We use the Survey of Thermodynamic Processes and First and Second Laws-Long (STPFaSL-Long), a research-based survey instrument with 78 items at the level of introductory physics, to investigate introductory and advanced students' difficulties with entropy and the second law of thermodynamics. We present an analysis of data from 12 different…

In traditional advanced mathematics lectures the instructor usually provides definitions, theorems, and proofs on the board rather quickly. The students often cannot make sense of these during the lecture as they are busy writing. In order to gain an understanding of the content, an intensive post-class processing on the basis of their notes would…

This exploratory study aims to contribute to the limited literature regarding the characteristics of STEM gatekeeper courses (Seymour & Hewitt, 1997; Suresh, 2006; Weston et al., 2019; Vyas & Reid, 2023) and their role in student retention and attrition by centering issues of ableism and racism (Annamma et al., 2013). I argue that…

Middle schools often struggle to provide students with the necessary academic rigor to promote academic growth. Many students experience academic stagnation when schools fail to provide appropriate academic services. Dani Tinkel's article examines how the limited priorities of middle school inadvertently promote disengagement and underachievement…

General Chemistry I is known as a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) gatekeeper, often playing a role in determining students' STEM college pathways and their career prospects. However, there have been recent efforts to transform General Chemistry I from a gatekeeper course into a gateway course by implementing equity approaches.…

In three studies, college student participants read a description of ambiguous (i.e., neither explicitly positive nor explicitly negative) academic feedback from a faculty member. Evaluations of the ambiguous feedback were compared across participants' gender identities and levels of social and intellectual belonging in their academic majors and…

Contribution: This article describes how a peer learning strategy called student-led tutorials (SLTs) can improve student performance in an electromagnetism course (EM). This study provides empirical evidence on how promoting student active participation in collaborative problem-solving activities improves performance rates. Background: In 2019,…

Racialized tracking is central to sociological explanations for racially stratified educational outcomes. However, school officials' decision-making is of debated importance for explaining racialized tracking. We contribute to this literature by examining the effects of schools' enrollment policies for Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Using a…

While calculus remains the gold standard of academic rigor in most college admissions offices, educators and employers increasingly champion advanced statistics as critical for navigating today's data-driven workforce. So which math pathway actually shapes long-term success? To find out, we asked UT Austin Associate Professor Matt Giani, graduate…

An inequality concept has an important role; even in advanced mathematics, inequality assists in analysis and proof. However, students' understanding of inequality is not satisfying. The fact shows that students experience difficulties and errors in solving inequality problems. These difficulties and errors are not intentional or do not result…

From 2012 to 2019, the proportion of undergraduate economics degrees denoted as "Econometrics and Quantitative Economics" (STEM-eligible) conferred annually increased from 1 percent to 22 percent. The authors present results from a survey of the 73 institutions conferring at least one STEM-eligible economics degree in 2017 or 2018. They…

The Multiple-choice (MC) item format is commonly used in educational assessments due to its economy and effectiveness across a variety of content domains. However, numerous studies have examined the quality of MC items in high-stakes and higher-education assessments and found many flawed items, especially in terms of distractors. These faulty…

For far too long, the United States has neglected and wasted an enormous amount of human potential--much of it among groups that have never been given the opportunities they deserve. We're talking about bright students, advanced learners, striving pupils, and those with high but untapped potential--especially those who are Black, Hispanic, Native…