in the model and visible even during the hours of darkness. These are summarily described in a short gazetteer appended at the end of the instruction document to encourage further exploration of the wonderful heritage found in the Boyne Valley and beyond.

Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=aGPsVGBXkY4

Watch on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/493351576

Student Attitudes Toward Science: Growth Trajectories And Thematic Analysis Of A Project-Based Internship, Robert Donavin Mccreary

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In order to increase the number of students pursuing science-related careers, science educators and policymakers have advocated for improving student attitudes toward science (SAS) through inquiry-based instruction, such as project-based learning (PBL). While challenges exist in PBL, research suggests cogenerative dialogue (cogen) can ease the transition for students from traditional learning to PBL. In the present study, a secondary analysis was conducted to examine SAS growth trajectories from participants of the Work With A Scientist Program (WWASP) – a student-scientist internship which integrated cogen with PBL. Additionally, a thematic analysis was conducted to explore student attitudes toward cogen. The growth …

The Nature Of Informal Educators In Science Centers, Science Museums And Zoos: Case Studies Of Personnel, Practices, Programs, Outreach And Organization, Courtney Erickson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Informal Science Centers provide educational experiences for people across the country daily. While the terminology is often similar, there are differences between institutions, often determined by mission, organizational structure, and experience. The purpose of this study was to identify shared experiences and unique characteristics of eight informal science centers around the country. The significance of the study was to add to the understanding of informal science educators' responsibilities, organizational structure, decision-making process, and development. Data for the study was collected using qualitative measures through a researcher-created interview, sent to fifteen institutions, after the recommendation from two well-known informal science researchers. …

An Investigation Examining The Closing Of The Achievement Gap In Louisiana With The Ngss, George Cage

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and its implications of being a curricular and pedagogical intervention in terms of narrowing the achievement gap in science education for Children of Color. In using the explanatory mixed methods design, standardized test data and one-on-one interviews were examined to assess the effectiveness and impact of the NGSS’ implementation in the state of Louisiana. This study utilized student performance results from the LEAP 2025 to conduct a statistical analysis that measured trends in performance by Children of Color, specifically Black students, before and after the implementation …

Using Extension As A Vehicle To Reduce Elementary Student Food Waste, Rebecca Koetz, Rod N. Williams

Journal of Extension

Extension can play a key role in providing food waste education nation-wide. This study is the first to evaluate the effects of environmentally focused lesson plans on elementary student knowledge and perceptions regarding food waste. Herein we provide suggestions on concepts to teach students for the greatest impact on food waste reduction. We also provide avenues to incorporate food waste education into existing Extension programming. We hope the study can inspire and inform further food waste program development, assessment, and implementation through Extension.

Knowing The World Through Mathematics: The Interconnections Between Social Justice And Mathematics For Preservice Mathematics Teachers, Gabrielle Gagnon

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Participatory Action Research: Undergraduate Researchers Engaging Secondary Students In Social Justice Mathematics, Isabelle Miller, Alexis Grimes, Camryn Adkison

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

The Young Black Girl: A Narration Of Stem Identity Through Science Origin In Elementary School, Heather F. Lavender

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

An ethnographic qualitative case study was conducted by examining the perceptions of two 5^th grade Black girls at an independent school about their involvement with school science, the impact of race and gender towards their perception, and the influence of teachers, peers, and family on their science identity. Black girls are often relegated to outsider status within the classroom, lacking power and authority, which results in Black girls being denied a rightful presence in their learning community (Dumas & Ross, 2016). Additionally, their presence in STEM careers does not reflect their presence nationwide (Graves et al., 2014). The proposed …

Mapping A Language(S) Journey In Science; From Learning Biology To Teaching Biology: An Autoethnography, Primani S. Fernando, Maria Gindidis Dr, Rebecca Cooper Dr.

The Qualitative Report

This paper focuses on my experience as an English as an Additional Language (EAL) student in the context of multiple emigrations and investigates the formation of my identity as an EAL science student, science Education researcher, and science teacher. The study was guided by both my innate curiosity and the research question that sought to explore which factors significantly affected my journey of developing my English language and science knowledge based on my experience as an EAL student. The second and third authors acted as critical friends to provide a layer of reliability to the study. Within the autoethnography methodology …

Elementary School Library Collections: A Content Analysis Of Science Trade Books, Sandra W. Watson, Sheila F. Baker

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

In this study, science trade books from the libraries of 10 elementary schools across the United States were evaluated using the modified Hunsader rubric for their overall quality pertaining to science content, literacy, and critical literacy criteria. Findings indicate that 62% of the books met the overall science content criterion, 99% met the overall literacy criterion, and 41% met the overall critical literacy criterion. The majority of science trade books in each school were life science books, and the majority of books across all schools were 18–23 years old, with many being much older. Implications and recommendations are provided.

