Measuring Student Content Knowledge, iSTEM, Self Efficacy, and Engagement through a Long-Term Engineering Design Intervention

Michael A. de Miranda; Karen E. Rambo-Hernandez; Paul R. Hernandez

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Conference: 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Publication Date: June 26, 2016
Start Date: June 26, 2016
End Date: June 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-692-68565-5
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: K-12 & Pre-College Engineering Division: Fundamental: K-12 Student Beliefs, Motivation, and Self Efficacy
Tagged Division: Pre-College Engineering Education Division
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 23
DOI: 10.18260/p.25694
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/25694
Download Count: 866

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Paper Authors

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Michael A. de Miranda Colorado State University

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Professor Engineering Education, School of Education and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO USA

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Karen E. Rambo-Hernandez West Virginia University orcid.org/0000-0001-8107-2898

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Karen E. Rambo-Hernandez is an assistant professor at West Virginia University in the College of Education and Human Services in the department of Learning Sciences and Human Development. In her research, she is interested the assessment of student learning, particularly the assessment of academic growth, and evaluating the impact of curricular change.

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Paul R. Hernandez West Virginia University

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Abstract

The current study reports on the outcomes of a classroom-based long term engineering design intervention intended to increase high school students’ perceptions of the integrated nature of STEM disciplines (iSTEM) and to assess the effect of the intervention on student participation in an extracurricular STEM activity (i.e., a research poster symposium). Cross-disciplinary teams of students (n=373) from high school mathematics, science, and engineering classrooms completed engineering design challenges. The results indicated that, consistent with our predictions, the intervention exhibited a positive impact on students that began the study with the lowest iSTEM scores. Furthermore, the classroom environment mattered. While no individual scores (i.e., posttest iSTEM scores) were predictive of participation in the poster symposium, the collective scores were (i.e., mean classroom iSTEM scores). Four measures were used in this study; Content knowledge quiz. Student content knowledge was assessed with a teacher made nine-item multiple-choice quiz; Self-efficacy, task specific self-efficacy was assessed through a nine item measure; iSTEM perceptions. Participants responded to a nine-item iSTEM scale developed by the authors in a previously published study, to measure student perceptions of the interconnections between mathematics, science, and engineering; and STEM clubs. Participants responded “Yes” (1) or “No” (0) to the question regarding their involvement in extracurricular STEM club.

Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used in this analysis because it distinguishes variability in scores at the student-level (i.e., level-1) from variability in scores at the classroom level (i.e., level-2), which results in correctly estimating standard error. Therefore, HLM was used to conduct multilevel paired sample t-tests. Further, all analyses were conducted with Restricted Maximum Likelihood estimation. The results indicated that, consistent with our predictions, the intervention exhibited a positive impact on students that began the study with the lowest iSTEM scores. Furthermore, the classroom environment mattered. While no individual scores (i.e., posttest iSTEM scores) were predictive of participation in the poster symposium, the collective scores were (i.e., mean classroom iSTEM scores).

Citation
Format

de Miranda, M. A., & Rambo-Hernandez, K. E., & Hernandez, P. R. (2016, June), Measuring Student Content Knowledge, iSTEM, Self Efficacy, and Engagement through a Long-Term Engineering Design Intervention Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.25694

TY - CPAPER
AB - The current study reports on the outcomes of a classroom-based long term engineering design intervention intended to increase high school students’ perceptions of the integrated nature of STEM disciplines (iSTEM) and to assess the effect of the intervention on student participation in an extracurricular STEM activity (i.e., a research poster symposium). Cross-disciplinary teams of students (n=373) from high school mathematics, science, and engineering classrooms completed engineering design challenges. The results indicated that, consistent with our predictions, the intervention exhibited a positive impact on students that began the study with the lowest iSTEM scores. Furthermore, the classroom environment mattered. While no individual scores (i.e., posttest iSTEM scores) were predictive of participation in the poster symposium, the collective scores were (i.e., mean classroom iSTEM scores). Four measures were used in this study; Content knowledge quiz. Student content knowledge was assessed with a teacher made nine-item multiple-choice quiz; Self-efficacy, task specific self-efficacy was assessed through a nine item measure; iSTEM perceptions. Participants responded to a nine-item iSTEM scale developed by the authors in a previously published study, to measure student perceptions of the interconnections between mathematics, science, and engineering; and STEM clubs. Participants responded “Yes” (1) or “No” (0) to the question regarding their involvement in extracurricular STEM club.

Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used in this analysis because it distinguishes variability in scores at the student-level (i.e., level-1) from variability in scores at the classroom level (i.e., level-2), which results in correctly estimating standard error. Therefore, HLM was used to conduct multilevel paired sample t-tests. Further, all analyses were conducted with Restricted Maximum Likelihood estimation. The results indicated that, consistent with our predictions, the intervention exhibited a positive impact on students that began the study with the lowest iSTEM scores. Furthermore, the classroom environment mattered. While no individual scores (i.e., posttest iSTEM scores) were predictive of participation in the poster symposium, the collective scores were (i.e., mean classroom iSTEM scores).
AU - Michael A. de Miranda
AU - Karen E. Rambo-Hernandez
AU - Paul R. Hernandez
CY - New Orleans, Louisiana
DA - 2016/06/26
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Measuring Student Content Knowledge, iSTEM, Self Efficacy, and Engagement through a Long-Term Engineering Design Intervention
UR - https://peer.asee.org/25694
DO - 10.18260/p.25694
ER -