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This paper explores the associations between math-gender stereotypes and two dimensions of student engagement -- class engagement and disengagement -- among Russian engineering students. The data collected in three Russian universities (n = 2,074) were utilised. Structural equation modelling was employed to test hypotheses about relationships between key variables and their variations for male and female subsamples. We revealed that the students' attribution of math-gender stereotypes to faculty slightly decreased class engagement and increased disengagement for both male and female students. Therefore, we hypothesise that male students can be more overconfident about their future performance in exams on math-related subjects because of a better reputation in the eyes of instructors, which can result in less engagement and, as a consequence, lower academic outcomes. These findings demonstrate the high importance of faculty in encouraging engineering student engagement and providing a bias-free learning environment.

The application of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education in solving real-world problems is challenging. To tackle this challenge, a project-based learning approach that integrates robots with cost-effective self-made toys to problem-solving was adopted to assist rural primary school students to apply STEM skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the project-based learning approach which includes lecturing and hands-on activities on primary school students' STEM learning outcomes and attitudes. An experiment was conducted with 25 primary school students who voluntarily participated in a STEM summer-camp programme. Students were asked to assemble a paper house equipped with an IoT control module and LED light switches, and write and edit robot scripts to produce a robot-based storytelling narrative using the paper house they made as a context. The results show that the project-based learning approach was an effective approach for cultivating primary school students' STEM knowledge and skills as evidenced from the post-written test. The relationships between the students' STEM learning outcomes and attitudes were also confirmed by a clustering analysis. Students who had higher learning attitudes also achieved higher STEM learning outcomes; the findings are also supported by the feedback from the open-ended questionnaire items. This study suggests that integrating low-cost self-made toys and robots in project-based learning activities is an effective and practical approach to enhance primary school students' learning outcomes and learning attitudes in STEM education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The substantial growth in gamification research has connected gamified learning to enhanced engagement, improved performance, and greater motivation. Similar to gamification, personalized learning analytics dashboards can enhance student engagement. Objectives: This study explores the student experiences and academic achievements using a gamified dashboard in a large, introductory STEM course. Methods: We examined two groups of students enrolled in different sections of a one‐semester‐long physical geology course with a total enrollment of 223 students. The only difference between the groups was that one had access to the dashboard. The data collection included students' assignments, overall performances, and exam scores. Students in both sections completed a Science Literacy Concept Inventory survey at the beginning and end of the term. Additionally, students completed an end‐of‐term survey containing open‐ended questions on their experience and interactions with specific elements. Results: Students shared mostly positive comments about their experience with the dashboard, and the final grade of students with access to the dashboard was 13% higher, on average, compared to their peers in the non‐dashboard section. Conclusion: With low costs and little time invested, gamified dashboards could have a significant impact on student performance in large STEM lecture courses. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Leaner dashboards that provide personalized feedback are linked to improved student performance in undergraduate STEM courses. However, students may be reticent to adopt dashboards, especially students in the middle range of the performance distribution, for whom the impact of the dashboard may be most significant.Prior research on gamification in STEM courses suggests that adding gameful elements like progress trackers, badges, and rewards can increase students' engagement in undergraduate coursework.The combination of personalized learning in dashboards and the motivational experience of gamification should boost student engagement, dashboard adoption, and ultimately foster academic achievement. What this paper adds: In this paper, we examine the differences in academic performance between students with and without access to a gamified learning dashboard in an undergraduate Geology course.We observe that students with access to the dashboard (the treatment group), outperform students without access (the control group). The greatest benefit is observed for students who use the dashboard more frequently.Students reported that the progress tracker, the badges, and the rewards all incentivized their use and provided useful feedback about their performance. Students who did not adopt the dashboard expressed a need for more detail about the tool and its purpose. Implications for practice and/or policy: Instructors and instructional designers for large enrollment undergraduate STEM courses should consider the affordances of gamified learner dashboards for increasing engagement and for providing synchronous feedback about learners' strategies in the course.Aligning the dashboard to the content of the curriculum—by ensuring that badges reflect key concepts‐ encouraged participation and helped students identify the utility of the tool. Dashboards should be personalized to individuals and to the course.Adding gameful elements in a low‐cost intervention for increasing adoption and engagement of dashboards in large enrollment introductory courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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With student-centered, hands-on approaches to real-world problems, integrated STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) curricula have the potential to engage students more authentically in multi-disciplinary learning and to learn mathematics more deeply. However, researchers have shown concern that the "M" is often a silent partner and have called for increasing mathematics' visibility in STEM curricula. Taking into account this background, this paper investigated how teachers' and students' engagement with mathematics within a specific lesson in an integrated STEM unit evolved over four years in two elementary teachers' classrooms and the factors the teachers pointed to that may explain their adaptations. Using classroom observations and teacher interviews, the results showed that the time engaged with the mathematics and the depth of engagement with the mathematics