publicawareness put investments in the billions of dollars (Committee on Equal Opportunities inScience and Engineering (CEOSE), 2017; Gibbin & Davis, 2002). While not all this money wasinvested primarily in pre-college engineering education initiatives, the investment has beensignificant. However, even with these investments, there has not been any significant increase inthe percentage of women or people from certain minority groups participating in engineering.To understand the types of assessment approaches being used to measure students’ affectiveviews—attitudes, beliefs, interests, perceptions, self-efficacy, and identity-with respect toengineering , we built upon the systematic literature review by Hynes et al. (2017). In the review,the authors
years, researchers have explored the possibility of incorporating maker activities informal school classrooms [1]. In a year-long study with 121 middle-school students (ages 8-11)who participated in weekly maker activities incorporated into school days, Chu et al., foundsignificant impacts on students’ science self-efficacy and identity, as well as, making self-efficacy and interest. The researchers developed a series of survey instruments for the projectthat they deployed in a pretest-posttest mode to measure youth’s interest, self-efficacy and self-identity with respect to making and science [1].In addition to the type of assessment and the specific tools used, the mode of deployment canalso impact results. The majority of previous studies in
anintroduction to that career, 3) highlight the completion of a degree (e.g. associates, bachelors,masters, etc.), 4) be reasonable for one class period, and 5) include related photos, figures, tables,etc. Participants completed a working draft of their module asynchronously during the evening ofDay 2 and then presented their modules at the beginning of Day 3 for feedback from their peers.Methodology A total of six teachers participated in the virtual workshop. Each participant was asked tocomplete the Teaching Engineering Self-Efficacy Scale (TESS) survey [3] before the workshopbegan and after the participant presentations on Day 3. The TESS survey is a tool that wasdeveloped to measure teacher preparedness in regard to engineering related
-making after participating in an integrated science,technology, engineering, and mathematics academic/ career summer camp. Using a case studymethodology, we examine three of the students in detail regarding their changes in self-reportedfuture academic major choices and career goals utilizing measures of motivation, self-efficacy,and self-determination.Interview data provides qualitative evidence that participants’ experiences during camp mayindeed impact their short-term outlook towards their informed decision making and motivationrelated to pursuing STEM careers. Repeat participants (two or more years) are highlighted as casestudies and their survey and interview input is analyzed to determine to what extent, if any, studentsattribute changes
“engineering design challengeswithin classroom makerspaces as a means to improve the inclusion of women andunderrepresented minorities in pre-college engineering and design learning” (pg. 1) using aninterest-based framework. This, and literature like it, demonstrates the considerable efforttowards broadening participation in engineering starting at the pre-college level. Although teachers, principals, counselors and others are critical in enacting efforts tobroaden participation in engineering, less research has focused on this perspective. Literature isnot void in this area though, much research has focused on teacher and school counselor’s beliefsabout teaching engineering (Ming-Chien Hsu et al., 2011), and teacher engineering self-efficacy
to be inadequately prepared and lack the confidence to teach theengineering components of the standards, leading to avoidance or misrepresentation of theengineering practices in the classroom [4]. This paper describes the development of aprofessional development experience for science teachers designed to address these potentialpitfalls and support the implementation of the NGSS in science classrooms. The overarchingresearch question driving this work is: How do science teachers rate their self-efficacy inengineering knowledge and instruction, as well as the importance of engineering practices inlearning science? This paper reports on theoretical foundations, pre-treatment data, and a novelintervention design for improving science teachers
expressedincreased interest in attending college, increased interest in majoring in engineering, anappreciation of soldering as a useful skill, and recognition of how specific physics concepts wereapplied to electrical engineering design. Qualitative data allowed the researchers to elicitthematic elements of student impacts, including appreciation of hands-on tasks related topotential engineering careers, novelty of using circuit boards for a practical technological device,and self-efficacy in creating and building designs as part of a team effort to maximize deviceefficiency and performance. Future science and engineering curricular efforts may leverage thesefindings to replicate and design similar curricular activities for secondary