Using Free And Open Source Software To Teach University Gis Courses Online: Lessons Learned During A Pandemic, Sterling Quinn

Geography Faculty Scholarship

During the remote learning necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, university GIS students did not always have home access to the kinds of software and hardware that they would ordinarily get in their on-campus lab facilities. In this situation, the free and cross-platform nature of FOSS opened the door for some students to continue their GIS education uninterrupted. In this article, I describe how one university allowed students to choose FOSS such as QGIS, PostGIS, and GeoDa as alternatives to proprietary software in upper-division GIS coursework. These were used to teach techniques such as point pattern analysis, visibility analysis, hydrological modeling, …

Top 100 Cited Publications In Physics Education In The Last Thirty Years: A Bibliometric Analysis, Nadi Suprapto, Binar K. Prahani, Utama A. Deta

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The present study's focus is to analyze the top 100 cited papers (classic papers) in the field of physics education in the last thirty years. The study is aimed to provide insight into the citation pattern, authorship pattern, year, journals, countries of these classic papers with the help of bibliometric analysis. The data for the study was extracted from the Scopus database. The study indicated that among these top 100 papers maximum were in the form of research articles. The majority of these top-cited papers were published during the five years from 2012 to 2016. The average citation per paper …

Riverology: Promoting Stewardship Of Rivers Through Youth Participation In Science And Art, Robin R. Dunbar

Institute for the Humanities Theses

This project focuses on mentoring children to help reduce marine debris in their local river by implementing one of ten lessons from an inquiry-based Riverology curriculum to empower youth voice, increase geo-literacy, and spatial thinking. Eighteen participants aged seven and eight, piloted Riverology Lesson 2: What Do I Know or Imagine about the Elizabeth River? that includes six steps: inquire, visualize, draw, share, act, and reflect. The children were asked to make drawings before and after viewing an Elizabeth River Story Map presentation (Dunbar, 2021a). The drawings were then compared to see if the participants included marine debris, stewardship solutions, …

The Value Of Republishing Scientific Literature In Institutional Repositories, Sue Ann Gardner, Linnea Fredrickson, Paul Royster

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

Background: The University of Nebraska-Lincoln University Libraries institutional repository was founded in 2005 on the Digital Commons platform. It currently contains more than 118,000 full-text scholarly works that have been downloaded over 73,000,000 times.

Problem that drove the project: Older scientific literature may only occasionally circulate from university library collections or be purchased by readers from remaindered publishers' stock.

Methods: This research will employ statistical analyses to demonstrate the value of making available four series of scientific literature in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln University Libraries Digital Commons: Insecta Mundi, the Nebraska Bird Review, the Transactions of the Nebraska …

Making Makers: Tracing Stem Identity In Rural Communities, Jessie Nixon, Andy Stoiber, Erica Halverson, Michael Dando

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

In this article, we describe efforts to reduce barriers of entry to pre-college engineering in a rural community by training local teens to become maker-mentors and staff a mobile makerspace in their community. We bring a communities of practice frame to our inquiry, focusing on inbound and peripheral learning and identity trajectories as a mechanism for representing the maker-mentor experience. Through a longitudinal case study, we traced the individual trajectories of five maker-mentors over two years. We found a collection of interrelated factors present in those students who maintained inbound trajectories and those who remained on the periphery. Our research …

Real-Life Conundrums In The Struggle For Institutional Transformation, Julia Mcquillan, Nestor Hernandez

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Intersecting systems of inequality (i.e., gender and race/ethnicity) are remarkably resistant to change. Many universities, however, seek National Science Foundation Institutional Transformation awards to change processes, procedures, and cultures to make science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) departments more inclusive. In this article we describe a case study with observations for eight years of before (2000–2007), five during (2008–2013), and seven after (2014–2020) intensive efforts to increase women through reducing barriers and increasing access to women. Finally, we reflect on flawed assumptions built into the proposal, the slow and uneven change in the proportion of women over time, the strengths …