scholarly journals Retrospective analysis of a STEM outreach event reveals positive influences on student attitudes toward STEM careers but not scientific methodology

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-436
Author(s):  
A. J. Crawford ◽  
Cassandra L. Hays ◽  
Sarah L. Schlichte ◽  
Sydney E. Greer ◽  
Halle J. Mallard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Test Performance ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Stem Careers ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Stem Literacy ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
And Mathematics

Substantial, involved, and expensive efforts to promote the dissemination of scientific knowledge and career interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) are enthusiastically supported by many scientific, federal, and local organizations. The articulated underlying goals for these efforts include an enhanced public understanding of science and science-related policy, an increased diversity in STEM careers, and an increase in the future STEM workforce. This effort is primarily driven by an underperformance of the United States that includes poor test performance and limited number of students pursuing STEM degrees. Despite this investment, attitudes toward STEM have not notably changed. The goal of this project was to determine students’ attitudes toward STEM in response to a previously established scientific outreach event. This event was used to address three common goals in STEM outreach: STEM literacy, diversity and inclusion, and career preparedness. We found there was a notable difference in the attitudes toward scientific activities and interest in pursuing a “Science Career” after participation in this event. Strikingly, interest in hypothesis development, the keystone of all STEM disciplines, was the least liked of all the activities offered during the event. Our data suggest that events designed to enhance interest in pursuing a STEM career may benefit from different elements compared with events designed to increase understanding of STEM literacy concepts, such as hypothesis development.

Student attitudes to studying A-level sciences

1996 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 321-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Havard
Keyword(s):  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Gender Imbalance ◽  
Physical Sciences ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
Purposive Sample

This paper reports on a study of sixth form students' attitudes to the study of sciences at Advanced level, and the factors that influenced the students in deciding whether to take those subjects. In discussions about the public understanding of science, it is often assumed that the sciences can be discussed together. In this study, attitudes to biology are shown to be significantly different from attitudes to the physical sciences; and the perception of difficulty is a major influence on student choice. Perceptions of career prospects and reasons for the gender imbalance in physical sciences gave some unexpected responses. A purposive sample of 175 able students was taken from the lower sixth (year 12) in four schools in Gloucestershire, UK. The survey compared attitudes of those studying at least one science with attitudes of those who studied none.

scholarly journals Spatial inequalities leave micropolitan areas and Indigenous populations underserved by informal STEM learning institutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (41) ◽  
pp. eabb3819
Author(s):  
Rachel A. Short ◽  
Rhonda Struminger ◽  
Jill Zarestky ◽  
James Pippin ◽  
Minna Wong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Informal Learning ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Underserved Populations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Stem Learning ◽  
Stem Careers ◽  
Spatial Inequalities ◽  
Learning Institutions

Informal learning institutions (ILIs) create opportunities to increase public understanding of science and promote increased inclusion of groups underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) careers but are not equally distributed across the United States. We explore geographic gaps in the ILI landscape and identify three groups of underserved counties based on the interaction between population density and poverty percentage. Among ILIs, National Park Service lands, biological field stations, and marine laboratories occur in areas with the fewest sites for informal learning opportunities and have the greatest potential to reach underserved populations, particularly in rural or high poverty counties. Most counties that are underserved by ILIs occur in the Great Plains, the southeast, and the northwest. Furthermore, these counties have higher Indigenous populations who are underrepresented in STEM careers. These unexpected geographic gaps represent opportunities for investments in ILI offerings through collaborations and expansion of existing resources.

Editorial

1988 ◽  
Vol 13 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 5-6
Author(s):  
Susan E. Cozzens
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Human Freedom ◽  
Public Understanding Of Science ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
Rational Knowledge

It is widely thought that the state of public understanding of science in the United States, and indeed throughout much of the industrialized world, is in need of fundamental reexamination…. Regardless of its philosophical soundness, the old model of value-free science unlocking the secrets and powers of nature for man's benefit has had profound social and intellectual consequences. Today, however, there is growing resistance to this model; in various quarters, allegiance is shifting to another image, one that projects science as almost mindlessly giving virtually uncontrolled powers over nature and human life to unprepared people…. We seem to be in a crisis of reason in which commitment to rational knowledge as a source of human freedom is being seriously challenged.

Recommending a Child Enter a STEM Career

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher P. Scheitle ◽  
Elaine Howard Ecklund
Keyword(s):  
Religious Tradition ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religion And Science ◽  
Stem Careers ◽  
Interest In Science ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Evangelical Protestants ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Religiously Unaffiliated

Apparent conflicts between religion and science are often observed in the United States. One consequence of such conflicts might be that religious individuals will be less likely to recommend their children pursue a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We examine this possibility using a nationally representative survey focused on a variety of issues related to religion and science. We find that, compared to religiously unaffiliated individuals, evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants, Catholics, and Jews are less likely to say that they would recommend a child enter the pure STEM careers of physicist, engineer, or biologist. These differences are weaker or nonexistent for the more applied STEM careers of physician and high school chemistry teacher. The religious tradition effects observed for the pure STEM careers are primarily mediated by lower levels of interest in science and higher levels of creationist views among those groups relative to the religiously unaffiliated.

scholarly journals Network Analysis of the American Geophysical Union's Fall Meetings

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Narock ◽  
Sarah Hasnain ◽  
Ronie Stephan
Keyword(s):  
Network Analysis ◽  
Science Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Outer Planets ◽  
Deep Interior ◽  
American Geophysical ◽  
Education And Outreach ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
American Geophysical Union