decreased over the four years. Five themes emerged that may explain their adaptations: 1) limited time, 2) the need to address required school academic standards in limited time, 3) materials and preparation, 4) the teachers' comfort with the curriculum and, to a lesser extent, 5) their perceptions of their students' abilities. These findings have implications for those that are writing, studying, or potentially using integrated STEM curricula in elementary schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education is recognized as a top school education priority worldwide and Inquiry-based teaching and learning is identified as a promising approach. To effectively engage students in Inquiry tasks, appropriate guidance should be provided, usually by combining digital tools such online labs and modeling tools. This is a cumbersome task for teachers, since it involves manually assessing the type/level of tool-supported guidance to be provided and potentially refining these to meet guidance needs of individual students. In our research we target to investigate how to support this systematic reflection process with educational data analytics methods and tools from both the design and the delivery of Inquiry-based educational designs (IED). The contribution of this paper is to propose a novel "Teaching and Learning" Analytics method and research prototype tool, extending the scope of purely learning analytics methods, to analyze IED in terms of the tool-supported guidance they offer and relate these analyses to students' educational data that are already being collected by existing learning analytics systems, increasing teachers' awareness. A two-layer evaluation methodology positively assessed the capacity of our method to analyze IED and provided initial evidence that the insights generated offer statistically significant indicators that impact students' activity during the delivery of these IED. The insights of this work aim to contribute in the field of cognitive data analytics for teaching and learning, by investigating new ways to combine analyses of the educational design and students' activity, and inform teachers' reflection from a holistic perspective. Highlights • Tool-supported Guidance is essential for effective Inquiry-based education. • Teaching and Learning Analytics (TLA) can support teachers provide appropriate Guidance. • The TLA method and supporting tool provides analyses of the level of Guidance in Inquiry-based scenarios. • Analyses of the design can be investigated against customizable learners' data and profiles. • Insights from these combined analyses could help teachers improve their teaching designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Girls' uptake of physical science, technology, engineering and mathematics (PSTEM) degrees continues to be poor. Identifying and targeting interventions for girl groups that are likely to go into STEM degrees may be a possible solution. This paper, using a self-determination theory and self-socialisation framework, determines whether one girl group's, "geek girls", video gaming behaviour is associated with their choice of undergraduate degree by using two secondary datasets: a cross-sectional study of the Net Generation (n = 814) and the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) dataset (n = 7342). Chi-square analysis shows that girls who were currently studying a PSTEM degree were more likely to be gamers and engage in multiplayer gamers. Further, using logistic regressions, girls who were heavy gamers (>9 h/wk) at 13–14 years were found to be more likely to pursue a PSTEM degree but this was influenced by their socio-economic status. Similar associations with boys and PSTEM degrees were not found or were weak. Therefore, girls were self-socialising or self-determining their identity groups through gaming. This research can provide the basis for whether encouraging gaming in adolescent girls can help them onto PSTEM pathways. Highlights • Girls who are heavy gamers are more likely to study a physical STEM degree. • Playing multiplayer games is associated with studying a physical STEM degree. • The studying of physical STEM degrees is dependent on level of social deprivation. • Girls are 58 times less likely to do a physical STEM degree than no degree at all. • Levels of participation in video gaming can change for girls over a year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationally, innovation represents the lifeblood of modern economies. In particular, there is growing recognition of the vital role of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) educators in developing students' innovation skills for the jobs of the future. Work-integrated learning (WIL) has emerged as an important pedagogical approach for developing innovation capabilities. This paper is based on a quantitative study that examines the key factors driving innovation in STEM WIL students. The study undertakes a comparative analysis of students by age, gender, degree type, and placement duration. It found that students participating in longer durations of 20 weeks compared to 12 weeks had higher perceived levels of innovation skills. The study shows how feedback on skills can be provided to students and employers, with output from the tool used in this study. Therefore, it has implications for student career literacy, industry outreach and WIL program development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Visual model comprehension and application are important for success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. As educational materials shift to primarily digital content with dynamic interactive visuals, students with visual impairments are at risk for being disadvantaged, since few interactives are born accessible. To fill this gap of accessible digital STEM learning tools, we designed and tested the Kasi Learning System. Kasi uses tactile manipulatives and computer vision with audio-based augmented reality algorithms to provide a multisensory experience of an interactive digital image. Methods: Ten high school students who are visually impaired (ie, blind or have low vision) participated in an underpowered random control study to evaluate the feasibility and usability of Kasi by completing an active learning lesson. The control group was instructed by a human, whereas the Kasi group was instructed by a computer. Follow-up interviews with both students and their instructors provided further insight. Results: Comparing the experiences of the two groups suggests that Kasi is an effective instructor for completing the activity. Comparison of students who chose to use braille versus large-print pieces revealed that braille users found the system to be easier to use. Discussion: All students efficiently identified the pieces. Regarding the audio, students who do not typically use a screen reader repeated the prompts more frequently and took longer to adapt to the system. Those in the Kasi group demonstrated increased engagement as shown by the increase in submitted answers. Overall, Kasi users' performance improved significantly during the lesson. Implications for Practitioners: Kasi is most readily adapted and used by those who do not rely on