Jason Jabbari, Yung Chun, Wenrui Huang, Stephen Roll
October 2023
Researchers found that program acceptance was significantly associated with increased earnings and probabilities of working in a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) profession.
Robert R. Martinez, Jr., James M. Ellis
September 2023
Researchers found that STEM-CR involves four related yet distinct dimensions of Think, Know, Act, and Go. Results also demonstrated soundness of these STEM-CR dimensions by race and gender (key learning skills and techniques/Act).
Rosemary J. Perez, Rudisang Motshubi, Sarah L. Rodriguez
April 2023
Researchers found that because participants did not attend to how racism and White supremacy fostered negative climate, their strategies (e.g., increased recruitment, committees, workshops) left systemic racism intact and (un)intentionally amplified labor for racially minoritized graduate students and faculty champions who often led change efforts with little support.
Kathleen Lynch, Lily An, Zid Mancenido
, July 2022
Researchers found an average weighted impact estimate of +0.10 standard deviations on mathematics achievement outcomes.
Luis A. Leyva, R. Taylor McNeill, B R. Balmer, Brittany L. Marshall, V. Elizabeth King, Zander D. Alley
, May 2022
Researchers address this research gap by exploring four Black queer students’ experiences of oppression and agency in navigating invisibility as STEM majors.
Angela Starrett, Matthew J. Irvin, Christine Lotter, Jan A. Yow
, May 2022
Researchers found that the more place-based workforce development adolescents reported, the higher their expectancy beliefs, STEM career interest, and rural community aspirations.
Matthew H. Rafalow, Cassidy Puckett
May 2022
Researchers found that educational resources, like digital technologies, are also sorted by schools.
Pamela Burnard, Laura Colucci-Gray, Carolyn Cooke
April 2022
This article makes a case for repositioning STEAM education as democratized enactments of transdisciplinary education, where arts and sciences are not separate or even separable endeavors.
Salome Wörner, Jochen Kuhn, Katharina Scheiter
, April 2022
Researchers conclude that for combining real and virtual experiments, apart from the individual affordances and the learning objectives of the different experiment types, especially their specific function for the learning task must be considered.
Seung-hyun Han, Eunjung Grace Oh, Sun “Pil” Kang
April 2022
Researchers found that the knowledge sharing mechanism and student learning outcomes can be explained in terms of their social capital within social networks.
Barbara Schneider, Joseph Krajcik, Jari Lavonen, Katariina Salmela-Aro, Christopher Klager, Lydia Bradford, I-Chien Chen, Quinton Baker, Israel Touitou, Deborah Peek-Brown, Rachel Marias Dezendorf, Sarah Maestrales, Kayla Bartz
March 2022
Researchers found that improving secondary school science learning is achievable with a coherent system comprising teacher and student learning experiences, professional learning, and formative unit assessments that support students in “doing” science.
Paulo Tan, Alexis Padilla, Rachel Lambert
, March 2022
Researchers found that studies continue to avoid meaningful intersectional considerations of race and disability.
Ta-yang Hsieh, Sandra D. Simpkins
March 2022
Researchers found patterns with overall high/low beliefs, patterns with varying levels of motivational beliefs, and patterns characterized by domain differentiation.
Jonté A. Myers, Bradley S. Witzel, Sarah R. Powell, Hongli Li, Terri D. Pigott, Yan Ping Xin, Elizabeth M. Hughes
, February 2022
Findings of meta-regression analyses showed several moderators, such as sample composition, group size, intervention dosage, group assignment approach, interventionist, year of publication, and dependent measure type, significantly explained heterogeneity in effects across studies.
Grace A. Chen, Ilana S. Horn
, January 2022
The findings from this review highlight the interconnectedness of structures and individual lives, of the material and ideological elements of marginalization, of intersectionality and within-group heterogeneity, and of histories and institutions.
Victor R. Lee, Michelle Hoda Wilkerson, Kathryn Lanouette
December 2021
Researchers offer an interdisciplinary framework based on literature from multiple bodies of educational research to inform design, teaching and research for more effective, responsible, and inclusive student learning experiences with and about data.
Ido Davidesco, Camillia Matuk, Dana Bevilacqua, David Poeppel, Suzanne Dikker
December 2021
This essay critically evaluates the value added by portable brain technologies in education research and outlines a proposed research agenda, centered around questions related to student engagement, cognitive load, and self-regulation.
Guan K. Saw, Charlotte A. Agger
December 2021
Researchers found that during high school rural and small-town students shifted away from STEM fields and that geographic disparities in postsecondary STEM participation were largely explained by students’ demographics and precollege STEM career aspirations and academic preparation.
Kyle M. Whitcomb, Sonja Cwik, Chandralekha Singh
November 2021
Researchers found that on average across all years of study, underrepresented minority (URM) students experience a larger penalty to their mean overall and STEM GPA than even the most disadvantaged non-URM students.
Lana M. Minshew, Amanda A. Olsen, Jacqueline E. McLaughlin
, October 2021
Researchers found that the CA framework is a useful and effective model for supporting faculty in cultivating rich learning opportunities for STEM graduate students.
Xin Lin, Sarah R. Powell
, October 2021
Findings suggested fluency in both mathematics and reading, as well as working memory, yielded greater impacts on subsequent mathematics performance.
Christine L. Bae, Daphne C. Mills, Fa Zhang, Martinique Sealy, Lauren Cabrera, Marquita Sea
, September 2021
This systematic literature review is guided by a complex systems framework to organize and synthesize empirical studies of science talk in urban classrooms across individual (student or teacher), collective (interpersonal), and contextual (sociocultural, historical) planes.
Toya Jones Frank, Marvin G. Powell, Jenice L. View, Christina Lee, Jay A. Bradley, Asia Williams
August/September 2021
Researchers found that teachers’ experiences of microaggressions accounted for most of the variance in our modeling of teachers’ thoughts of leaving the profession.
Ebony McGee, Yuan Fang, Yibin (Amanda) Ni, Thema Monroe-White
August 2021
Researchers found that 40.7% of the respondents reported that their career plans have been affected by Trump’s antiscience policies, 54.5% by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Martha Cecilia Bottia, Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, Cayce Jamil, Kyleigh Moniz, Leanne Barry
, May 2021
Consistent with cumulative disadvantage and critical race theories, findings reveal that the disproportionality of racially minoritized students in STEM is related to their inferior secondary school preparation; the presence of racialized lower quality educational contexts; reduced levels of psychosocial factors associated with STEM success; less exposure to inclusive and appealing curricula and instruction; lower levels of family social, cultural, and financial capital that foster academic outcomes; and fewer prospects for supplemental STEM learning opportunities. Policy implications of findings are discussed.
Iris Daruwala, Shani Bretas, Douglas D. Ready
April 2021
Researchers describe how teachers, school leaders, and program staff navigated institutional pressures to improve state grade-level standardized test scores while implementing tasks and technologies designed to personalize student learning.
Michael A. Gottfried, Jay Plasman, Jennifer A. Freeman, Shaun Dougherty
March 2021
Researchers found that students with learning disabilities were more likely to earn more units in CTE courses compared with students without disabilities.
Ebony Omotola McGee
December 2020
This manuscript also discusses how universities institutionalize diversity mentoring programs designed mostly to fix (read “assimilate”) underrepresented students of color while ignoring or minimizing the role of the STEM departments in creating racially hostile work and educational spaces.
Miray Tekkumru-Kisa, Mary Kay Stein, Walter Doyle
November 2020
The purpose of this article is to revisit theory and research on tasks, a construct introduced by Walter Doyle nearly 40 years ago.
Elizabeth S. Park, Federick Ngo
November 2020
Researchers found that lower math placement may have supported women, and to a lesser extent URM students, in completing transferable STEM credits.
Karisma Morton, Catherine Riegle-Crumb
August/September 2020
Results of regression analyses reveal that, net of school, teacher, and student characteristics, the time that teachers report spending on algebra and more advanced content in eighth grade algebra classes is significantly lower in schools that are predominantly Black compared to those that are not predominantly minority. Implications for future research are discussed.
Qi Zhang, Jessaca Spybrook, Fatih Unlu
, July 2020
Researchers consider strategies to maximize the efficiency of the study design when both student and teacher effects are of primary interest.
Jennifer Lin Russell, Richard Correnti, Mary Kay Stein, Ally Thomas, Victoria Bill, Laurie Speranzo
, July 20, 2020
Analysis of videotaped coaching conversations and teaching events suggests that model-trained coaches improved their capacity to use a high-leverage coaching practice—deep and specific prelesson planning conversations—and that growth in this practice predicted teaching improvement, specifically increased opportunities for students to engage in conceptual thinking.
Maithreyi Gopalan, Kelly Rosinger, Jee Bin Ahn
, April 21, 2020
The overarching purpose of this chapter is to explore and document the growth, applicability, promise, and limitations of quasi-experimental research designs in education research.
Thomas M. Philip, Ayush Gupta
, April 21, 2020
By bringing this collection of articles together, this chapter provides collective epistemic and empirical weight to claims of power and learning as co-constituted and co-constructed through interactional, microgenetic, and structural dynamics.
Steve Graham, Sharlene A. Kiuhara, Meade MacKay
, March 19, 2020
This meta-analysis examined if students writing about content material in science, social studies, and mathematics facilitated learning.
Janina Roloff, Uta Klusmann, Oliver Lüdtke, Ulrich Trautwein
, January 2020
Multilevel regression analyses revealed that agreeableness, high school GPA, and the second state examination grade predicted teachers’ instructional quality.
: Contemporary Views on STEM Subjects and Language With English Learners
Okhee Lee, Amy Stephens
, 2020
With the release of the consensus report , the authors highlight foundational constructs and perspectives associated with STEM subjects and language with English learners that frame the report.
Angela Calabrese Barton and Edna Tan
, 2020
This essay presents a rightful presence framework to guide the study of teaching and learning in justice-oriented ways.
Day Greenberg, Angela Calabrese Barton, Carmen Turner, Kelly Hardy, Akeya Roper, Candace Williams, Leslie Rupert Herrenkohl, Elizabeth A. Davis, Tammy Tasker
, 2020
Researchers report on how one community builds capacity for disrupting injustice and supporting each other during the COVID-19 crisis.
Tatiana Melguizo, Federick Ngo
, 2020
This study explores the extent to which “college-ready” students, by high school standards, are assigned to remedial courses in college.
Karisma Morton and Catherine Riegle-Crumb
, 2020
Results of regression analyses reveal that, net of school, teacher, and student characteristics, the time that teachers report spending on algebra and more advanced content in eighth grade algebra classes is significantly lower in schools that are predominantly Black compared to those that are not predominantly minority. Implications for future research are discussed.
Jonathan D. Schweig, Julia H. Kaufman, and V. Darleen Opfer
, 2020
Researchers found that there are both substantial fluctuations in students’ engagement in these practices and reported cognitive demand from day to day, as well as large differences across teachers.
David Blazar and Casey Archer
, 2020
Researchers found that exposure to “ambitious” mathematics practices is more strongly associated with test score gains of English language learners compared to those of their peers in general education classrooms.