Abstract. The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is an Earth and space science professional society based in the United States. AGU publishes scientific journals, sponsors meetings, and supports education and outreach efforts to promote public understanding of science. Research conducted by AGU members ranges from the Earth's deep interior to the outer planets of our solar system. Little research exists on the AGU meeting itself. In this work, we apply network analysis and scientometrics to seventeen years of AGU Fall Meetings. We are interested in what the structure of the AGU network and its properties can tell us about how the procedures of the AGU Fall meeting could be enhanced to facilitate better scientific communication and collaboration.

scholarly journals Exploring Predictors of Social Actions by General Education Students towards Peers with Disabilities

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 126
Author(s):  
Alicia Wyche Okpareke ◽  
Christine L. Salisbury
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Actual Behavior ◽  
Education Students ◽  
General Education Students ◽  
Social Actions ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
General Education Classrooms

This study deepens the field’s understanding about factors that contribute to positive social engagement between students without disabilities and their peers with mild disabilities in general education classrooms. A sample of 68 seventh grade students with and without disabilities was drawn from general education classrooms in a suburban, Midwest district in the United States. Direct observation of students’ social behavior, as well as student surveys and context measures, were used to explore associations among student attitudes, their perceived norms, feelings of efficacy, stated intentions and their actions towards peers with disabilities. Results revealed that students without disabilities strong intentions to interact with peers with disabilities were unrelated to their actual behavior. However, students’ attitudes, norms, and feelings of efficacy were predictive of their intentions. Interpretations and implications for understanding the interplay of predisposing factors, intentions to socialize, and actual socializing behavior are discussed.

scholarly journals Basic Science in the USA: A Cultural Perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 83-98
Author(s):  
Natalia TRAVKINA ◽  
Vladimir VASILIEV
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Cultural Stereotypes ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
The Usa ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Almost All

The change in value and cultural stereotypes, which has taken the form of cultural wars, has affected almost all United States public spheres. In recent years, it has been increasingly affecting the field of basic scientific research, including the fundamental sciences such as physics and mathematics. Despite the leading positions of the United States in the world scientific ratings, immigrants have traditionally played a vital role in American fundamental science. Changes in immigration inflows, as a rule, contributed to socio-cultural shifts, which largely determined the subsequent level of fundamental research. The ongoing change in ideological guidelines, under the banner of "racial and ethnic diversity”, has already touched both the physical and mathematical communities. New “measures to improve diversity and inclusion” among faculty and students at American universities have been an important, but not the only manifestation of this trend. Such changes can have implications for the United States position in world science, as well as for its scientific, technological and economic development.

What Role Can Science Education Play?

2021 ◽  
pp. 50-74
Author(s):  
Gale M. Sinatra ◽  
Barbara K. Hofer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Science Education ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Science Curriculum ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Understanding Of Science ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
K 12 ◽  
National Trends

In international tests, the United States lags behind other developed nations in scientific knowledge, consistently scoring in the middle of the pack, motivating calls to strengthen the science curriculum in the United States, as reflected by the current standards movements in education. As educators, the authors make the case in Chapter 3, “What Role Can Science Education Play?,” that while increases in science instruction in K–12 education would be a net gain for increasing public understanding of science, education alone has its limits in addressing the broader problem. They provide examples from their own research and that of others of national trends that show the value of focusing science education on the process of how scientific knowledge is created and vetted. The authors offer suggestions to educators, communicators, and policy makers for supporting public understanding of science.

Gaming the SySTEM: The Relationship Between Video Games and the Digital and STEM Divides

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 501-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Ball ◽  
Kuo-Ting Huang ◽  
Shelia R. Cotten ◽  
R. V. Rikard
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
The United States ◽  
Stem Careers ◽  
Elementary School District ◽  
Stem Attitudes ◽  
And Mathematics

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers are increasingly vital for countries, such as the United States and United Kingdom, to remain innovative and productive in the 21st century. Despite the growing demand and lucrative nature of STEM fields, minorities have remained traditionally underrepresented in STEM careers, possibly due to digital divide factors. In this study, we use social cognitive theory to explore the potential of video gameplay to provide a means of increasing minority students’ comfort with information and communication technologies, thereby increasing their positive STEM attitudes. Data were gathered during a large-scale computing intervention in an elementary school district in the southeastern United States. The results indicate that video game experiences may influence STEM attitudes via the mediating role of computer self-efficacy and emotional costs. Video gameplay, including games for entertainment, may be beneficial for young digitally divided populations as it may provide them with positive enactive experiences with technology.

scholarly journals EXPLORING CHANGES IN PRIMARY STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) ACROSS GENDERS AND GRADE LEVELS

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 466-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shao-Na Zhou ◽  
Hui Zeng ◽  
Shao-Rui Xu ◽  
Lu-Chang Chen ◽  
Hua Xiao
Keyword(s):  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Primary Students ◽  
School Students ◽  
Grade Levels ◽  
Integrated Stem ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Attitudes Towards Science ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
And Mathematics

Primary education is an essential stage and has an important impact on students’ learning attitudes throughout the coming school years. The research explored the attitudes towards science, technology, engineering and mathematics among students through all grade levels in primary school. The Project-based Integrated STEM Program was proposed to study the changes of primary students’ attitudes towards STEM. An assessment of S-STEM which consists of the STEM subscale and the 21st century skills subscale was utilized for both pre-test and post-test. The results showed that primary students exhibited little different attitudes on the S-STEM in the pre-test, regardless of gender and grade level. As evident from the comparison between the pre-test and post-test, the Project-based Integrated STEM Program had a positive effect on student attitudes towards STEM. It is encouraging if there are more STEM-related programs implemented at all educational stages covering the primary level. Keywords: gender differences, grade levels, project-based integrated STEM program, school students, STEM education.

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