validated measures includingthe STEM Fascination and Competence/Self-efficacy Scales [27-28], the STEM Career InterestSurvey (STEM-CIS) [29], the Modified Attitudes toward Science Inventory (M-ATSI) [30], andthe Persistence Research in Science & Engineering survey (PRiSE). We selected items fromthese instruments to address unique aspects of the constructs of interest within the engineeringcontext. When possible, we tried to select entire scales from validated instruments. Therefore, wedid not select items from other existing measures when they were redundant with items alreadyincluded from an intact scale. We added 21 items in the following areas:performance/competence (8 items), STEM fascination (6 items), interest (4 items
learning experience. OK Go Sandbox offers avariety of activities that are accompanied by different STEAM standards, meaning that theresource offers a comprehensive approach that students benefit from. Reference [3] alsodiscusses that motivation and engagement can be increased by implementing engineering/STEMinstruction through different integration techniques. Also discussed are different methodologiesof teaching engineering in K-12 schools. OK Go Sandbox allows engineering instruction tooccur in a variety of settings, especially when students are able to connect their learning topreviously learned knowledge and skills.Reference [4] discusses the necessity for teacher self efficacy to be measurable because itimpacts a teacher’s actions in the
. Socialcognitive career theory developed by Xeuli Wang (2013) is the basis of the study. According tothis model, an individual’s decision to choose a STEM major is affected by a variety of highschool experiences, determined largely by prior mathematics success. Those experiences areimportant in determining the individual’s goals and interests. In other words, an individual’sbackground and participation in certain activities affect their learning experiences, andsubsequently their self-efficacy, and eventually their career choices. A survey about influenceson their decisions to major in engineering was completed by 251 students at a major researchuniversity. Possible influences were categorized by type (e.g., informal activities/camps, formalschooling
Surveys, Dimensions of Success (DoS) Observation tool, pre/post topic self-efficacy, and survey student interviews. The results showed that engineering design activitieshad a positive impact on attitude towards STEM learning and careers. Integration ofengineering design principles, student demographics and evaluation instruments and resultsare discussed in this paper.IntroductionEngineering is a natural platform for the integration of science, technology, engineering, andmathematics (STEM) content into K-12 classrooms, while sparking creativity amongst youngminds. Research around effective learning in K-12 classrooms demonstrates that anengineering approach to identifying and solving problems is valuable across all disciplines.Educators and
experience of inventing. What evidence do we have that this assumption is correct? What types of benefits doinvention-focused educational curricula and experiences confer to students? While there is a general sense that students benefit from involvement in these types of experiences, the formalliterature reflects a limited understanding of what specific benefits to students occur throughparticipation in invention education, as well as a lack of reliable and validated measures of theseoutcomes. Limited empirical evidence, gathered through interviews with educators, suggests thatstudents who engage in maker-centered education may experience gains in problem-solving,risk-taking, teamwork skills, self-efficacy, and sense of community; the
may feel if they have low self-efficacy in this area of engineering and design.Lesson PlanPrep: Structured Practice:• Gather supplies 10 minutes• Fill bucket with water • Collaboration with partner(s). Must present finalGrouping: design before using materials. Have to spend 10• Instruction will be given as an entire group. minutes planning without touching materials. Must build exactly what is on
(rather than individuals) and help withan overview of the differences and similarities between groups of individuals.Research is emerging that is examining the potential of quantitative tools for measuring theoutcome of maker activities on youth. In a recent project, Chu et al. developed a series of surveyinstruments to measure youth’s interest, self-efficacy and self-identity with respect to makingand science [2]. The survey tools measured maker identity, self-efficacy and interest, as well as,science self-efficacy and interest. Additionally, the researchers measured the students’ STEM-career possible selves and interest. In a year-long study with 121 middle-school students (ages 8-11) who participated in weekly maker activities, they found that
Engineering Teachers’ Literacy InstructionPeople enter and exit science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pathwaysat different points in their educational trajectories (Cannady, Greenwald, & Harris, 2014;Maltese, Melki, & Wiebke, 2014), but middle school is an especially critical juncture forcapturing and maintaining youths’ interest in STEM fields. From fifth to eighth grade,adolescents’ interest in STEM often declines (Gonzales et al., 2008; Osborne, Simon, &Collins, 2003), and many develop a negative sense of self-efficacy regarding their potentialto succeed in future STEM courses (Chen & Usher, 2013). Though many people exit STEMpathways before they enter high school, this problem is especially pronounced