Megan Hopkins, Hayley Weddle, Maxie Gluckman, Leslie Gautsch
, December 2019
Researchers show how both researchers and practitioners facilitated research use.
Adrianna Kezar, Samantha Bernstein-Sierra
, October 2019
Findings suggest that Association of American Universities’ influence was a powerful motivator for institutions to alter deeply ingrained perceptions and behaviors.
Denis Dumas, Daniel McNeish, Julie Sarama, Douglas Clements
, October 2019
While students who receive a short-term intervention in preschool may not differ from a control group in terms of their long-term mathematics outcomes at the end of elementary school, they do exhibit significantly steeper growth curves as they approach their eventual skill level.
Jessica Thompson, Jennifer Richards, Soo-Yean Shim, Karin Lohwasser, Kerry Soo Von Esch, Christine Chew, Bethany Sjoberg, Ann Morris
, September 2019
Researchers used data from professional learning communities to analyze pathways into improvement work and reflective data to understand practitioners’ perspectives.
Ross E. O’Hara, Betsy Sparrow
, September 2019
Results indicate that interventions that target psychosocial barriers experienced by community college STEM students can increase retention and should be considered alongside broader reforms.
Ran Liu, Andrea Alvarado-Urbina, Emily Hannum
, September 2019
Findings reveal disparate national patterns in gender gaps across the performance distribution.
Adam Kirk Edgerton
, September 2019
Through an analysis of 52 interviews with state, regional, and district officials in California, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, the author investigates the decline in the popularity of K–12 standards-based reform.
Amy Noelle Parks
, September 2019
The study suggests that more research needs to represent mathematics lessons from the perspectives of children and youth, particularly those students who engage with teachers infrequently or in atypical ways.
Rajeev Darolia, Cory Koedel, Joyce B. Main, J. Felix Ndashimye, Junpeng Yan
, September 30, 2019
Researchers found that differential access to high school courses does not affect postsecondary STEM enrollment or degree attainment.
Laura A. Davis, Gregory C. Wolniak, Casey E. George, Glen R. Nelson
, August 2019
The findings point to variation in informational quality across dimensions ranging from clarity of language use and terminology, to consistency and coherence of visual displays, which accompany navigational challenges stemming from information fragmentation and discontinuity across pages.
Juan E. Saavedra, Emma Näslund-Hadley, Mariana Alfonso
, August 12, 2019
Researchers present results from the first randomized experiment of a remedial inquiry-based science education program for low-performing elementary students in a developing country.
F. Chris Curran, James Kitchin
, July 2019
Researchers found suggestive evidence in some models (student fixed effects and regression with observable controls) that time on science instruction is related to science achievement but little evidence that the number of science topics/skills covered are related to greater science achievement.
Kathleen Lynch, Heather C. Hill, Kathryn E. Gonzalez, Cynthia Pollard
, June 2019
Programs saw stronger outcomes when they helped teachers learn to use curriculum materials; focused on improving teachers’ content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and/or understanding of how students learn; incorporated summer workshops; and included teacher meetings to troubleshoot and discuss classroom implementation. We discuss implications for policy and practice.
Elizabeth Stearns, Martha Cecilia Bottia, Jason Giersch, Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, Stephanie Moller, Nandan Jha, Melissa Dancy
, June 2019
Researchers found that relative advantages in college academic performance in STEM versus non-STEM subjects do not contribute to the gender gap in STEM major declaration.
Nicole Shechtman, Jeremy Roschelle, Mingyu Feng, Corinne Singleton
, May 2019
As educational leaders throughout the United States adopt digital mathematics curricula and adaptive, blended approaches, the findings provide a relevant caution.
Colleen M. Ganley, Robert C. Schoen, Mark LaVenia, Amanda M. Tazaz
, March 2019
Factor analyses support a distinction between components of general math anxiety and anxiety about teaching math.
Felicia Moore Mensah
, February 2019
The implications for practice in both teacher education and science education show that educational and emotional support for teachers of color throughout their educational and professional journey is imperative to increasing and sustaining Black teachers.
Herbert W. Marsh, Brooke Van Zanden, Philip D. Parker, Jiesi Guo, James Conigrave, Marjorie Seaton
, February 2019
Researchers evaluated STEM coursework selection by women and men in senior high school and university, controlling achievement and expectancy-value variables.
Yasemin Copur-Gencturk, Debra Plowman, Haiyan Bai
, January 2019
The results showed that a focus on curricular content knowledge and examining students’ work were significantly related to teachers’ learning.
Rebecca Colina Neri, Maritza Lozano, Louis M. Gomez
, 2019
Researchers found that teacher resistance to CRE as a multilevel learning problem stems from (a) limited understanding and belief in the efficacy of CRE and (b) a lack of know-how needed to execute it.
Russell T. Warne, Gerhard Sonnert, and Philip M. Sadler
, 2019
Researchers investigated the relationship between participation in AP mathematics courses (AP Calculus and AP Statistics) and student career interest in STEM.
Catherine Riegle-Crumb, Barbara King, and Yasmiyn Irizarry
, 2019
Results reveal evidence of persistent racial/ethnic inequality in STEM degree attainment not found in other fields.
Eben B. Witherspoon, Paulette Vincent-Ruz, and Christian D. Schunn
, 2019
Researchers found that high-performing women often graduate with lower paying, lower status degrees.
Bruce Fuller, Yoonjeon Kim, Claudia Galindo, Shruti Bathia, Margaret Bridges, Greg J. Duncan, and Isabel García Valdivia
, 2019
This article details the growing share of Latino children from low-income families populating schools, 1998 to 2010.
Rebekka Darner
, 2019
Drawing from motivated reasoning and self-determination theories, this essay builds a theoretical model of how negative emotions, thwarting of basic psychological needs, and the backfire effect interact to undermine critical evaluation of evidence, leading to science denial.
Okhee Lee
, 2019
As the fast-growing population of English learners (ELs) is expected to meet college- and career-ready content standards, the purpose of this article is to highlight key issues in aligning ELP standards with content standards.
Mark C. Long, Dylan Conger, and Raymond McGhee, Jr.
, 2019
The authors offer the first model of the components inherent in a well-implemented AP science course and the first evaluation of AP implementation with a focus on public schools newly offering the inquiry-based version of AP Biology and Chemistry courses.
Yasemin Copur-Gencturk, Joseph R. Cimpian, Sarah Theule Lubienski, and Ian Thacker
, 2019
Results indicate that teachers are not free of bias, and that teachers from marginalized groups may be susceptible to bias that favors stereotype-advantaged groups.
Geoffrey B. Saxe and Joshua Sussman
, 2019
Multilevel analysis of longitudinal data on a specialized integers and fractions assessment, as well as a California state mathematics assessment, revealed that the ELs in LMR classrooms showed greater gains than comparison ELs and gained at similar rates to their EP peers in LMR classrooms.
Jordan Rickles, Jessica B. Heppen, Elaine Allensworth, Nicholas Sorensen, and Kirk Walters
, 2019
The authors discuss whether it would have been appropriate to test for nominally equivalent outcomes, given that the study was initially conceived and designed to test for significant differences, and that the conclusion of no difference was not solely based on a null hypothesis test.
Soobin Kim, Gregory Wallsworth, Ran Xu, Barbara Schneider, Kenneth Frank, Brian Jacob, Susan Dynarski
, 2019
Using detailed Michigan high school transcript data, this article examines the effect of the MMC on various students’ course-taking and achievement outcomes.
Dario Sansone
, December 2018
Researchers found that students were less likely to believe that men were better than women in math or science when assigned to female teachers or to teachers who valued and listened to ideas from their students.
Ebony McGee
, December 2018
The authors argues that both racial groups endure emotional distress because each group responds to its marginalization with an unrelenting motivation to succeed that imposes significant costs.
Barbara Means, Haiwen Wang, Xin Wei, Emi Iwatani, Vanessa Peters
, November 2018
Students overall and from under-represented groups who had attended inclusive STEM high schools were significantly more likely to be in a STEM bachelor’s degree program two years after high school graduation.
Paulo Tan, Kathleen King Thorius
, November 2018
Results indicate identity and power tensions that worked against equitable practices.
Caesar R. Jackson
, November 2018
This study investigated the validity and reliability of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) for minority students enrolled in STEM courses at a historically black college/university (HBCU).
Tuan D. Nguyen, Christopher Redding
, September 2018
The results highlight the importance of recruiting qualified STEM teachers to work in high-poverty schools and providing supports to help them thrive and remain in the classroom.
Joseph A. Taylor, Susan M. Kowalski, Joshua R. Polanin, Karen Askinas, Molly A. M. Stuhlsatz, Christopher D. Wilson, Elizabeth Tipton, Sandra Jo Wilson
, August 2018
The meta-analysis examines the relationship between science education intervention effect sizes and a host of study characteristics, allowing primary researchers to access better estimates of effect sizes for a priori power analyses. The results of this meta-analysis also support programmatic decisions by setting realistic expectations about the typical magnitude of impacts for science education interventions.
Brian A. Burt, Krystal L. Williams, Gordon J. M. Palmer
, August 2018
Three factors are identified as helping them persist from year to year, and in many cases through completion of the doctorate: the role of family, spirituality and faith-based community, and undergraduate mentors.
Anna-Lena Rottweiler, Jamie L. Taxer, Ulrike E. Nett
, June 2018
Suppression improved mood in exam-related anxiety, while distraction improved mood only in non-exam-related anxiety.
Gabriel Estrella, Jacky Au, Susanne M. Jaeggi, Penelope Collins
, April 2018
Although an analysis of 26 articles confirmed that inquiry instruction produced significantly greater impacts on measures of science achievement for ELLs compared to direct instruction, there was still a differential learning effect suggesting greater efficacy for non-ELLs compared to ELLs.
Heather C. Hill, Mark Chin
, April 2018
In this article, evidence from 284 teachers suggests that accuracy can be adequately measured and relates to instruction and student outcomes.
Darrell M. Hull, Krystal M. Hinerman, Sarah L. Ferguson, Qi Chen, Emma I. Näslund-Hadley
, April 20, 2018
Both quantitative and qualitative evidence suggest students within this culture respond well to this relatively simple and inexpensive intervention that departs from traditional, expository math instruction in many developing countries.
Erika C. Bullock
, April 2018
The author reviews CME studies that employ intersectionality as a way of analyzing the complexities of oppression.
Angela Calabrese Barton, Edna Tan
, March 2018
Building a conceptual argument for an equity-oriented culture of making, the authors discuss the ways in which making with and in community opened opportunities for youth to project their communities’ rich culture knowledge and wisdom onto their making while also troubling and negotiating the historicized injustices they experience.
Sabrina M. Solanki, Di Xu
, March 2018
Researchers found that having a female instructor narrows the gender gap in terms of engagement and interest; further, both female and male students tend to respond to instructor gender.
