The rapid developments of Science and Technology call for individuals to have strong academic knowledge and creativity. Research shows that students acquire creativity after either curricular or extracurricular activities in subject matters. However, there is not much research examining students' creativity through integrative learning activities,…

Introduction of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiences to students exposes them to a variety of future career options while teaching them critical thinking and problem-solving skills. In many calculus classes, students feel that the material they are learning is abstract and not related to the real world. As a result,…

Contribution: A peer-mentoring plan designed to support engineering students during their transition from high school to university. This article addresses the adaptation challenges faced by first-year students in engineering programs. Background: The transition to university is a critical period for students, marked by significant lifestyle…

To increase women's interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), interventions that target self-efficacy and belongingness are needed. For this purpose, this study designed and tested two interventions. In Study 1, we tested if a video with female role models increases young women's expected belongingness and interest in…

Contribution: This work examines the impact of a unique precollege STEM education initiative during its two pilot years. The study contributes to the growing body of research by unpacking the needs of and the impact on an important stakeholder group (i.e., the teachers) in the engineering education ecosystem to help inform the future design and…

Students who are not proficient in math are more likely to face negative long-term effects. In addition to adults with a lack of math skills facing a range of potential economic and mental health issues, the nation is also negatively impacted by a society of individuals who cannot contribute to the technological infrastructure. Project-based…

This paper presents a multi-year study on the impact of attending an engineering summer school on girls' confidence that they could become an engineer. While it is relatively easy to recognise and address tangible barriers to entering an engineering profession -- such as a lack of preparedness in terms of a mathematics or physics background --…

This study investigated the sustainability of an integrated STEM education program. Two US high school science teachers and an engineering technology teacher sustained implementation of an integrated STEM curriculum after the conclusion of the funded program, TRAILS. Class observations were conducted to examine how the teachers implemented the…

Background: Teaching engineering at a high school level has been a subject of substantial concern during recent curriculum reforms. Many countries are increasingly including engineering-focused subjects in their technology curriculum guidelines. However, technology teachers face challenges regarding the optimal implementation of an…

Science fairs offer potential opportunities for students to learn first-hand about the practices of science. Over the past six years we have been carrying out voluntary and anonymous surveys with regional and national groups of high school and post high school students to learn about their high school science fair experiences regarding help…

Although reflection is a key behaviour of expert designers, it is often a challenging task for new designers. In addition, research on the reflectivity of student designers is limited. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to identify the levels of reflectivity while designing, and (2) to study the relationship between reflectivity and…

The goal of our ongoing research is to identify strengths and weaknesses of high school level science fair and improvements that can help science educators make science fair a more effective, inclusive and equitable learning experience. In this paper, we confirm and extend our previous findings in several important ways. We added new questions to…

The challenge study is a project based learning curriculum at Technical High School aimed at the construction of a wireless communication system. The first period was engineering issues in the construction of an artificial satellite and the second period was a positional locating system based on the general purpose wire-less device--ZigBee device.…

Our nation needs to increase the number of students pursuing degrees in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and those leading to transportation-related careers. In order to meet the demand for qualified graduates in transportation, it is necessary to diversify the pool of students entering college with an…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the effect of Project Lead the Way(TM) Engineering Curriculum on the academic performance of Grades 9-12 students in a Southwest Texas school district. Study participants were comprised of 9-12 graders who participated in Advanced Placement (AP) Testing in a large Southeast Texas school…