vision. However, students with low vision may benefit from using a tool like Kasi earlier in their schooling to strengthen their auditory and tactile skills. Kasi appears to have the potential to provide students independence in studying STEM diagrams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little research has examined the associations between perceived inclusivity within informal science learning sites, youth program belonging and perceptions of program career preparation. This study explored relations between these factors at three timepoints (T1 = start of program, T2 = 3 months and T3 = 12 months after start). Participants were a diverse sample of 209 adolescents participating in STEM youth programs within informal science learning sites situated in the United States and United Kingdom (70% females: Mage = 15.27, SDage = 1.60), with 53.1% British and 64.1% non-White. Path analysis revealed that only perceptions of inclusivity for own social identity group (i.e., gender, ethnicity) at T1 were associated with T2 STEM youth program belonging. There was a significant indirect effect of T1 perceptions of inclusivity for one's own social identity groups on T3 perceptions of program career preparation via T2 program belonging. This study highlights that, over time, perceptions of inclusivity around youth's own social identity groups (i.e., gender and ethnicity/culture) are related to a sense of youth program belonging, which in turn is later associated with perceptions of program career preparation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the results of a survey that gathered data on perceptions and use of e-books from undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and staff at two Maryland research universities in 2019. It follows two previous surveys in 2012 and 2014 by the same team of investigators, with slight changes in personnel, and compares results across time, by user affiliation with the university, and by STEM versus non-STEM disciplines. The study concludes with a discussion of the major findings and their implications for academic libraries and publishers, as well as areas for further inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigated the validity of a stealth assessment of physics understanding in an educational game, as well as the effectiveness of different game‐level delivery methods and various in‐game supports on learning. Using a game called Physics Playground, we randomly assigned 263 ninth‐ to eleventh‐grade students into four groups: adaptive, linear, free choice and no‐treatment control. Each condition had access to the same in‐game learning supports during gameplay. Results showed that: (a) the stealth assessment estimates of physics understanding were valid—significantly correlating with the external physics test scores; (b) there was no significant effect of game‐level delivery method on students' learning; and (c) physics animations were the most effective (among eight supports tested) in predicting both learning outcome and in‐game performance (e.g. number of game levels solved). We included student enjoyment, gender and ethnicity in our analyses as moderators to further investigate the research questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern medicine requires tight multidisciplinary collaboration and communication among several technical disciplines. Nevertheless, multidisciplinary medical courses are rare and even less often scientifically evaluated. The aim was to evaluate an innovative neuro-oncology course for medical students (MED) and students of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) so that they learn and practice mutual understanding, communication and cooperation. 10 MED and 9 STEM were trained together during a one-week-course on the topic of "brain tumor" in imaging, surgical planning, surgery, pathological diagnosis, and adjuvant therapy. Evaluation was undertaken via focus groups and accompanying questionnaires about motivation, course acceptance, and multidisciplinary attitude. Students evaluated course structure, content, and multidisciplinary setting positively and showed high intrinsic motivation. However, the students sensed an "artificial dividing line" between both groups, which was conceptually encouraged by the deliberate temporary subdivision into "monodisciplinary" seminars and during the preparation of presentations. Students' opinion of the concept was generally positive as they learned about the challenges in finding a "common scientific language". Nevertheless, some criticisms were raised concerning the dividing line between the disciplines, which in part led to organizational changes. Even though the current reality may be reflected here, the goal of future interprofessional courses should definitely be to dissolve this dividing line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The underrepresentation of women in the STEM workforce is a global issue. In Saudi Arabia, women constitute 48% of undergraduates in STEM, but their participation in STEM careers remains particularly low. We explored the current state of e-mentoring, and the potential for co-designing to enhance e-mentoring experiences for youth in the Saudi context. We report on how we sought to understand the opportunities, barriers and requirements of e-mentoring for young women in Saudi Arabia through (1) the application of a traditional programme of STEM e-mentoring, (2) workshops on the redesign of e-mentoring, and (3) a co-design activity as the first phase of an alternative e-mentoring process. The study demonstrated that the traits of the participants' generation had a major effect on the findings; more so than cultural norms. This means that the findings have wider implications than just within the Saudi context. We identify a number of recommendations for designing e-mentoring programmes for young women and teenagers, including un-platforming traditional approaches to e-mentoring and the inclusion of co-design activities as a first step in the e-mentoring process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using an iterative design along with multiple methodological approaches and a large representative sample, this study presents reliability, validity, and fairness evidence for two surveys measuring student attitudes toward science, technology, engineering, and math (S-STEM) and interest in STEM careers for (a) 4th- through 5th-grade students (Upper Elementary S-STEM) and (b) 6th- through 12th-grade students (Middle/High S-STEM). Findings from exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) suggested the use of a four-factor structure to measure student attitudes toward science, math, engineering/technology, and 21st century skills. Subject matter experts and literature reviews provided evidence of content validity. Reliability levels were high for both versions. Furthermore, both the Upper Elementary S-STEM and Middle/High S-STEM Surveys demonstrated evidence of configural, metric, and scalar invariance across grade levels, races/ethnicities, and genders. The findings support the validity of interpretations and inferences made from scores on the instruments’ items and subscales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]