Susanne M. Jaeggi, Priti Shah
, February 2018
These articles provide excellent examples for how neuroscientific approaches can complement behavioral work, and they demonstrate how understanding the neural level can help researchers develop richer models of learning and development.
Danyelle T. Ireland, Kimberley Edelin Freeman, Cynthia E. Winston-Proctor, Kendra D. DeLaine, Stacey McDonald Lowe, Kamilah M. Woodson
, 2018
Researchers found that (1) identity; (2) STEM interest, confidence, and persistence; (3) achievement, ability perceptions, and attributions; and (4) socializers and support systems are key themes within the experiences of Black women and girls in STEM education.
Ann Y. Kim, Gale M. Sinatra, Viviane Seyranian
, 2018
Findings indicate that young women experience challenges to their participation and inclusion when they are in STEM settings.
Guan Saw, Chi-Ning Chang, and Hsun-Yu Chan
, 2018
Results indicated that female, Black, Hispanic, and low SES students were less likely to show, maintain, and develop an interest in STEM careers during high school years.
Di Xu, Sabrina Solanki, Peter McPartlan, and Brian Sato
, 2018
This paper estimates the causal effects of a first-year STEM learning communities program on both cognitive and noncognitive outcomes at a large public 4-year institution.
Christina S. Chhin, Katherine A. Taylor, and Wendy S. Wei
, 2018
Data showed that IES has not funded any direct replications that duplicate all aspects of the original study, but almost half of the funded grant applications can be considered conceptual replications that vary one or more dimensions of a prior study.
Okhee Lee
, 2018
As federal legislation requires that English language proficiency (ELP) standards are aligned with content standards, this article addresses issues and concerns in aligning ELP standards with content standards in English language arts, mathematics, and science.
Jordan Rickles, Jessica B. Heppen, Elaine Allensworth, Nicholas Sorensen, and Kirk Walters
, 2018
Researchers found no statistically significant differences in longer term outcomes between students in the online and face-to-face courses. Implications of these null findings are discussed.
Colleen M. Ganley, Casey E. George, Joseph R. Cimpian, Martha B. Makowski
, December 2017
Researchers found that perceived gender bias against women emerges as the dominant predictor of the gender balance in college majors.
James P. Spillane, Megan Hopkins, Tracy M. Sweet
, December 2017
This article examines the relationship between teachers’ instructional ties and their beliefs about mathematics instruction in one school district working to transform its approach to elementary mathematics education.
Susan A. Yoon, Sao-Ee Goh, Miyoung Park
, December 6, 2017
Results revealed needs in five areas of research: a need to diversify the knowledge domains within which research is conducted, more research on learning about system states, agreement on the essential features of complex systems content, greater focus on contextual factors that support learning including teacher learning, and a need for more comparative research.
Candace Walkington, Virginia Clinton, Pooja Shivraj
, November 2017
Textual features that make problems more difficult to process appear to differentially negatively impact struggling students, while features that make language easier to process appear to differentially positively impact struggling students.
Rebecca L. Matz, Benjamin P. Koester, Stefano Fiorini, Galina Grom, Linda Shepard, Charles G. Stangor, Brad Weiner, Timothy A. McKay
, November 2017
Biology, chemistry, physics, accounting, and economics lecture courses regularly exhibit gendered performance differences that are statistically and materially significant, whereas lab courses in the same subjects do not.
Adam V. Maltese, Christina S. Cooper
, August 2017
The results reveal that although there is no singular pathway into STEM fields, self-driven interest is a large factor in persistence, especially for males, and females rely more heavily on support from others.
Brian R. Belland, Andrew E. Walker, Nam Ju Kim
, August 2017
Scaffolding has a consistently strong effect across student populations, STEM disciplines, and assessment levels, and a strong effect when used with most problem-centered instructional and educational levels.
Di Xu, Shanna Smith Jaggars
, July 2017
The findings indicate a robust negative impact of online course taking for both subjects.
Maisie L. Gholson, Charles E. Wilkes
, June 2017
This chapter reviews two strands of identity-based research in mathematics education related to Black children, exemplified by Martin (2000) and Nasir (2002).
Sarah Theule Lubienski, Emily K. Miller, and Evthokia Stephanie Saclarides
, November 2017
Using data from a survey of doctoral students at one large institution, this study finds that men submitted and published more scholarly works than women across many fields, with differences largest in natural/biological sciences and engineering.
David Blazar, Cynthia Pollard
, October 2017
Drawing on classroom observations and teacher surveys, researchers find that test preparation activities predict lower quality and less ambitious mathematics instruction in upper-elementary classrooms.
Nicole M. Joseph, Meseret Hailu, Denise Boston
, June 2017
This integrative review used critical race theory (CRT) and Black feminism as interpretive frames to explore factors that contribute to Black women’s and girls’ persistence in the mathematics pipeline and the role these factors play in shaping their academic outcomes.
Benjamin L. Wiggins, Sarah L. Eddy, Daniel Z. Grunspan, Alison J. Crowe
, May 2017
Researchers describe the results of a quasi-experimental study to test the apex of the ICAP framework (interactive, constructive, active, and passive) in this ecological classroom environment.
Sean Gehrke, Adrianna Kezar
, May 2017
This study examines how involvement in four cross-institutional STEM faculty communities of practice is associated with local departmental and institutional change for faculty members belonging to these communities.
Lawrence Ingvarson, Glenn Rowley
, May 2017
This study investigated the relationship between policies related to the recruitment, selection, preparation, and certification of new teachers and (a) the quality of future teachers as measured by their mathematics content and pedagogy content knowledge and (b) student achievement in mathematics at the national level.
Will Tyson, Josipa Roksa
, April 2017
This study examines how course grades and course rigor are associated with math attainment among students with similar eighth-grade standardized math test scores.
Anne K. Morris, James Hiebert
, March 2017
Researchers investigated whether the content pre-service teachers studied in elementary teacher preparation mathematics courses was related to their performance on a mathematics lesson planning task 2 and 3 years after graduation.
Laura M. Desimone, Kirsten Lee Hill
, March 2017
Researchers use data from a randomized controlled trial of a middle school science intervention to explore the causal mechanisms by which the intervention produced previously documented gains in student achievement.
Okhee Lee
, March 2017
This article focuses on how the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) treat “argument,” especially in Grades K–5, and the extent to which each set of standards is grounded in research literature, as claimed.
Cory Koedel, Diyi Li, Morgan S. Polikoff, Tenice Hardaway, Stephani L. Wrabel
, February 2017
Researchers estimate relative achievement effects of the four most commonly adopted elementary mathematics textbooks in the fall of 2008 and fall of 2009 in California.
Mary Kay Stein, Richard Correnti, Debra Moore, Jennifer Lin Russell, Katelynn Kelly
, January 2017
Researchers argue that large-scale, standards-based improvements in the teaching and learning of mathematics necessitate advances in theories regarding how teaching affects student learning and progress in how to measure instruction.
Alan H. Schoenfeld
, December 2016
The author begins by tracing the growth and change in research in mathematics education and its interdependence with research in education in general over much of the 20th century, with an emphasis on changes in research perspectives and methods and the philosophical/empirical/disciplinary approaches that underpin them.
Marcia C. Linn, Libby Gerard, Camillia Matuk, Kevin W. McElhaney
, December 2016
This chapter focuses on how investigators from varied fields of inquiry who initially worked separately began to interact, eventually formed partnerships, and recently integrated their perspectives to strengthen science education.
: Are Teachers’ Implicit Cognitions Another Piece of the Puzzle?
Almut E. Thomas
, December 2016
Drawing on expectancy-value theory, this study investigated whether teachers’ implicit science-is-male stereotypes predict between-teacher variation in males’ and females’ motivational beliefs regarding physical science.
: A By-Product of STEM College Culture?
Ebony O. McGee
, December 2016
The researcher found that the 38 high-achieving Black and Latino/a STEM study participants, who attended institutions with racially hostile academic spaces, deployed an arsenal of strategies (e.g., stereotype management) to deflect stereotyping and other racial assaults (e.g., racial microaggressions), which are particularly prevalent in STEM fields.
James Cowan, Dan Goldhaber, Kyle Hayes, Roddy Theobald
, November 2016
Researchers discuss public policies that contribute to teacher shortages in specific subjects (e.g., STEM and special education) and specific types of schools (e.g., disadvantaged) as well as potential solutions.
: A Sociological Analysis of Multimethod Data From Young Women Aged 10–16 to Explore Gendered Patterns of Post-16 Participation
Louise Archer, Julie Moote, Becky Francis, Jennifer DeWitt, Lucy Yeomans
, November 2016
Researchers draw on survey data from more than 13,000 year 11 (age 15/16) students and interviews with 70 students (who had been tracked from age 10 to 16), focusing in particular on seven girls who aspired to continue with physics post-16, discussing how the cultural arbitrary of physics requires these girls to be highly “exceptional,” undertaking considerable identity work and deployment of capital in order to “possibilize” a physics identity—an endeavor in which some girls are better positioned to be successful than others.
Jeremy Roschelle, Mingyu Feng, Robert F. Murphy, Craig A. Mason
, October 2016
In a randomized field trial with 2,850 seventh-grade mathematics students, researchers evaluated whether an educational technology intervention increased mathematics learning.
: Making Research Participation Instructionally Effective
Sherry A. Southerland, Ellen M. Granger, Roxanne Hughes, Patrick Enderle, Fengfeng Ke, Katrina Roseler, Yavuz Saka, Miray Tekkumru-Kisa
, October 2016
As current reform efforts in science place a premium on student sense making and participation in the practices of science, researchers use a close examination of 106 science teachers participating in Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) to identify, through structural equation modeling, the essential features in supporting teacher learning from these experiences.
Brian R. Belland, Andrew E. Walker, Nam Ju Kim, Mason Lefler
, October 2016
This review addresses the need for a comprehensive meta-analysis of research on scaffolding in STEM education by synthesizing the results of 144 experimental studies (333 outcomes) on the effects of computer-based scaffolding designed to assist the full range of STEM learners (primary through adult education) as they navigated ill-structured, problem-centered curricula.
Vaughan Prain, Brian Hand
, October 2016
Researchers claim that there are strong evidence-based reasons for viewing writing as a central but not sole resource for learning, drawing on both past and current research on writing as an epistemological tool and on their professional background in science education research, acknowledging its distinctive take on the use of writing for learning.
June Ahn, Austin Beck, John Rice, Michelle Foster
, September 2016
Researchers present analyses from a researcher-practitioner partnership in the District of Columbia Public Schools, where the researchers are exploring the impact of educational software on students’ academic achievement.
Barbara King
, September 2016
This study uses nationally representative data from a recent cohort of college students to investigate thoroughly gender differences in STEM persistence.
Ryan C. Svoboda, Christopher S. Rozek, Janet S. Hyde, Judith M. Harackiewicz, Mesmin Destin
, August 2016
This longitudinal study draws on identity-based and expectancy-value theories of motivation to explain the socioeconomic status (SES) and mathematics and science course-taking relationship.