portrayal) [12], [13] which leads to lower interest. Additionally, minority populations are challenged with access to computers [8], [14] and resultant low self-efficacy [15]. This program will follow a design protocol and a curriculum based on constructivism (drawing on learners’ existing beliefs, knowledge and skills) [16] and real-world experiential, project-based applications which have been shown to support STEM and computing interest and success for minorities [17], [18]. Computational thinking practices in STEM will focus on students gaining experience in practices for data management, computational problem solving, modeling and simulations and systems thinking. One of the controversial topics in the study of CT is a lack of consensus on a
prior success; if they fail, they are more likely toavoid the task in the future [8]. Research on undergraduate students’ achievement and retentionin the major demonstrates that high self-efficacy, especially as it relates to learning engineeringconcepts, indicates that a student will remain in engineering as opposed to transferring to anothermajor [9].If pre-college outreach programs like summer camps are meant to continue to build the futureengineering workforce by encouraging students to pursue engineering degrees and engineeringcareers, looking at how informal science experience increases student efficacy can be one way tocontinue the trend. For the remainder of this paper, we will offer a look into how we have
accomplish much on their own,stating that it is because the girls aren’t present to lead the group or assign tasks.Student Assessments and Self-Efficacy ScoresAt the end of each session, students spend a whole day on reflection. This reflection includesproviding feedback to their peers and analyzing their own experiences during the session. Thestudents discuss personal reflections and complete a self-assessment of their learning during thesession. The students fill out a survey which asks them to score their skill levels on specific skillsthat were used during the session such as “Brainstorming,” “Sketching,” “Prototyping,” and“2D-Design: Illustrator.” For each skill, they rate their level on a 3-point Likert scale withanswer choices “Lacking
]. Acquiring studentinformation that addresses student willingness to pursue STEM as a career preference was difficultdue to teacher error in reporting long-term student information or students not responding to specifiedquestions [10].Addressing the GapAt the time of this study, RET program evaluation measures tend to focus on the growth anddevelopment of teacher self-efficacy, engineering content knowledge gains, or classroomimplementation of developed curriculum materials and students' attitudes toward STEM. To provide abetter understanding of RET programs' impact on students, data are needed to show the long-termimpact of PjBL RETs on student graduation rates and STEM undergraduate major selection rates. Thestudy sought to inform RET program
research interests include experimentally driven research with several radio access technologies (WiFi, WiMAX, LTE, 5G-NR), conducted under real environment settings, the dis- aggregation of base station units, Multi-access Edge Computing and NFV orchestration using open source platforms.Dr. Karen Cheng, Columbia Engineering Dr. Karen Cheng is an Outreach Program Specialist at Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science. A former research scientist turned high school math teacher, she recently completed her Ph.D. in mathematics and STEM teacher education, with research interests in the development of professional motivation and self-efficacy among K-12 STEM teachers in the framework of out-of-school
given equalopportunity for immersive BME opportunities.Outside of interest, it has also been shown that in the context of STEM education and career choices,student self-efficacy regarding research skills predicts undergraduate student aspirations for researchcareers [7]. Self-efficacy has also been identified to influence ‘motivation, persistence, anddetermination’ in overcoming challenges in a career pathway [8]. Programs that produced significantdifferences in student self-efficacy tend to be semester-long and academically challenging, as opposed toactivities such as field trips or singular class visits [9]. MEDscience, a medical simulation-based STEMprogram integrated into high school science classes through collaboration between the Harvard
STEM activities,interest in STEM careers, a sense of STEM identity (“I am a science person”), and anunderstanding of the role of science and technology in everyday life. As shown in Exhibit 4,FIRST participants score significantly higher than comparison students on all five STEM-relatedmeasures after controlling for baseline scores and participant characteristics.There were no significant differences, however, between FIRST participants and comparisonstudents for non-STEM measures used in the study, including academic self-concept, collegesupport, self-efficacy and prosocial behavior, 21st century skills, and the 21st century skillsubscales for teamwork, problem solving and communication. These results are consistent withthose found in earlier
boost students’ interest inSTEM fields is to increase teachers’ perceptions and self-efficacy with engineering and STEMconcepts [6]. While most teachers have the necessary educational background in math andscience, their knowledge and experience related to engineers, engineering and technology arevery limited [7]. This causes a lack of widespread engineering education at the K-12 level.Previous research reveals that teacher professional development programs have a positive impacton the students’ achievement [8, 9] as well as providing benefits to the teachers. With this inmind, STEM focused teacher professional development programs that provide opportunities tothe teachers to engage in authentic STEM and specifically engineering and technology
