Browsing by Subject "STEM education"
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Item First-generation Students’ Experiences of the Classroom Climate in a Redesigned Gateway Math Course: A Mixed Methods Case Study(2019-06) Diamond, Kate K.In U.S. higher education, there are large disparities in student persistence rates in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields along lines of race and ethnicity, gender, generation status, and class. Most underrepresented student attrition from STEM happens during the first year. Large, introductory science and math courses have been criticized for their unwelcoming and competitive classroom climates, and many scholars have argued that these courses act as gatekeepers for students with marginalized identities who wish to major in a STEM field. Many policymakers and researchers have called for these introductory courses to move away from a traditional lecturing model and towards active learning. In the STEM education literature, active learning is often presented as a panacea for closing disparities in STEM education outcomes. A critical approach to this topic challenges the assumption that the incorporation of active learning would transform these introductory courses into equitable spaces for students with marginalized identities. I conducted a mixed methods case study of a large, introductory math course taught at a public research university. The lead course instructor had redesigned the course in order to move toward an active learning model, with the goal of better preparing students to take subsequent math courses. Using the influence of pedagogy on the classroom climate as my conceptual framework, I sought to understand how first-generation students experienced the classroom climate of the redesigned class, how pedagogy influenced the climate, and how first-generation students’ experiences in the course affected their intentions to persist in STEM. My data collection methods were classroom observation, a student survey (N = 171), interviews with first-generation students (N = 13), interviews with the two course instructors, and a review of the syllabus and other course materials. I found that first-generation students described a classroom climate characterized by disengagement and collective confusion and frustration. Pedagogy negatively influenced the climate through a lack of structure, guidance, and communication at several levels; a test-based approach to assessment; and, in the case of one of the instructors, lecturing. The teaching assistants and one of the two instructors provided a high level of immediacy, which positively influenced the climate. Study participants varied in terms of whether the course had negatively or positively influenced their intention to persist in STEM, with about half of survey respondents saying the course had no impact. I approached the study of pedagogy through the lens of three teaching and learning paradigms: traditional pedagogy, active learning, and inclusive pedagogy. While the pedagogy utilized in the pre-calculus class mirrored the active learning paradigm in several ways, it also aligned with some aspects of traditional pedagogy and inclusive pedagogy. The dominant trend in introductory science and math course reform is to move from traditional pedagogy to active learning, and I was interested in exploring whether active learning is sufficient for creating an equitable classroom climate or if inclusive pedagogy is needed. Inclusive pedagogy calls for instructors to contextualize math within its social and cultural context and to tie course content to students’ experiences and goals. Conversely, the pre-calculus course presented math in a decontextualized manner. While inclusive pedagogues would argue that this decontextualization harms marginalized students, the class aligned with the first-generation interview participants’ expectations that a math course would avoid issues of identity, inequity, and discrimination. The study leads to several implications. A lack of structure was a main driver of the negative classroom climate. Under any pedagogical approach, a clear course structure should serve as a foundation on which to build a positive and inclusive classroom climate. Given that first-generation students benefited from the validation they received from the teaching assistants and one of the instructors, individuals who have a teaching role in introductory science and math courses should prioritize their position as someone who can provide validation to underrepresented students. I also discuss recommendations for institutional leaders and researchers who seek to bring about greater equity in science and math introductory courses and STEM education in general.Item Snapshot Safari Educational Materials(2020-11-16) Palmer, Meredith S; Dewey, Jessica; Huebner, Sarah; palme516@umn.edu; Palmer, Meredith S; University of Minnesota Lion Research CenterSnapshot Safari (www.snapshotsafari.org) is a cross-continental network of biodiversity monitoring programs run by the University of Minnesota Lion Center (www.lioncenter.umn.edu/snapshot-safari). To address the urgent need for accurately assessing vulnerable wildlife populations, we deployed over two dozen camera trap surveys distributed in protected areas across Africa. We rely on the help of online volunteers ("citizen scientists") to help classify animals captured in our millions of camera trap images. The citizen science platform provides a novel opportunity for public engagement and science education, and we have created educational multimedia based on the Snapshot Safari citizen science experience to promote these learning opportunities. Here, we present activities and videos aimed at a middle school-level audience that use our camera trap images to teach ecological and conservation principles.Item Student Participation in Small Group, Integrated STEM Activities: An Investigation of Gender Differences(2019-08) Wieselmann, JeannaWith ongoing efforts to increase the representation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, integrated approaches to teaching STEM are increasingly being implemented in elementary and middle school classrooms. Despite a variety of conceptions of integrated STEM, researchers agree that small group activities and teamwork play a central role in STEM learning. However, little is known about how young girls participate in the small group portions of integrated STEM curricular units. In three distinct but related studies, this dissertation addresses the gap in the literature to better understand the small group interactions that take place in integrated STEM activities. First, a single embedded case study was used to explore the participation of four fifth-grade students in the small group activities of an integrated STEM unit focused on electromagnetism. This study revealed patterns of student participation within the mixed-gender group that varied based on the student gender and whether the activity was science-focused or engineering-focused. These findings informed the research questions explored in the next two studies. Second, a multiple embedded case study design was used to examine group gender composition related to student participation in small group, integrated STEM activities related to the properties of light. Three groups of sixth-grade students (all-girl, all-boy, and mixed-gender) were included in the analysis. Findings highlight differences in the activity systems of the small groups, with students focusing on different objectives for completing STEM activities, utilizing different tools as they sought to reach their objectives, and dividing labor differently across the three groups. Like the first study, this study also suggested that students, and girls in particular, are less prepared to navigate open-ended engineering activities. Third, a multiple embedded case study was conducted to explore sixth-graders’ participation in an engineering design challenge in further detail. In particular, the study considered differences in the engineering practices middle school girls and boys display during an engineering design challenge and whether group gender composition was related to student participation. Together, these studies provide insight into small group interactions during integrated STEM activities and have implications for instructional strategies, professional development, and curriculum development. These implications include the need to facilitate equitable student participation in small group STEM activities, support students in open-ended STEM activities, and design STEM curricula with students’ needs in mind.