Mathematics Course Placements in California Middle Schools, 2003–2013
Thurston Domina, Paul Hanselman, NaYoung Hwang, Andrew McEachin
, July 2016
Researchers consider the organizational processes that accompanied the curricular intensification of the proportion of California eighth graders enrolled in algebra or a more advanced course nearly doubling to 65% between 2003 and 2013.
Lina Shanley
, July 2016
Using a nationally representative longitudinal data set, this study compared various models of mathematics achievement growth on the basis of both practical utility and optimal statistical fit and explored relationships within and between early and later mathematics growth parameters.
Mimi Engel, Amy Claessens, Tyler Watts, George Farkas
, June 2016
Analyzing data from two nationally representative kindergarten cohorts, researchers examine the mathematics content teachers cover in kindergarten.
F. Chris Curran, Ann T. Kellogg
, June 2016
Researchers present findings from the recently released Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011 that demonstrate significant gaps in science achievement in kindergarten and first grade by race/ethnicity.
Rachel Garrett, Guanglei Hong
, June 2016
Analyzing the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten cohort data, researchers find that heterogeneous grouping or a combination of heterogeneous and homogeneous grouping under relatively adequate time allocation is optimal for enhancing teacher ratings of language minority kindergartners’ math performance, while using homogeneous grouping only is detrimental.
Jennifer Gnagey, Stéphane Lavertu
, May 2016
This study is one of the first to estimate the impact of “inclusive” science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) high schools using student-level data.
Hanna Gaspard, Anna-Lena Dicke, Barbara Flunger, Isabelle Häfner, Brigitte M. Brisson, Ulrich Trautwein, Benjamin Nagengast
, May 2016
Through data from a cluster-randomized study in which a value intervention was successfully implemented in 82 ninth-grade math classrooms, researchers address how interventions on students’ STEM motivation in school affect motivation in subjects not targeted by the intervention.
Rebecca M. Callahan, Melissa H. Humphries
, April 2016
Researchers employ multivariate methods to investigate immigrant college going by linguistic status using the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002.
Federick Ngo, Tatiana Melguizo
, March 2016
Researchers take advantage of heterogeneous placement policy in a large urban community college district in California to compare the effects of math remediation under different policy contexts.
: An Analysis of German Fourth- and Sixth-Grade Classrooms
Steffen Tröbst, Thilo Kleickmann, Kim Lange-Schubert, Anne Rothkopf, Kornelia Möller
, February 2016
Researchers examined if changes in instructional practices accounted for differences in situational interest in science instruction and enduring individual interest in science between elementary and secondary school classrooms.
: A Mixed-Methods Study
David F. Feldon, Michelle A. Maher, Josipa Roksa, James Peugh
, February 2016
Researchers offer evidence of a similar phenomenon to cumulative advantage, accounting for differential patterns of research skill development in graduate students over an academic year and explore differences in socialization that accompany diverging developmental trajectories.
: The Influence of Time, Peers, and Place
Luke Dauter, Bruce Fuller
, February 2016
Researchers hypothesize that pupil mobility stems from the (a) student’s time in school and grade; (b) student’s race, class, and achievement relative to peers; (c) quality of schooling relative to nearby alternatives; and (4) proximity, abundance, and diversity of local school options.
: How Workload and Curricular Affordances Shape STEM Faculty Decisions About Teaching and Learning
Matthew T. Hora
, January 2016
In this study the idea of the “problem space” from cognitive science is used to examine how faculty construct mental representations for the task of planning undergraduate courses.
Jessaca Spybrook, Carl D. Westine, Joseph A. Taylor
, January 2016
This article provides empirical estimates of design parameters necessary for planning adequately powered cluster randomized trials (CRTs) focused on science achievement.
Paul L. Morgan, George Farkas, Marianne M. Hillemeier, Steve Maczuga
, January 2016
Researchers examined the age of onset, over-time dynamics, and mechanisms underlying science achievement gaps in U.S. elementary and middle schools.
: Opportunity Structures and Outcomes in Inclusive STEM-Focused High Schools
Lois Weis, Margaret Eisenhart, Kristin Cipollone, Amy E. Stich, Andrea B. Nikischer, Jarrod Hanson, Sarah Ohle Leibrandt, Carrie D. Allen, Rachel Dominguez
, December 2015
Researchers present findings from a three-year comparative longitudinal and ethnographic study of how schools in two cities, Buffalo and Denver, have taken up STEM education reform, including the idea of “inclusive STEM-focused schools,” to address weaknesses in urban high schools with majority low-income and minority students.
: How Do They Interact in Promoting Science Understanding?
Jasmin Decristan, Eckhard Klieme, Mareike Kunter, Jan Hochweber, Gerhard Büttner, Benjamin Fauth, A. Lena Hondrich, Svenja Rieser, Silke Hertel, Ilonca Hardy
, December 2015
Researchers examine the interplay between curriculum-embedded formative assessment—a well-known teaching practice—and general features of classroom process quality (i.e., cognitive activation, supportive climate, classroom management) and their combined effect on elementary school students’ understanding of the scientific concepts of floating and sinking.
: An International Perspective
William H. Schmidt, Nathan A. Burroughs, Pablo Zoido, Richard T. Houang
, October 2015
In this paper, student-level indicators of opportunity to learn (OTL) included in the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment are used to explore the joint relationship of OTL and socioeconomic status (SES) to student mathematics literacy.
Xueli Wang
, September 2015
This study examines the effect of beginning at a community college on baccalaureate success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
: Trends and Predictors
David M. Quinn, North Cooc
, August 2015
With research on science achievement disparities by gender and race/ethnicity often neglecting the beginning of the pipeline in the early grades, researchers address this limitation using nationally representative data following students from Grades 3 to 8.
Shaun M. Dougherty, Joshua S. Goodman, Darryl V. Hill, Erica G. Litke, Lindsay C. Page
, May 2015
Researchers highlight a collaboration to investigate one district’s effort to increase middle school algebra course-taking.
David F. Feldon, Michelle A. Maher, Melissa Hurst, Briana Timmerman
, April 2015
This mixed-method study investigates agreement between student mentees’ and their faculty mentors’ perceptions of the students’ developing research knowledge and skills in STEM.
: Reviving Science Education for Civic Ends
John L. Rudolph
, December 2014
This article revisits John Dewey’s now-well-known address “Science as Subject-Matter and as Method” and examines the development of science education in the United States in the years since that address.
Dermot F. Donnelly, Marcia C. Linn Sten Ludvigsen
, December 2014
The National Science Foundation–sponsored report Fostering Learning in the Networked World called for “a common, open platform to support communities of developers and learners in ways that enable both to take advantage of advances in the learning sciences”; we review research on science inquiry learning environments (ILEs) to characterize current platforms.
: A Longitudinal Case Study of America’s Chemistry Teachers
Gregory T. Rushton, Herman E. Ray, Brett A. Criswell, Samuel J. Polizzi, Clyde J. Bearss, Nicholas Levelsmier, Himanshu Chhita, Mary Kirchhoff
, November 2014
Researchers perform a longitudinal case study of U.S. public school chemistry teachers to illustrate a diffusion of responsibility within the STEM community regarding who is responsible for the teacher workforce.
: Relations Between Early Mathematics Knowledge and High School Achievement
Tyler W. Watts, Greg J. Duncan, Robert S. Siegler, Pamela E. Davis-Kean
, October 2014
Researchers find that preschool mathematics ability predicts mathematics achievement through age 15, even after accounting for early reading, cognitive skills, and family and child characteristics.
T. Jared Robinson, Lane Fischer, David Wiley, John Hilton, III
, October 2014
The purpose of this quantitative study is to analyze whether the adoption of open science textbooks significantly affects science learning outcomes for secondary students in earth systems, chemistry, and physics.
: 1968–2009
Robert N. Ronau, Christopher R. Rakes, Sarah B. Bush, Shannon O. Driskell, Margaret L. Niess, David K. Pugalee
, October 2014
We examined 480 dissertations on the use of technology in mathematics education and developed a Quality Framework (QF) that provided structure to consistently define and measure quality.
Andrew D. Plunk, William F. Tate, Laura J. Bierut, Richard A. Grucza
, June 2014
Using logistic regression with Census and American Community Survey (ACS) data ( = 2,892,444), researchers modeled mathematics and science course graduation requirement (CGR) exposure on (a) high school dropout, (b) beginning college, and (c) obtaining any college degree.
Corey Drake, Tonia J. Land, Andrew M. Tyminski
, April 2014
Building on the work of Ball and Cohen and that of Davis and Krajcik, as well as more recent research related to teacher learning from and about curriculum materials, researchers seek to answer the question, How can prospective teachers (PTs) learn to read and use educative curriculum materials in ways that support them in acquiring the knowledge needed for teaching?
Lorraine M. McDonnell, M. Stephen Weatherford
, December 2013
This article draws on theories of political and policy learning and interviews with major participants to examine the role that the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) supporters have played in developing and implementing the standards, supporters’ reasons for mobilizing, and the counterarguments and strategies of recently emerging opposition groups.
: Motivation, High School Learning, and Postsecondary Context of Support
Xueli Wang
, October 2013
This study draws upon social cognitive career theory and higher education literature to test a conceptual framework for understanding the entrance into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors by recent high school graduates attending 4-year institutions.
Philip M. Sadler, Gerhard Sonnert, Harold P. Coyle, Nancy Cook-Smith, Jaimie L. Miller
, October 2013
This study examines the relationship between teacher knowledge and student learning for 9,556 students of 181 middle school physical science teachers.
: Teaching Critical Mathematics in a Remedial Secondary Classroom
Andrew Brantlinger
, October 2013
The researcher presents results from a practitioner research study of his own teaching of critical mathematics (CM) to low-income students of color in a U.S. context.
Jason G. Hill, Ben Dalton
, October 2013
This study investigates the distribution of math teachers with a major or certification in math using data from the National Center for Education Statistics’ High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09).
Kristin F. Butcher, Mary G. Visher
, September 2013
This study uses random assignment to investigate the impact of a “light-touch” intervention, where an individual visited math classes a few times during the semester, for a few minutes each time, to inform students about available services.
Janet M. Dubinsky, Gillian Roehrig, Sashank Varma
, August 2013
Researchers argue that the neurobiology of learning, and in particular the core concept of , have the potential to directly transform teacher preparation and professional development, and ultimately to affect how students think about their own learning.
: The Impact of Undergraduate Research Programs
M. Kevin Eagan, Jr., Sylvia Hurtado, Mitchell J. Chang, Gina A. Garcia, Felisha A. Herrera, Juan C. Garibay
, August 2013
Researchers’ findings indicate that participation in an undergraduate research program significantly improved students’ probability of indicating plans to enroll in a STEM graduate program.
Okhee Lee, Helen Quinn, Guadalupe Valdés
, May 2013
This article addresses language demands and opportunities that are embedded in the science and engineering practices delineated in “A Framework for K–12 Science Education,” released by the National Research Council (2011).
