Baltimore , Maryland
June 25, 2023
June 25, 2023
June 28, 2023
Equity, Culture & Social Justice in Education Division (EQUITY) Technical Session 3
Equity and Culture & Social Justice in Education Division (EQUITY)
Diversity
26
10.18260/1-2--43515
https://peer.asee.org/43515
182
Introductory mathematics courses are the turning point for women entering or exiting the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field (Seymour et al., Talking About Leaving Revisited, 2019). In 2019, women represented only 27% of STEM workers (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019). Yet, “if women persisted in STEM at the same rate as men starting in Calculus I, the number of women entering the STEM workforce would increase by 75%” (Plos One, 1, 2016). The purpose of this research study is to assess the impact of various styles of introductory mathematics courses on students’ desire to pursue an undergraduate STEM major. More specifically, this research will investigate how instructor (graduate student vs professor), class format (online vs in-person), and assessment methods (letter vs satisfactory grading) impact students’ desired majors while enrolled in introductory mathematics courses taken at a four-year institution. Quantitative experimental data were collected from N=709 undergraduate Calculus students at a private, highly-selective U.S. university between fall 2019 and spring 2022. Students took the Mathematics Attitudes and Perceptions Survey (MAPS) at both the start and end of the semester. These survey data and demographic information (race and gender) will be used to evaluate the change in student attitudes towards mathematics, perception towards mathematics, and desired undergraduate major based on their course participation. The results may provide insight into course-specific interventions that can increase student retention in undergraduate STEM majors and overall enjoyment of mathematics.
(2023, June), Examining the Impact of Introductory Mathematics Courses on Undergraduate Students’ Desire to Pursue a STEM Major Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--43515
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