It’s About Discovery

• In Event: STEM Learning to STEM Careers

Abstract

It’s About Discovery (IAD) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) project funded period is 2009-2012. IAD is a partnership between three universities and eight urban and underserved rural high schools in Ohio and North Carolina that brings students and teachers together to extend students’ readiness to engage in STEM careers. The participating teachers engage the students in Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (Ford PAS), emphasizing case study analysis and role plays, simulations and scientific experiments, research, negotiation, and collaboration gain both knowledge and interdisciplinary skills for learning, analyzing, and decision-making in complex situations—and in the process, learn to apply classroom learning to choices in the real world.
Changes in students’ and teachers’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about STEM are measured through surveys and observations. Does IAD make a difference in how rural and underserved youth think about STEM and STEM careers?
This presentation will focus on teacher and student data from the first academic (2009-2010) year of the project. Ten teachers completed a baseline survey to rate their comfort with teaching various STEM skills before and after participating in IAD. Their mean comfort ratings for teaching the 21 skills increased after one year, teachers were significantly more comfortable teaching these skills to students (p<.05). After participating in IAD, teachers were significantly more comfortable teaching about the careers (p<.05).
Teachers administered online student pre- and post-surveys to the students (N=118). In the post-survey, 76% of students credited the Ford PAS lessons and activities with increasing their knowledge about careers in STEM. Further analysis (ANOVA) showed that this variation partially stems from classroom differences: students from certain classrooms had significantly different ratings from students in other classrooms (F (143) = 4.304; p<.01). In 2009-2010, the percentage of students who desired a STEM career increased from 46% to 56%. Further analysis on 62 paired responses, after one year in IAD, twice as many students changed their interest from a non-STEM career to a STEM career compared to the reverse; this resulted in a 5% net increase of students listing a STEM career at the end of the year.
Four scales were developed to assess students’ attitudes towards science, engineering, technology, and math (α>.80). Composite scores created for each scale were used in the analysis of students’ STEM attitudes and perceived competence. For the 2009-2010 cohort, the timing and the extent to which the curriculum was used in the classroom, the challenging reading level of the student materials, and difficulties related to using technology resources all contributed to the very mixed student outcomes from year one of this study.
From these results, in the second year, the researchers encouraged teachers to implement the Ford PAS curriculum earlier, by continued support of teachers through ongoing professional development to weave Ford PAS into the other standardized material required by their school. Supporting collaboration between classrooms, through structured practice exercises to use the technology and the specific software programs before implementing it in the classroom.

Author

• Dean S. Cristol, The Ohio State University