Liliana M. Garces
, April 2013
This study examines the effects of affirmative action bans in four states (California, Florida, Texas, and Washington) on the enrollment of underrepresented students of color within six different graduate fields of study: the natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, business, education, and humanities.
: Learning Lessons From Research on Diversity in STEM Fields
Shirley M. Malcom, Lindsey E. Malcom-Piqueux
, April 2013
Researchers argue that social scientists ought to look to the vast STEM education research literature to begin the task of empirically investigating the questions raised in the case.
Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, Martha Cecilia Bottia, Richard Lambert
, March 2013
This metaregression analysis reviewed the social science literature published in the past 20 years on the relationship between mathematics outcomes and the racial composition of the K–12 schools students attend.
Jeffrey Grigg, Kimberle A. Kelly, Adam Gamoran, Geoffrey D. Borman
, March 2013
Researchers examine classroom observations from a 3-year large-scale randomized trial in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to investigate the extent to which a professional development initiative in inquiry science influenced teaching practices in in 4th and 5th grade classrooms in 73 schools.
:
Angela Calabrese Barton, Hosun Kang, Edna Tan, Tara B. O’Neill, Juanita Bautista-Guerra, Caitlin Brecklin
, February 2013
This longitudinal ethnographic study traces the identity work that girls from nondominant backgrounds do as they engage in science-related activities across school, club, and home during the middle school years.
: A Review of the State of the Field
Shuchi Grover, Roy Pea
, January 2013
This article frames the current state of discourse on computational thinking in K–12 education by examining mostly recently published academic literature that uses Jeannette Wing’s article as a springboard, identifies gaps in research, and articulates priorities for future inquiries.
Catherine Riegle-Crumb, Barbara King, Eric Grodsky, Chandra Muller
, December 2012
This article investigates the empirical basis for often-repeated arguments that gender differences in entrance into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors are largely explained by disparities in prior achievement.
Richard M. Ingersoll, Henry May
, December 2012
This study examines the magnitude, destinations, and determinants of mathematics and science teacher turnover.
: How Families Shape Children’s Engagement and Identification With Science
Louise Archer, Jennifer DeWitt, Jonathan Osborne, Justin Dillon, Beatrice Willis, Billy Wong
, October 2012
Drawing on the conceptual framework of Bourdieu, this article explores how the interplay of family habitus and capital can make science aspirations more “thinkable” for some (notably middle-class) children than others.
Erin Marie Furtak, Tina Seidel, Heidi Iverson, Derek C. Briggs
, September 2012
This meta-analysis introduces a framework for inquiry-based teaching that distinguishes between cognitive features of the activity and degree of guidance given to students.
Jaekyung Lee, Todd Reeves
, June 2012
This study examines the impact of high-stakes school accountability, capacity, and resources under NCLB on reading and math achievement outcomes through comparative interrupted time-series analyses of 1990–2009 NAEP state assessment data.
: Toward a Theory of Teaching
Paola Sztajn, Jere Confrey, P. Holt Wilson, Cynthia Edgington
, June 2012
Researchers propose a theoretical connection between research on learning and research on teaching through recent research on students’ learning trajectories (LTs).
: The Perspectives of Exemplary African American Teachers
Jianzhong Xu, Linda T. Coats, Mary L. Davidson
, February 2012
Researchers argue both the urgency and the promise of establishing a constructive conversation among different bodies of research, including science interest, sociocultural studies in science education, and culturally relevant teaching.
Rebecca M. Schneider, Kellie Plasman
, December 2011
This review examines the research on science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in order to refine ideas about science teacher learning progressions and how to support them.
Brian A. Nosek, Frederick L. Smyth
, October 2011
Researchers examined implicit math attitudes and stereotypes among a heterogeneous sample of 5,139 participants.
Libby F. Gerard, Keisha Varma, Stephanie B. Corliss, Marcia C. Linn
, September 2011
Researchers’ findings suggest that professional development programs that engaged teachers in a comprehensive, constructivist-oriented learning process and were sustained beyond 1 year significantly improved students’ inquiry learning experiences in K–12 science classrooms.
: Teaching and Learning Impacts of Reading Apprenticeship Professional Development
Cynthia L. Greenleaf, Cindy Litman, Thomas L. Hanson, Rachel Rosen, Christy K. Boscardin, Joan Herman, Steven A. Schneider, Sarah Madden, Barbara Jones
, June 2011
This study examined the effects of professional development integrating academic literacy and biology instruction on science teachers’ instructional practices and students’ achievement in science and literacy.
Paul Cobb, Kara Jackson
, May 2011
The authors comment on Porter, McMaken, Hwang, and Yang’s recent analysis of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics by critiquing their measures of the focus of the standards and the absence of an assessment of coherence.
P. Wesley Schultz, Paul R. Hernandez, Anna Woodcock, Mica Estrada, Randie C. Chance, Maria Aguilar, Richard T. Serpe
, March 2011
This study reports results from a longitudinal study of students supported by a national National Institutes of Health–funded minority training program, and a propensity score matched control.
: Three Large-Scale Studies
Jeremy Roschelle, Nicole Shechtman, Deborah Tatar, Stephen Hegedus, Bill Hopkins, Susan Empson, Jennifer Knudsen, Lawrence P. Gallagher
, December 2010
The authors present three studies (two randomized controlled experiments and one embedded quasi-experiment) designed to evaluate the impact of replacement units targeting student learning of advanced middle school mathematics.
: Examining Disparities in College Major by Gender and Race/Ethnicity
Catherine Riegle-Crumb, Barbara King
, December 2010
The authors analyze national data on recent college matriculants to investigate gender and racial/ethnic disparities in STEM fields, with an eye toward the role of academic preparation and attitudes in shaping such disparities.
Mary Kay Stein, Julia H. Kaufman
, September 2010
This article begins to unravel the question, “What curricular materials work best under what kinds of conditions?” The authors address this question from the point of view of teachers and their ability to implement mathematics curricula that place varying demands and provide varying levels of support for their learning.
Andy R. Cavagnetto
, September 2010
This study of 54 articles from the research literature examines how argument interventions promote scientific literacy.
Victoria M. Hand
, March 2010
The researcher examined how the teacher and students in a low-track mathematics classroom jointly constructed opposition through their classroom interactions.
Terrence E. Murphy, Monica Gaughan, Robert Hume, S. Gordon Moore, Jr.
, March 2010
Researchers evaluate the association of a summer bridge program with the graduation rate of underrepresented minority (URM) students at a selective technical university.
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This study explored research trends in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Descriptive analysis and co-word analysis were used to examine articles published in Social Science Citation Index journals from 2011 to 2020. From a search of the Web of Science database, a total of 761 articles were selected as target samples for analysis. A growing number of STEM-related publications were published after 2016. The most frequently used keywords in these sample papers were also identified. Further analysis identified the leading journals and most represented countries among the target articles. A series of co-word analyses were conducted to reveal word co-occurrence according to the title, keywords, and abstract. Gender moderated engagement in STEM learning and career selection. Higher education was critical in training a STEM workforce to satisfy societal requirements for STEM roles. Our findings indicated that the attention of STEM education researchers has shifted to the professional development of teachers. Discussions and potential research directions in the field are included.
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Ying-Shao Hsu
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Kai-Yu Tang
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Tzu-Chiang Lin
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Quantitative research is an essential part of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. It involves collecting and analyzing numerical data to answer research questions and test hypotheses.
In 2023, STEM students have a wealth of exciting research opportunities in various disciplines. Whether you’re an undergraduate or graduate student, here are quantitative research topics to consider for your next project.
If you are looking for the best list of quantitative research topics for stem students, then you can check the given list in each field. It offers STEM students numerous opportunities to explore and contribute to their respective fields in 2023 and beyond.
Whether you’re interested in astrophysics, biology, engineering, mathematics, or any other STEM field.
Also Read: Most Exciting Qualitative Research Topics For Students
Table of Contents
Quantitative research is a type of research that focuses on the organized collection, analysis, and evaluation of numerical data to answer research questions, test theories, and find trends or connections between factors. It is an organized, objective way to do study that uses measurable data and scientific methods to come to results.
Quantitative research is often used in many areas, such as the natural sciences, social sciences, economics, psychology, education, and market research. It gives useful information about patterns, trends, cause-and-effect relationships, and how often things happen. Quantitative tools are used by researchers to answer questions like “How many?” and “How often?” “Is there a significant difference?” or “What is the relationship between the variables?”
In comparison to quantitative research, qualitative research uses non-numerical data like conversations, notes, and open-ended surveys to understand and explore the ideas, experiences, and points of view of people or groups. Researchers often choose between quantitative and qualitative methods based on their research goals, questions, and the type of thing they are studying.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to choose quantitative research topics for STEM:
Start by reflecting on your personal interests within STEM. What areas or subjects in STEM excite you the most? Choosing a topic you’re passionate about will keep you motivated throughout the research process.
Look through your coursework, textbooks, and class notes. Identify concepts, theories, or areas that you found particularly intriguing or challenging. These can be a source of potential research topics.
Discuss your research interests with professors, academic advisors, or mentors. They can provide valuable insights, suggest relevant topics, and guide you toward areas with research opportunities.
Explore recent research articles, journals, and publications in STEM fields. This will help you identify current trends, gaps in knowledge, and areas where further research is needed.
Once you have a broad area of interest, narrow it down to a specific research focus. Consider questions like:
Assess the resources available to you, including access to laboratories, equipment, databases, and funding. Ensure that your chosen topic aligns with the resources you have or can access.
Consider the feasibility of conducting research on your chosen topic. Are the data readily available, or will you need to collect data yourself? Can you complete the research within your available time frame?
Formulate a clear and specific research question or hypothesis. Your research question should guide your entire study and provide a focus for your data collection and analysis.
Dive deeper into the existing literature related to your chosen topic. This will help you understand the current state of research, identify gaps, and refine your research question.
Think about the potential impact of your research. How does your topic contribute to the advancement of knowledge in your field? Does it have practical applications or implications for society?
Determine the quantitative research methods and data collection techniques you plan to use. Consider whether you’ll conduct experiments, surveys, data analysis, simulations, or use existing datasets.
Share your research topic and ideas with peers, advisors, or mentors. They can provide valuable feedback and help you refine your research focus.
Consider ethical implications related to your research, especially if it involves human subjects, sensitive data, or potential environmental impacts. Ensure that your research adheres to ethical guidelines.
Once you’ve gone through these steps, finalize your research topic. Write a clear and concise research proposal that outlines your research question, objectives, methods, and expected outcomes.
Be open to adjusting your research topic as you progress. Sometimes, new insights or challenges may lead you to refine or adapt your research focus.
Following are the most interesting quantitative research topics for stem students. These are given below.
Following are the best Quantitative Research Topics For STEM Students in mathematics and statistics.
Robotics and automation, materials engineering, nuclear engineering, biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, renewable energy, astronomy and space sciences, psychology and cognitive science, geology and geological engineering, forensic science, cybersecurity, mathematical biology, chemical analysis, mathematics education, quantitative social research, computational neuroscience, quantitative research topics in transportation engineering, quantitative research topics in energy economics, topics in quantum information science, amazing quantitative research topics in human genetics, quantitative research topics in marine biology, what is a common goal of qualitative and quantitative research.