]found that college students who were high-achieving usually had access to a summer bridgeprogram prior to entering their first year.In the second area, increasing interest in the major [13], [14], improving student sense of belonging[15], [16], [17], increasing student sense of preparedness [17], [18], increasing student self-efficacy [17], [19], and networking with students [20], [21], [22], and faculty [15], [23] can beconsidered as sub-goals. Finally, recruiting students to the majors [13], [14] and enhancingdiversity in the major [15], [24] are considered sub-goals for the third category.This paper presents a detailed report of a Summer Bridge Program (SBP) as a part of an ongoingNational Science Foundation (NSF)-supported project, which
the teachers and theuniversity students related to engineering habits of mind, awareness of engineering as aprofessional field, and development of self-efficacy related to engineering topics.Data Collected: Consistent with a mixed methods approach [28], we collected multiple sources ofdata to evaluate our RET program, including a STEM teaching efficacy instrument, video andobservation of classroom lessons, engineering-based lesson plans, laboratory notebooks, and anend-of-summer reflection survey.STEM teaching and learning outcomes were measured by the MISO T-STEM instrument, whichwas intended to characterize participant attitudes on entering the program and identify areas ofgrowth due to program participation. The T-STEM (Teacher Efficacy
meaning ofparticipation, motivation, and self-efficacy [9], while others argued that engagement is aconstruct with its defined boundaries and dimensions [10]. In general, the literature shows threeaspects of engagement, namely behavioral, emotional, and cognitive [1], [8], [9], [11].Behavioral engagement is based on academic and social participation such as credits earned,homework completion rates, attendance in class, events attended, participation in extracurricularactivities, etc. [12], [13]. Emotional engagement is based on affective measures of interactions inschool, both in positive and negative manners. These interactions can happen with parents,teachers, peers, school, etc. [13]. Cognitive engagement is based on the willingness to put
think it is important that students have learning opportunities to…Lead others to (11 items) accomplish a goal. Teacher Leadership I think it is important that teachers …Take responsibility for all students’ learning. Attitudes (6 items) STEM Career I know…About current STEM careers. Awareness (4 items)The Teacher Efficacy and Attitudes Toward STEM (T-STEM) Survey is intended to measurechanges in teachers’ confidence and self-efficacy in STEM subject content and teaching, use oftechnology in the classroom, 21st century learning skills, leadership attitudes, and STEM careerawareness [37]. The 63 items across 7 subscales utilize a 5 point Likert-type response formatwhere higher numbers indicate more positive
software-only applications in a language like Java or in a visual programming language like Scratch.For the past several years, we have offered a novel introductory C programming course toelectrical engineering students at the University of Maryland [21-23]. This course includedpartner-based programming assignments emphasizing computer-controlled hardware-drivenprojects and a final multi-week group project utilizing Raspberry Pi (RPi) computers. Thisproject looked at students’ self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations as compared tostudents who took a traditional programming course and the PDL students left their course with asuperior self-image regarding their fitness as engineers and an improved understanding of therole of computer
training for teachers. Project Lead the Way, for example, allows schools to offer engineeringexperiences through design courses in a variety of disciplines [26]. University-based K-12outreach programs have also shown promise in promoting engineering knowledge, self-efficacy,and interest [27]-[30]. It must be understood that, by necessity, knowledge of these standards andprograms must be communicated to school counselors to increase student awareness andaccessibility. Schools advocating for these programs have indicated their commitment to studentpreparation for STEM careers and school personnel should understand the mechanisms by whichthese programs do so.Research questions. This pilot, ongoing research explores the following overarching
outcomes to the youth and staff related to the mentoring relationships. TheFramework helps practitioners assess mentoring programs and find areas for programdevelopment.Mentoring in Engineering OutreachIn university outreach activities, mentoring has been employed to attract a wider diversity ofstudents to the engineering and science fields [8] - [10] and improve mentors' professional skills,such as leadership and teamwork [11] - [13]. The research involves a breadth of approaches toassessing programs, like Bandura’s self-efficacy model [12], [14], [15], Bloom’s taxonomy [16],and engineering competence development [15], to name a few.ObjectivesThis research seeks to find opportunities in virtual engineering outreach programs wherementoring can