San Antonio, Texas
June 10, 2012
June 10, 2012
June 13, 2012
2153-5965
K-12 & Pre-College Engineering
16
25.1296.1 - 25.1296.16
10.18260/1-2--22053
https://peer.asee.org/22053
980
Mary Phelps retired from General Electric in 2007 as a Customer Service Executive, after 30 years in various technical and commercial roles in GE’s energy business, serving electric utility customers such as Excel, Constellation Energy, and Entergy. She has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Union College in N.Y., and was awarded her M.A.T. in technology education from North Carolina A&T State University in 2011. She is licensed to teach secondary technology education in North Carolina and is currently working on her Ph.D. in occupational and technical studies at Old Dominion University. Phelps's consultancy, HEDGE Co., focuses on working with educators to grow the numbers of females pursuing engineering or technology careers and her research reflects that. Additionally, she chairs the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Outreach Committee and is a conferred Fellow of the society. In her spare time, Phelps is the Webmaster for ASEE's Women in Engineering Division (WIED).
The Effects of Hands-on Activities on Middle School Females’ Spatial Skills and Interest in Technology-Based CareersEarly exposure to, and training in, spatial activities may lead to heightened interest in STEMsubjects, particularly in females who believe they must always excel, and like it when they do.Females continue to be underrepresented in many STEM fields, particularly engineering andtechnology. The Effects of Hands-on Activities on Middle School Females’ Spatial Skills andInterest in Technology-Based Careers examines the efficacy of a program that utilizes hands-onactivities to enhance spatial abilities and result in increased female interest (engagement) in STEMcareers. Specifically, the research questions this study addressed are: (1) Do spatial test scores offemales, specifically in mental rotation, improve following manual spatial training involving threedimensional construction activities? (2) Is there any significant difference in spatial test scoresbased on the number of treatments or age at treatment? (3) Are females more interested in pursuingtechnology based careers following manual spatial training involving 3-dimensional constructionactivities? (4) Is there any significant difference in interest scores based on the number oftreatments or age at treatment? Some of the more relevant findings were that prior hands-onexperience was directly linked to both spatial visualization abilities and career interests of thesubjects, more hands-on activities are better, younger may not be better when it comes toencouraging careers, and weak correlations between interest in a career in engineering ortechnology and spatial visualization skills can be strengthened via practice and encouragement.
Phelps, M. B. (2012, June), The Effects of Hands-on Activities on Middle School Females’ Spatial Skills and Interest in Technology-based Careers Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--22053
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