A common goal of both qualitative and quantitative research is to generate knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of a particular phenomenon or topic. However, they approach this goal in different ways:
Both types of research aim to understand and explain a specific phenomenon, whether it’s a social issue, a natural process, a human behavior, or a complex event.
Both qualitative and quantitative research can involve hypothesis testing. While qualitative research may not use statistical hypothesis tests in the same way as quantitative research, it often tests hypotheses or research questions by examining patterns and themes in the data.
Researchers in both approaches seek to contribute to the body of knowledge in their respective fields. They aim to answer important questions, address gaps in existing knowledge, and provide insights that can inform theory, practice, or policy.
Research findings from both qualitative and quantitative studies can be used to inform decision-making in various domains, whether it’s in academia, government, industry, healthcare, or social services.
Both approaches strive to enhance our understanding of complex phenomena by systematically collecting and analyzing data. They aim to provide evidence-based explanations and insights.
Research findings from both qualitative and quantitative studies can be applied to practical situations. For example, the results of a quantitative study on the effectiveness of a new drug can inform medical treatment decisions, while qualitative research on customer preferences can guide marketing strategies.
In academia, both types of research contribute to the development and refinement of theories in various disciplines. Quantitative research may provide empirical evidence to support or challenge existing theories, while qualitative research may generate new theoretical frameworks or perspectives.
So, selecting a quantitative research topic for STEM students is a pivotal decision that can shape the trajectory of your academic and professional journey. The process involves a thoughtful exploration of your interests, a thorough review of the existing literature, consideration of available resources, and the formulation of a clear and specific research question.
Your chosen topic should resonate with your passions, align with your academic or career goals, and offer the potential to contribute to the body of knowledge in your STEM field. Whether you’re delving into physics, biology, engineering, mathematics, or any other STEM discipline, the right research topic can spark curiosity, drive innovation, and lead to valuable insights.
Moreover, quantitative research in STEM not only expands the boundaries of human knowledge but also has the power to address real-world challenges, improve technology, and enhance our understanding of the natural world. It is a journey that demands dedication, intellectual rigor, and an unwavering commitment to scientific inquiry.
Quantitative research in this context is designed to improve our understanding of the science system’s workings, structural dependencies and dynamics.
Surveys and questionnaires serve as common examples of quantitative research. They involve collecting data from many respondents and analyzing the results to identify trends, patterns
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STEM as the most preferred strand of Senior High School Student's
2020, STEM as the most preferred strand of Senior High School Student's
Kieran Bentley
Participatory Educational Research
Danilo V . Rogayan Jr. , Clarisse Yimyr De Guzman
This qualitative descriptive research explored the perspectives of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) senior high school students in a public secondary school in Zambales, Philippines on their reasons why they enrolled in STEM and their intent to pursue relevant career. A total of 20 Grade 12 students were purposively selected as participants of the research. The participants were interviewed using a validated structured interview guide. The recorded interviews were individually transcribed to arrive at an extended text. The extended texts were reviewed to generate themes and significant statements. The paper found out that senior high school students are generally interested in the field related to biology. The alignment to the preferred course in college is the primary reason of the participants for enrolling in STEM. Almost all the students wanted to pursue STEM-related careers after their university graduation. Further, personal aspiration is the main reason for the participants to pursue STEM-related professions. The study recommends that senior high schools may design various activities during the career week. These activities may include possible career paths in STEM-related courses, students' career and motivation, and their career aptitude. Teachers may also infuse innovative pedagogies for better STEM instruction. For the students to have more interest in science, it is recommended that STEM teachers undergo retooling or pursue advanced studies. Senior high schools may conduct career guidance seminars for the students to guide them on what strands they should take. The Department of Education (DepEd) may support the implementation of different programs regarding students’ career preparation. This program will help the students to be more aware on what career path they wanted to pursue, and to avoid pressures from peers. Schools may advocate a collaborative, authentic and goal-oriented learning environment with respect to the demand of Industrial Revolution 4.0.
Clifford Anderson
This study uses data collected at two National Summer Transportation Institute (NSTI) programs in Connecticut and Mississippi to investigate high school students’ perceptions and preferences about education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Family background has a significant impact on a high school student's interest in STEM, as shown during the student recruitment stage and by the analysis of the students' college education plans prepared upon graduation from the two NSTI programs. The building exercise and competition instrument is the most effective among the few examined, while passive learning is not what young people prefer when briefly introduced in the two NSTI programs.
STEM is a curriculum which is based on the idea of education the students in four specific disciplines -science, technology, engineering and mathematics, in an approach which it is based on real-life applications.
Eurasia journal of mathematics, science and technology education
Hersh C. Waxman
This study was grounded in the social cognitive career theoretical framework (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994). The purpose of this four-year longitudinal study was to examine the factors that may have contributed to students’ motivation to develop STEM interest during secondary school years. The participants in our study were 9th- 11th grade high school students from a large K-12 college preparatory charter school system, Harmony Public Schools (HPS) in Texas. We utilized descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses to carry out the study. The results revealed that three-year survey takers’ STEM major interest seemed to decrease steadily each year. Although there was a significant gender gap between males and females in STEM selection in 9th and 10th grade, this difference was not significant at the end of 11th grade. White and Asian students were significantly more likely to be interested in STEM careers. We also found that students who were most likely to choose a STEM ma...
Steve Alsop
Paul Canlas
Canadian Public Policy
Mitchell Steffler
Zahra Hazari
Alana Unfried , Latricia Townsend
The national economy is in need of more engineers and skilled workers in science, technology, and mathematics (STEM) fields who also possess competencies in critical-thinking, communication, and collaboration – also known as 21st century skills. In response to this need, educational organizations across the country are implementing innovative STEM education programs designed in part to increase student attitudes toward STEM subjects and careers. This paper describes how a team of researchers at The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University developed the Upper Elementary School and Middle/High School Student Attitudes toward STEM (S-STEM) Surveys to measure those attitudes. The surveys each consist of four, validated constructs which use Likert-scale items to measure student attitudes toward science, mathematics, engineering and technology, 21st century skills. The surveys also contain a comprehensive section measuring student interest in STEM car...
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Jim Morgan , Alpaslan Sahin
Colby Tofel-Grehl
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Xenophon Moussas
European Review
Didier Van de Velde
Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education
Isha Decoito
International Journal For Research In Applied Science & Engineering Technology
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Michael Bosse
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Nicol R Howard
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Max Longhurst
Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education
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Annie Kavitha
Are you a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) student looking for inspiration for your next research project? You’re in the right place! Quantitative research involves gathering numerical data to answer specific questions, and it’s a fundamental part of STEM fields. To help you get started on your research journey, we’ve compiled a list of 200 quantitative research title for stem students. These titles span various STEM disciplines, from biology to computer science. Whether you’re an undergraduate or graduate student, these titles can serve as a springboard for your research ideas.
These 200 quantitative research titles offer a diverse array of options to inspire your next STEM research endeavor. Always remember to select a subject that truly captivates your interest and curiosity, as your enthusiasm and curiosity will drive your research to new heights. Good luck with your research journey, STEM student!
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Useful references.
Here you will find an annotated bibliography of a small sample of useful papers on STEM education and the related topics of problem-based learning (PBL) and Science-Technology-Society (STS) approaches to curriculum and instruction. These papers are only a small sampling of a vast literature, selected to present important perspectives on the nature of STEM education, benefits and problems of an integrated STEM approach in education, and strategies for integrating the STEM disciplines, including social perspectives. If you are interested in pursuing any of these topics further the references included in each paper provide a wealth of possibilities to guide your research.
Atkinson, R. D. (2012). Why the current education reform strategy won’t work. Issues in Science and Technology , Spring 2012: 29-36. ( Google Scholar Link )
Over the past 25 years, a consensus has emerged that “the United States needs to do a better job at promoting and supporting STEM education.” But, the author points out, the problem of too few students successfully completing undergraduate and graduate STEM degrees remains. Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy think tank based in Washington, DC, suggests that perhaps the problem is with the dominant policy strategy of promoting some STEM education for all students, regardless of their interests, rather than focusing on those who do have an interest in the STEM fields. The author suggests that everyone does not need in-depth knowledge of the STEM disciplines. To support this view he points out that currently in the US only about 5% of jobs are STEM jobs, and this figure is not expected to grow significantly. He continues by considering what he calls the myths of STEM education, using the discussion to support his contention that STEM education should focus on a subset of students who are characterized by their interest in STEM, a strategy he calls “All STEM for some” rather than “some STEM for all.” He believes that the “All STEM for some” strategy will accommodate “the central enabler of effective STEM education: motivated and interested students,” and support what the economy needs, “a modest increase in the number of STEM college graduates who have a real increase in their STEM skills…” This paper provides an interesting perspective on the needs of the STEM professions and how those needs affect K-12 education.
Breiner, J. M., S. S. Harkness, C. C. Johnson, and C. M. Koehler. (2012). What is STEM? A discussion about conceptions of STEM education and partnerships. School Science and Mathematics, 112(1): 3-11. ( DOI Link )
The use of the acronym STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) has grown rapidly since the early 2000s. But, as the authors of this paper point out, ideas of what STEM is often vary. Here, the authors present the results of an investigation carried out at the University of Cincinnati. At the time the research was conducted (2009) the University was engaged in several STEM initiatives. The goal of the study was to clarify how (or whether) university faculty understood the meaning of STEM, and how STEM influenced their lives. This was accomplished using an open-ended survey asking 1) What is STEM?, and 2) How does STEM influence/impact your life? Results of the survey showed that about 73% of respondents knew what STEM was, and 27% who did not. Responses to the second question ranged widely, from no influence on the individual, to various personal and social influences. The authors conclude that even in an institute of higher education with active STEM initiatives in progress, faculty still have no “common operational definition or conceptualization of STEM.” Further, they question whether such a definition would be easily achievable or useful. This is an interesting study that clearly points out the importance of being clear with our ideas about STEM and unambiguously defining the terms that we use in our discussions on the subject.
Bybee, R. W. (2010). Advancing STEM education: A 2020 vision. Technology and Engineering Teacher, September, 2010: 30-35. ( Google Scholar Link )
This paper by stating, in reference to STEM, that “…the education community has embraced a slogan without really taking the time to clarify what the term might mean…” He goes on to say that it is important to clarify what STEM means for educational policies, programs, and practices. Some possibilities, all related to one another, include increased emphasis on technology and engineering, the opportunity to stress “21st Century skills,” and the development of “an integrated curricular approach to studying grand challenges of our era,” such as energy efficiency, resource use, and other socio-environmental topics. These areas can all be useful in developing and supporting STEM literacy. Two challenges to STEM education are discussed. The first is the difficulty of truly integrating technology and engineering in STEM. At present the scale at which they are present in schools at all is relatively low. Even when they are present, they are often taught separately, rather than integrated with science and math courses. Second, is the challenge of introducing STEM-related real-world issues that students will need to understand and address as citizens. This requires an approach that places these issues in a central position and uses the STEM fields to understand them and analyze possible ways of addressing them. Such problem-based, integrated approaches are difficult to implement given the traditional, separate structure of the STEM disciplines. The author provides a model to advance STEM education that he suggests may mitigate some of these challenges.
