How Constructivist Learning Impacts Middle-School Girls’ STEM Career Interests

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring and Applying Constructivism Across Learning Populations (Table 12)

Abstract

This study examines how constructivist learning in a summer camp impacted middle/high school girls’ STEM knowledge, self-efficacy, and ultimately, their interests in future STEM learning and growth. An online survey was used to collect information from participants of a five-week summer camp and the final sample consisted of 33 girls. The results are confirmative of past studies that used student-centered authentic STEM learning to produce significant gains in students’ knowledge, self-efficacy, and interests in STEM. The unique finding of the study, though, is that when given the opportunity to engage in constructivist learning, girls’ interest in STEM subjects could be substantially enhanced; the active learning environment along with their gains in STEM knowledge can compensate any weakness in personal self-efficacy.

Authors

• Yonghong Jade Xu, University of Memphis

• Shaoan Zhang, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

• Mei Yang, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

• Venkatesan Muthukumar, University of Nevada - Las Vegas