This study examines the impact of integrating Design Thinking and Maker Education into project-based learning (PBL) activities on primary school students' self-efficacy and motivation in Science, Technology, and Design. Drawing on Bandura's social cognitive theory, the study addresses the gap in empirical research at the primary education level,…

A study conducted by the Mathematical Association of America showed that calculus not only has significant effects on students' decision to pursue STEM fields, but also on their attitudes towards mathematics. Inspired by this large-scale study, the present study sought to deepen the current understanding of the impact of calculus on student…

A study was done at a mid-sized public university in the Midwest of the United States. At this university, there are three large classes taught in Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies (SCALE-UP) classrooms: algebra-based introductory physics, calculus-based introductory physics, and introductory statistics.…

The purpose of this report is to provide findings from the Abt Global independent evaluation of the PreK-12 STEM Pathway program. The Community Training and Assistance Center (CTAC), a nonprofit organization focused on supporting educational innovation and community change, received an Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Early Phase grant from…

Students build up their STEM career interest based on their experiences. However, it remains unclear how students reflect on their STEM experiences in light of their understanding of STEM careers. This study aimed to explore how students relate their practices in STEM project-based learning (PBL) with their perceptions of scientists' and…

Background: Research shows that active pedagogies could play an important role in achieving more equitable outcomes for diverse groups of students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Although flipped classes are a popular active methodology, there is a lack of high-quality studies assessing their impact in ecologically…

In this dissertation I will present my work in both the fields of spintronics and physics education research. In the first section, I present a method to account for spin pumping in spin torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) measurements. A spin current can be generated via the spin Hall effect (SHE), which is typically transverse to the charge…

Background: The University of California system has a novel tenure-track education-focused faculty position called Lecturer with Security of Employment (working titles: Teaching Professor or Professor of Teaching). We focus on the potential difference in implementation of active-learning strategies by faculty type, including tenure-track…

Overwhelming evidence demonstrating the benefits of active-learning pedagogy has led to a shift in teaching that requires students to interact more in the classroom. To date, few studies have assessed whether there are gender-specific differences in participation in active-learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses,…

This study examined the roles of gender and STEM major status as predictors of performance in formulating a research question and designing experiment among 70 undergraduate Taiwanese college students participating in inquiry-based learning (IBL). Student participants in this study were involved in discrepant demonstrations of scientific events…

In this paper, the authors seek to analyze the perceptions, motivations and experiences of young women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education projects aiming to incentivize gender equity, based on the theoretical framework of feminist studies on science and intersectionality, as well as academic literature on equity…

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…

Learning games have great potential to become an integral part of new classrooms of the future. One of the key reported benefits is the capacity to keep students deeply engaged during their learning process. Therefore, it is necessary to develop models that can measure quantitatively how learners are engaging with learning games to inform game…

Middle school students participating in energy-monitoring activities guided by their teachers during 2009-2011 gained (p < 0.05) in content knowledge and became more positive in their dispositions toward STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). No comparison group data were gathered for this initial study. Activities were…

Through a multi-year, national calculus study, researchers have recently identified seven characteristics of successful college calculus programs. We identified these seven characteristics by visiting five doctoral-granting mathematics departments with successful calculus programs and uncovering the common traits among them. These seven traits…