Assessing Gaming, Computer and Scientific Inquiry Self-Efficacy in a Virtual Environment

Instruments

In this chapter, I discuss the development, piloting and revision of a new instrument for measuring pre/post the academic self-efficacy of students. The initial motivation for the creation of this new instrument came from an unsuccessful search for an instrument to measure self-efficacy in an NSF-funded project designed to investigate the motivational effects of a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) on the science achievement of middle-school students. However, individual sections of the new instrument can contribute in general to the more-finely discriminated measurement of self-efficacy

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Students Attitudes towards STEM survey

Instruments

The Upper Elementary (4-5th) and the Middle and High School (6-12th) Student Attitudes toward STEM Surveys (S-STEM) each contain four scales (sets of surveys items that most confidently describe a single characteristic of the survey-taker when the responses to these items are calculated as a single result). The first five scales consists of Likert-scale questions which ask the respondent about their confidence and attitudes toward math, science, engineering and technology, and 21st century learning respectively. Final items in the surveys ask students about their attitudes toward 12 different

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Cuyahoga Community College youth robotics team wins national championship

News

Students from Cuyahoga Community College's Youth Technology Academy won the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship, an engineering skills showcase in St. Louis that drew 20,000 participants from around the world. The Tri-C team -- comprising more than two dozen Cleveland Metropolitan School District students -- joined with three other U.S. schools to form the winning alliance. They are the first Ohio team to win the competition.

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Teaching students about marine technology

News

“We use marine technology as a hook to teach engineering and technology,” says Deidre Sullivan, director and principal investigator of the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center in Monterey, California. “There is a need for engineers, and especially technicians with applied engineering skills. There are a lot of these jobs in the marine field, but also in advanced manufacturing, renew[able] energy, and in many other sectors of the

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CHS teacher selected for marine technology program at URI

News

Romano, along with other educators from Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut, are participating in the program at URI’s Inner Space Center. The project, funded by a $1.2 million National Science Foundation award, will allow opportunities for students and educators to explore new technology in ocean sciences.

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STEM Pathways: Examining Persistence in Rigorous Math and Science Course Taking

Publication

From 2006 to 2012, Florida Statute §1003.4156 required middle school students to complete electronic personal education planners (ePEPs) before promotion to ninth grade. The ePEP helped them identify programs of study and required high school coursework to accomplish their postsecondary education and career goals. During the same period Florida required completion of the ePEP, Florida’s Career and Professional Education Act stimulated a rapid increase in the number of statewide high school career academies. Students with interests in STEM careers created STEM-focused ePEPs and may have

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Traversing a Political Pipeline: An Intersectional and Social Constructionist Approach Toward Technology Education for Girls of Color

Publication

First, this paper argues that applications of SCOT in feminist science and technology studies (STS) have largely focused on analyzing how gender and technology are coproduced, resulting in lack of scholarship that examines the mutually constitutive relationship between technology, gender and other intersecting identity categories, such as race and class. Second, this paper argues that an intersectional view of technology can dismantle the language of objectivity deeply embedded in technological artifacts by revealing how gender, race, and class are integral components of “the social shaping of

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Educational Leadership and Planning for Digital Manufacturing in Schools

Publication

Desktop manufacturing systems such as 3D printers and computer-controlled die cutters have recently become affordable in schools. Because this technology is evolving rapidly, considerable experimentation is occurring as teachers explore opportunities to enhance learning across a range of content areas. Central coordination and planning can facilitate effective use of digital manufacturing technologies in schools. Factors that should be considered include acquisition of technology, placement, and support of the technology, safety, alignment with educational standards and learning objectives

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Technologies to Support Engineering Education

Publication

This entry describes technologies that support engineering education, such as 3D printing, computer-assisted design, electromechanical systems and instrumentation, and control systems. Engineering education is one of four disciplines within STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education. While science and mathematics are commonly regarded as core subjects in schools, engineering has had a less prominent role in K–12 education. However, engineering is increasingly used to teach science in context. This can increase students’ depth of understanding, allowing them to apply

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