Sanders, M. (2009). STEM, STEM education, STEMmania. The Technology Teacher, December/January, 2009: 20-26. ( Google Scholar Link )
The meaning of STEM is often ambiguous. The author of this paper, a professor of Technology Education at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, points out that for many years the National Science Foundation has used the acronym to refer simply to the four separate and distinct fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Although others have suggested that STEM implies some sort of interaction among the disciplinary stakeholders, the author disagrees, stating that the term STEM education, as it is usually used, seems “suspiciously like the status quo educational practices…of disconnected science mathematics, and technology education.” The focus of this paper is to introduce the concept of “integrative STEM education,” an approach that integrates teaching and learning between and among “any two or more of the STEM areas, and/or between a STEM subject and one or more other school subjects.” That is, the STEM subjects are explicitly integrated with each other and with other non-STEM subjects as well. The author believes that such an approach has a greater potential to interest and motivate students than standard teaching practices, resulting in better learning outcomes and increasing the percentage of students who become interested in STEM subjects and STEM fields.
Wang, H., T. J. Moore, G. H. Roehrig, and M. S. Park. (2011). STEM integration: Teacher perceptions and practice. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research. 1(2): 1-13. ( DOI Link )
Educators and researchers do not consistently agree or understand what STEM education should be about in K-12 education. Though the STEM disciplines are generally taught in silos (as separate subjects), the work of STEM professionals does not stop at disciplinary boundaries. Therefore an integrated approach to STEM education is closer to the true nature of the STEM fields. STEM integration is defined as the merging of the four STEM disciplines to 1) deepen student understanding by contextualizing the concepts; 2) broaden student understanding by integrating socially and culturally relevant STEM contexts; and 3) increasing student interest by increasing the pathways for students to enter STEM fields. Here, the authors present the results of a study they conducted to document the effect of professional development on STEM integration in three middle school teachers. The two questions that guided this case study were, 1) what are the beliefs and perceptions that teachers have about “STEM integration” after a one year professional development training, and 2) what is the connection between these beliefs and perceptions and the teachers’ classroom practices? Data collection consisted of observations, interviews, and the analysis of teacher documents. Findings from the study indicate that 1) a key component to integrating the STEM disciplines is the problem-solving process; 2) teachers from different STEM disciplines have different perceptions about STEM integration and these perceptions lead to different classroom practices; 3) technology is the hardest of the STEM disciplines to integrate; and 4) teachers are aware of the need to add more content knowledge into STEM integration. Case studies such as this often lead to a wealth of information and detailed perspectives but readers should careful not to assume that the results of such a study can be generalized too broadly.
Weber, E., S. Fox, S. B. Levings, and J. Bouwma-Gearhart. (2013). Teachers’ conceptualizations of integrated STEM. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 17(3): 1-9. ( Google Scholar Link )
Improvement in STEM education is often thought to lead to an improved workforce in the STEM fields. Often these improvements are based on the integration of the STEM disciplines, or even abandoning the teaching of specific STEM disciplines in favor of more integrated science courses. In this paper the authors present the results of a study that considers three interrelated questions regarding STEM education. These are, How do secondary school teachers in the STEM disciplines 1) understand the acronym and disciples of STEM; 2) envision a STEM curriculum and enact instruction in the classroom, and 3) recognize and respond to the integrated STEM movement and associated policies and mandates? The study consisted of semistructured interviews with 20 educators in 3 high schools. The students were predominantly “white” but socioeconomic status (SES) of the students varied widely. The results of the study show that teachers were aware of what the STEM acronym means, but that they envisioned STEM as a collection of “siloed” subjects, very much as in traditional education, rather than an integrated consideration of the STEM areas. Closely related to this finding was that few teachers created an environment for integrating the STEM disciplines in their classrooms. Finally, teachers reported that they were not under pressure from state or local education agencies to implement STEM education. Although the demographic composition of the schools might lead one to question the generalizability of the results, this paper presents some interesting perspectives that are worth considering.
Ertmer, P. A. (2006). Jumping the PBL implementation hurdle: Supporting the efforts of K-12 teachers. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning. 1(1): 40-54. ( DOI Link )
Problem-based learning (PBL) has a long history of use in medical and other professional education programs but has not been widely adopted by K-12 teachers. The goals of PBL include the development of a deep understanding of content while at the same time developing higher order thinking skills in students, and both goals are closely aligned with those of K-12 educators. In this paper the author examines some of the obstacles teachers face when implementing PBL strategies and provides suggestions for supporting teachers who are interested in using this learning approach in their classrooms. Factors that influence a teachers decision to use PBL are reviewed. These include the ability to create a collaborative culture in the classroom where students work with each other to accomplish their problem-solving objectives, and being able to adjust to a very different role as a teacher, one that requires the teacher to be a facilitator in the learning process. This is a different approach to pedagogy than what many are used to and may discourage teachers from using this approach. The ability to scaffold student learning is considered by the author to be of special importance in PBL and is considered in some detail. Problem-based learning has great potential in the context of integrated STEM and NGSS focused approaches to curriculum and instruction. This paper provides important insights on the implementation of PBL from the perspective of K-12 teachers.
Savery, J. R. (2006). Overview of problem-based learning: Definitions and distinctions. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning. 1(1): 9-20. ( DOI Link )
Problem-based learning (PBL) is both an instructional and a curricular approach to learning. It is learner-centered focused on empowering learners to “conduct research, integrate theory and practice, and apply knowledge and skills to develop a viable solution to a defined problem,” (p. 9). In this paper the author provides an overview of the historical origins of PBL in the health sciences followed by widespread adoption of the approach by many different disciplines and age groups. Characteristics of PBL that are essential to the success of the approach are reviewed and include the selection of an ill-defined problem that allows students to collaboratively explore possible solutions and a role of the teacher as a facilitator who guides the learning process and provides a debriefing with the students at the end of the process. Briefly, students work in collaborative groups to first identify what they need to know (learn) in order to solve the problem, engage in self-directed learning to generate the information and perspectives needed, apply this knowledge to the problem to attempt to solve it, and then reflect on what they learned and how effective their problem-solving strategies were. The author then compares and contrasts PBL with similar learning strategies such as project- and case-based learning and an inquiry-based approach to learning. PBL is highly relevant to both integrated STEM and the NGSS focused approaches to curriculum and instruction and this paper provides an excellent overview of the topic.
Mansour, N. (1999). Science-technology-society (STS): A new paradigm in science education. Bulletin of Science, Technology, and Society, 29(4): 287-297. ( DOI Link )
Science, Technology, and Society (STS) is a curriculum approach designed to make science and the related field of technology relevant to students by integrating science concepts and their technological applications to real-world issues. The author points out that the STS movement has been closely identified with the goal of developing knowledgeable citizens who understand the relationships that exist between science, technology, and society, but that putting this goal into practice has been difficult. This paper includes an overview of the historical context in which the STS approach evolved as well as a consideration of important barriers to its effective implementation. These barriers include teacher’s understandings of science and science teaching that are, at least partly, based on the way in which they have been trained. Although focused on STS, this paper provides interesting perspectives on the nature of science education, the attempts to reform science education during the latter half of the 20th century, and on teachers views of science and science teaching. The value of this paper in the context of STEM education is that STS represents an effort to integrate different disciplines to provide a more complete understanding of the STEM disciplines by highlighting the relationship between them and the social context in which they exist. These perspectives are highly relevant to both integrated STEM education and approaches found in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
Yager, R. E., and M. V. Lutz. (1995). STS to enhance total curriculum. School Science and Mathematics, 95(1): 28-35. ( DOI Link )
This paper provides important perspectives on integrated STEM education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) through its consideration of an approach to integrated science education called Science, Technology, and Society (STS). The author points out that the way science is usually taught in K-12 education is with a focus on content, information that is to be learned. This approach is limiting to a clear understanding of the nature of science and a more comprehensive view would consider science to be a process of exploration, explanation, and testing the explanations. Issue-based approaches to school science are exemplified by STS. This approach focuses the teaching and learning of science in the context of human society and human experiences, including the application of technology. Such an issue-based approach makes information (content) relevant by presenting it in the context of an issue or problem to be resolved by the student(s). Such an approach also involves multiple activities that develop relevant skills such as questioning, analyzing, debate, and decision making, and are more likely to elicit student interest than decontextualized, text and memorization focused activities. The ideas and perspectives presented here are very relevant to integrating the various STEM disciplines using issue-based or problem-based learning. They also reflect the objectives of the NGSS with its emphasis on practices, cross-cutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas. Last, but certainly not least, the incorporation of an STS approach makes education relevant beyond the classroom, connecting student learning to issues in the real world.
What is a Capstone Project? A capstone project refers to a final or culminating project high school or college seniors need to earn their degrees. It’s usually a project that takes several months to complete and should demonstrate students’ command over particular subjects within an area of study. It may be similar to master’s thesis writing. There are endless capstone project ideas to choose from, but sometimes students struggle to come up with research topic ideas, so we’ve explored several fresh capstone project topics for consideration.
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Genia M. Bettencourt and Rachel E. Friedensen argue for systemic change in STEM doctoral programs.
By Genia M. Bettencourt and Rachel E. Friedensen
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As fall rapidly approaches, incoming doctoral students are preparing to begin new graduate programs by embarking on coursework, engaging in research and connecting with peers and faculty. Selecting and establishing a relationship with an adviser is an essential part of this early transition, driven by factors such as compatibility, research interests and funding . Many students have heard horror stories from other students and social media about doctoral advisers who are variously noncommunicative or demanding, either entirely checked out or guilty of overworking students to support their grant and publication records. The ubiquity of these narratives can make it seem as though these horror stories are an inevitable part of graduate studies, a gauntlet that students must resign themselves to in order to succeed.
While issues related to graduate advising are not concentrated in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, the well-developed body of literature on issues of attrition , bias and structural inequities makes these environments particularly ripe for exploration. A prior research study on more than 3,800 underrepresented minority STEM doctoral students found that 36 percent of students withdrew from their graduate programs within seven years of starting, while 44 percent earned doctorates in that time (another 20 percent remained enrolled in their doctoral programs at the seven-year mark). Relationships with advisers can help STEM graduate students manage the stress and multiple demands of their education , but when those relationships are fraught with tension, they can also exacerbate other stressors. Yet, despite their importance, academia provides very few resources or support structures related to developing good advisers.
In 2019, we began exploring how power shapes doctoral education, specifically advising and mentoring. As early-career scholars, our doctoral journeys had largely been exceptions to those we often encountered—supportive advising experiences with mentors who encouraged us to prioritize our well-being. However, even within those positive relationships, we still experienced the power imbalances rife in graduate education and struggled to avoid enacting them as we both became faculty. Our research has sought to push faculty, programs and departments to take ownership for promoting student success rather than placing the onus solely on students.
