Youth Motivation and Interests in STEM | STELAR - STEM Learning and Research Center

Preparing Responsive Educators using Place-based Authentic Research in Earth Systems (PREPARES)

Curricular Materials

Preparing Responsive Educators using Place-based Authentic Research in Earth Systems (PREPARES) seeks to expand, implement, and conduct research on a framework for providing indigenous students with the skills and knowledge needed for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. PREPARES includes culturally-relevant climate science instruction for Yup’ik and Native Hawaiian middle-school students and teachers. Students analyze and share climate data unique to their locations, model baseline climate scenarios, and develop management plans for adapting to forecasted impacts.

Philly Scientists - Biodiversity Project

Curricular Materials

The Philly Scientists project is dedicated to developing innovative science curriculum for in-school and out-of-school programs for middle school students in the West Philadelphia Promise Zone. The website contains insight on curriculum development and an example lesson. The Philly Scientists mobile app was modified from a safari animal tracking tool and walks students through identifying and cataloging neighborhood plants and animals. Local scientists visit the school sites to engage students in discussions about how scientists make good observations and aid in data collection of neighborhood

SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM

Curricular Materials

These women are the innovators, problem-solvers and dreamers who live right next door. They’re passionate about their work, hobbies, families and helping to make the world a better place. They share their strategies for overcoming challenges and finding success and joy in jobs where women are underrepresented, and inspire girls to pursue all kinds of interests and career paths. Watch the videos! SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM After watching, complete this short survey to unlock video extras: tcptv.polldaddy.com/s/scigirls-profiles-women-in-stem

Becoming Technosocial Change Agents: Intersectionality and Culturally Responsive Pedagogies as Vital Resources for Increasing Girls’ Participation in Computing

Publication

Drawing from our two‐year ethnography, we juxtapose the experiences of two cohorts in one culturally responsive computing program, examining how the program fostered girls’ emerging identities as technosocial change agents. In presenting this in‐depth and up‐close exploration, we simultaneously identify conditions that both facilitated and limited the program's potential. Ultimately, we illustrate how these findings can enhance anthropological research and practice in youth identity, culturally responsive pedagogies, and computing education.

The Synergies Project: Preliminary Results and Insights from Two Years of Longitudinal Survey Research

Publication

Our study seeks to improve understanding of how STEM interest develops during adolescence, and how a variety of community resources and out-of-school activities support that development. Our 4-year, Synergies project is a longitudinal study that documents STEM interest and participation trajectories of a cohort of middle school-aged youth as they progress from 5th through 8th grade. The premise of the project is that if one more fully understood how and why people, in particular early adolescent youth, develop STEM-related interests through the utilization of STEM resources, it should be

The Synergies Research–Practice Partnership Project: A 2020 Vision Case Study

Publication

This paper, describes Synergies, an on-going longitudinal study and design effort, being conducted in a diverse, under-resourced community in Portland, Oregon, with the goal of measurably improving STEM learning, interest and participation by early adolescents, both in school and out of school. Authors examine how the work of this particular research-practice partnership is attempting to accommodate the six principles outlined in this issue: (1) to more accurately reflect learning as a lifelong process occurring across settings, situations and time frames; (2) to consider what STEM content is

Synergies STEM Interest Questionnaire

Instruments

The dramatic decline in youth interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) during adolescence, both in the USA and internationally, has been a phenomenon of societal concern for several decades. The Synergies project was launched to help deal with this issue. In this paper, we report findings from the first two years of our longitudinal survey research. We sought to understand the nature of the STEM-related interests of 10-/11-year-old youth living in a single urban community and the factors that seem to influence whether these various dimensions of interest increase

Sources of Middle School Science/Mathematics Self-efficacy Scale

Instruments

MATHEMATICS SCALE: The purpose of this study was to develop and validate items with which to assess A. Bandura’s (1997) theorized sources of self-efficacy among middle school mathematics students. Results from Phase 1 (N = 1111) were used to develop and refine items for subsequent use. In Phase 2 of the study (N = 824), a 39-item, four-factor exploratory model fit best. Items were revised to strengthen psychometric properties. In Phase 3 (N = 803), a 24-item, four-factor confirmatory factor model fit best. This final model was invariant across gender and ethnicity. Subscales correlated with

Children’s Motivation Toward Science Across Contexts, Manner of Interaction, and Topic

Instruments

Understanding the features of science learning experiences that organize and motivate children at early ages can help educators and researchers findways to ignite interest to support future passion and learning in the sciences at a time when children’s motivation is declining. Using a sample of 252 fifth- and sixth-grade students, we systematically explore differences in children’s motivations toward science experiences across context (formal, informal, neutral), manner of interaction (consuming new knowledge, analyzing, action), and topic (e.g., biology, earth science, physics). Motivations

Engineering Skills Self-Efficacy Scale

Instruments

Background Self‐efficacy has been shown to be positively related to undergraduate engineering students' achievement. Designing self‐efficacy measures to assess the multifaceted skills required of engineers could improve the predictive relationship between efficacy beliefs and performance. Purpose This study evaluates the factor structure, validity, and reliability of general and skill‐specific engineering self‐efficacy measures created for use with undergraduate engineering students. Design/Method Self‐efficacy items used for the measures were created and adapted from those used previously

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