To date, we have examined how power manifests in STEM advising relationships and how power in STEM advising impacts student development . Our participants are all students who switched—or were forced to switch—advisers, a unique context that often helped to create clear illustrations of power and comparative examples to illuminate our understandings. Here, we build on prior advice regarding things like chairing dissertations and establishing mentoring models to offer suggestions for STEM faculty, programs and departments to better facilitate graduate advising. Our advice is specifically targeted at systemic change that can alter strict hierarchies and power inequities to holistically support students as they develop into independent scholars.
Establish transparency and shared expectations where possible. Doctoral education is often shaped by entrenched rules of success that doctoral students are expected to follow . Many of our research participants regularly received messages that they should be working all the time, prioritize their adviser’s work above all else and accomplish tasks with little supervision or support. Without broader, explicit policies about things like working conditions or the role of a research assistant, our participants were left on their own to gauge what the normal expectations were; often, they internalized problematic expectations for themselves. For example, several of our participants told us they felt like failures when they couldn’t work all the time or when they needed more explicit instruction to accomplish tasks.
Resultantly, our first suggestion is for departments to develop publicly available expectations around advising processes (e.g., frequency of meetings) and research (e.g., field norms about authorship, expectations for hours). Such content could easily be incorporated into existing student handbooks or program websites to provide some basic shared understandings between students and advisers. Not only would this information illuminate hidden expectations, but it would also provide departments with a chance to revisit areas of confusion and to encourage engagement across faculty and students. Moreover, these guidelines would provide students with a mechanism to gauge their situation and to seek redress if needed.
Develop and integrate training on how to advise students as part of faculty development. Most faculty receive little to no training on how to advise graduate students, instead relying on their own doctoral experiences or trial and error to develop strategies. While training on processes and logistics would be undoubtedly beneficial, we also encourage broader training to help doctoral advisers understand their disciplines, graduate education and the power structures therein. Intentionally encouraging faculty to reflect on how power shapes doctoral education and one’s own advising style can help advisers rethink existing systems rather than reproducing the same environment they experienced. Rather than having these trainings be a single session, we encourage institutions to think about how they might leverage vehicles such as communities of practice to create ongoing learning .
Provide feedback—and accountability—for advisers on advising. Teaching evaluations and even peer audits of one’s teaching are standard parts of faculty feedback and tenure processes; similar feedback on faculty performance related to student advising is not. Our participants shared how the lack of infrastructure regarding feedback for advisers often meant that the students themselves had to create processes through which to voice their concerns. Several students noted that by voicing their feedback, they were often seen as creating a problem and placing themselves in tenuous situations. Alternatively, participants also noted the lack of mechanisms to share positive feedback that could reward faculty for their advising work.
Here, we argue that feedback and accountability are crucial to fostering successful advising relationships. Furthermore, this feedback should be incorporated as part of annual reviews, tenure and promotion with real mechanisms for accountability when advisers exhibit problematic behavior. Many of our participants highlight the void in accountability in their current system, sharing that bad advisers often were merely distanced from working with students—a dynamic that often concentrates work on others, particularly advisers with marginalized identities .
Rethink traditional advising dyads. While all doctoral advising contains power inequities, the specific nature of STEM disciplines allows for power to be uniquely concentrated through the lab component. In general, each faculty member has a lab that they sustain through grants; these labs fund students and ultimately provide equipment for students to complete their dissertation research. As a result, STEM faculty wield an enormous amount of power over their advisees’ experiences. Our participants frequently described how quickly an issue in one facet of their doctoral experience, such as an inability to get results in one experiment, impacted all aspects of their relationship with their adviser and their doctoral education. In contrast, other disciplines may have greater separation across the different elements of doctoral study. Students in humanities and social sciences, for example, may utilize a greater range of funding sources (e.g., teaching assistantships, student life assistantships) and complete dissertations on topics distinct from their adviser’s research.
Rethinking traditional advising dyads offers the opportunity to distribute power beyond one individual and to provide students with multiple points of support. For example, programs could consider having students select a research adviser who would help them develop methodological expertise and whom they might work with in labs. They may complement that choice with a program adviser who can then oversee their coursework, program milestones and dissertation. These different configurations would decouple funding from academic progress and provide students with multiple opportunities to find mentors who could support them through shared values or cultural awareness .
Our present line of inquiry explores the tolls that power imbalances in advising relationships have on STEM doctoral students. Participants in our research have described numerous detrimental impacts resulting from negative advising relationships, including delayed academic timelines, financial uncertainty, stress, somatic symptoms (e.g., hair falling out, sleeplessness, physical pain), diverted career pathways and diminished relationships with others. Our emerging findings align with other research showing that many graduate students are experiencing mental health issues and impacts on their well-being. At the same time, slowing enrollment growth will soon mean that fewer graduate students may be available to replace those students who depart or are pushed out by their programs. It is past time to rethink doctoral advising in STEM specifically, but across academia as well. Institutions may not be able to fully implement our suggestions before onboarding new faculty and students this fall, but moving toward these aims can ensure that incoming doctoral students have different advising experiences to better support their journeys.
Genia M. Bettencourt is an assistant professor of higher education and student affairs at the University of Memphis. Her research focuses on college access, equity and student success, particularly as shaped by systems of power. Rachel E. Friedensen is an associate professor of higher education and student affairs at St. Cloud State University. Her research focuses on STEM field experiences, particularly for disabled students, LGBTQIA+ students and graduate students.
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There are several science research topics for STEM students. Below are some possible quantitative research topics for STEM students. A study of protease inhibitor and how it operates. A study of how men's exercise impacts DNA traits passed to children. A study of the future of commercial space flight.
Theory: Building or refining theories. Innovation: Finding research gaps. Collaboration: Enhancing findings through teamwork. Impact: Influencing policy and practice. These points highlight the key challenges and opportunities in STEM qualitative research. Must Read: 79+ Best Research Topics in Psychology for College Students.
Here are 10 qualitative research topics for STEM students: Exploring the experiences of female STEM students in overcoming gender bias in academia. Understanding the perceptions of teachers regarding the integration of technology in STEM education. Investigating the motivations and challenges of STEM educators in underprivileged schools.
Topic 1: Artificial Intelligence (AI) AI stands at the forefront of technological innovation. Students can engage in research on AI applications in various sectors and the ethical implications of AI. This field is suitable for students with interests in computer science, AI, data analytics, and related areas. Topic 2: Applied Math and AI.
July 17, 2024. 10 minutes. Table of Contents. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. It is essential for learning and discovery, helping us understand the world, solve problems, and think critically. STEM research goes beyond classroom learning, allowing us to explore specific areas in greater detail.
Here are some Research Titles and Topics for S.T.E.M. (STEM) Strand Students. Please take note that some of these titles are subject for revision if your tea...
Here's a list of over 200 qualitative research topics for STEM students: The Ethical Implications of CRISPR Technology in Genetic Engineering. Exploring the Societal Impact of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare. User Experience and Human-Centered Design in Software Development.
With the rapid increase in the number of scholarly publications on STEM education in recent years, reviews of the status and trends in STEM education research internationally support the development of the field. For this review, we conducted a systematic analysis of 798 articles in STEM education published between 2000 and the end of 2018 in 36 journals to get an overview about developments ...
Educational experiences in formal settings are shaped by curricular decisions. The Center's research in curriculum studies explores the questions of why STEM should be addressed as part of schooling, what ideas should be addressed, and how might they best be organized to engage young people in the core ideas and practices of the disciplines ...
3 Basic tips on writing a good research paper title. How to write an effective title and abstract and choose appropriate keywords. One tip we can give right away is that you should first have a working (rough) title when you start the paper and then refine/finalize it once you've completed the paper (or the first draft). Hope that helps.
Trending Topic Research File. Science, Technology Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is one of the most talked about topics in education, emphasizing research, problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity. The following compendium of open-access articles are inclusive of all substantive AERA journal content regarding STEM published since ...
This study explored research trends in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Descriptive analysis and co-word analysis were used to examine articles published in Social Science Citation Index journals from 2011 to 2020. From a search of the Web of Science database, a total of 761 articles were selected as target samples for analysis. A growing number of STEM ...
Following are the best Quantitative Research Topics For STEM Students in mathematics and statistics. Prime Number Distribution: Investigate the distribution of prime numbers. Graph Theory Algorithms: Develop algorithms for solving graph theory problems. Statistical Analysis of Financial Markets: Analyze financial data and market trends.
There are several science research topics for STEM students. Below are some possible quantitative research topics for STEM students. A study of protease inhibitor and how it operates. A study of how men's exercise impacts DNA traits passed to children. A study of the future of commercial space flight.
Environmental Science Experimental Research Topics for STEM Students. Studying the Impact of Deforestation on Local Climate Patterns. Investigating the Role of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs. Analyzing the Efficiency of Different Waste Management Strategies. Exploring the Effect of Air Pollution on Human Health.
The Study is only about the topic about why students chose this strand over the many offers of the Philippine's K-12 program and only focuses on the STEM students. LIMITATIONS The study does not cover ideas about the other strands like ABM, HUMMS, GAS etc. and does not include anything not related or are not close to our main topic.
This qualitative study employed a case research design which sought to investigate nature of the challenges in STEM learning among senior high school students in the Philippines. Semi-structured ...
To help you get started on your research journey, we've compiled a list of 200 quantitative research title for stem students. These titles span various STEM disciplines, from biology to computer science. Whether you're an undergraduate or graduate student, these titles can serve as a springboard for your research ideas.
Here you will find an annotated bibliography of a small sample of useful papers on STEM education and the related topics of problem-based learning (PBL) and Science-Technology-Society (STS) approaches to curriculum and instruction. These papers are only a small sampling of a vast literature, selected to present important perspectives on the ...
Here are the key characteristics of quantitative research topics for STEM Students: Measurable Data: Quantitative topics examine things that can be measured and quantified with numbers, allowing statistical analysis of the data. Statistical Analysis: Quantitative topics use mathematical statistics to analyze numerical data and spot patterns ...
Abstract and Figures. This qualitative descriptive research explored the perspectives of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) senior high school students in a public secondary ...
Resources for participants at IRSC's 2013 STEM camp. Ideas for a research paper using a science, technology, engineering, or math topic.
A capstone project refers to a final or culminating project high school or college seniors need to earn their degrees. It's usually a project that takes several months to complete and should demonstrate students' command over particular subjects within an area of study. It may be similar to master's thesis writing.
Genia M. Bettencourt and Rachel E. Friedensen argue for systemic change in STEM doctoral programs. As fall rapidly approaches, incoming doctoral students are preparing to begin new graduate programs by embarking on coursework, engaging in research and connecting with peers and faculty. Selecting and establishing a relationship with an adviser is an essential part of this early transition ...
The study originated in the laboratory of the late Paul S. Frenette, M.D., a pioneer in hematopoietic stem cell research and founding director of the Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for ...