<p> What experiences do college STEM majors report as being factors that encouraged them to pursue a STEM related major? Do experiences and influences in school such as labs, curriculum, and teachers make a difference? How do extracurricular impact a students&rsquo; desire to continue on in science after high school? Through this qualitative study I attempted to find some answers to the above questions. </p><p> Seven current college STEM majors were interviewed in a semi-structured format. Through the coding of the interview data several themes emerged which included the following: development of students&rsquo; interest, experiencing real science, academic inclination, and knowledge of careers in the STEM fields. These reported factors seemed to influence these students in one way or another in choosing to pursue a STEM career. It was found that all but one subject interviewed experienced hands-on science within a career related experience. They cited those experiences as their biggest influencers.</p>

<p> Encounters with live animals are found throughout modern society in the form of zoos, aquariums, petting zoos, class pets, and wildlife education programs. These live animal encounters had only begun to be studied for the impact they might have on learners. This quasi- experimental mixed-methods study investigated the impact live animals had on biology knowledge gain in fourth- and fifth-grade students utilizing a pre- and post-program, self- designed, survey. The programs included a live animal program and an animal artifact program. The results indicated that live animals did have a slight impact on knowledge gain, but the impact was not statistically significant. Past experience with wildlife education programs had a much bigger impact on knowledge gain than the presence/absence of live animals.</p>

<p> The purpose of this mixed method research study was to examine the constructivist beliefs and instructional practices of secondary science teachers. The research also explored situations that impacted whether or not student centered instruction occurred. The study revealed science teachers held constructive beliefs pertaining to student questioning of the learning process and student autonomy in interacting with other learners. Teachers held the least constructivist beliefs pertaining to student teacher collaboration on lesson design. Additionally, teacher beliefs and practice were not congruent due to instructional practices being deemed less constructivist than reported. The study found that curricular demands, teacher perceptions about students, inadequate laboratory resources, and the lack of teacher understanding about the components of constructivist instruction inhibited student centered instruction. The results of this study led to six recommendations that can be implemented by school districts in collaboration with science teachers to promote constructivist instruction. </p>

<p> The purpose of this mixed-methods action research study was to examine to what extent entomological research can promote students&rsquo; hands-on learning in a high-poverty, urban, secondary setting.</p><p> In reviewing the literature, the researcher was not able to find a specific study that investigated how entomological research could promote the hands-on learning of students. The researcher did find evidence that research on learning in a secondary setting was important to student growth. It should also be noted that support was established for the implementation of hands-on science inquiry in the classroom setting.</p><p> The study&rsquo;s purpose was to aid educators in their instruction by combining research-based strategies and hands-on science inquiry. The surveys asked 30 students to rate their understanding of three basic ideas. These core ideas were entomological research, hands-on science inquiry, and urban studies. These core ideas provided the foundation for the study. The questionnaires were based on follow-up ideas from the surveys. Two interview sessions were used to facilitate this one-on-one focus.</p><p> Because the study included only 30 student participants, its findings may not be totally replicable. Further study investigating the links between entomological research and hands-on science learning in an urban environment is needed.</p>

<p> Due to the logistics of guided-inquiry lesson, students learn to problem solve and develop critical thinking skills. This mixed-methods study analyzed the students&rsquo; attitudes towards science during inquiry lessons. My quantitative results from a repeated measures survey showed no significant difference between student attitudes when taught with either structured-inquiry or guided-inquiry lessons. The qualitative results analyzed through a constant-comparative method did show that students generate positive interest, critical thinking and low level stress during guided-inquiry lessons. The qualitative research also gave insight into a teacher&rsquo;s transition to guided-inquiry. This study showed that with my students, their attitudes did not change during this transition according to the qualitative data however, the qualitative data did how high levels of excitement. The results imply that students like guided-inquiry laboratories, even though they require more work, just as much as they like traditional laboratories with less work and less opportunity for creativity.</p>

<p> It is important that students understand not only how their local watershed functions, but also how it is being impacted by impervious surfaces. Additionally, students need experience exploring the scientific and engineering practices that are necessary for a strong STEM background. With this knowledge students can be empowered to tackle this real and local problem using engineering design, a powerful practice gaining momentum and clarity through its prominence in the recent <i>Framework for K-12 Science Education.</i> Twenty classes of suburban sixth-graders participated in a new five-week Watershed Engineering Design Unit taught by their regular science teachers. Students engaged in scientific inquiry to learn about the structure, function, and health of their local watersheds, focusing on the effects of impervious surfaces. In small groups, students used the engineering design process to propose solutions to lessen the impact of runoff from their school campuses. The goal of this evaluation was to determine the effectiveness of the curriculum in terms of student gains in understanding of (1) watershed function, (2) the impact of impervious surfaces, and (3) the engineering design process. To determine the impact of this curriculum on their learning, students took multiple-choice pre- and post-assessments made up of items covering the three categories above. This data was analyzed for statistical significance using a lower-tailed paired sample <i>t</i>-test. All three objectives showed statistically significant learning gains and the results were used to recommend improvements to the curriculum and the assessment instrument for future iterations.</p>

<p> With the continued emphasis in the United States on science teaching reform as a way to increase science learning and the scientific literacy of all, the integration of informal science learning activities like citizen science is emerging as a possible way to enhance formal science teaching and learning. There is a limited but growing number of studies indicating that the general public is learning science content and process from participating in citizen science, but research in this area is just beginning and the use of citizen science projects by teachers in formal classroom settings has barely been examined at all. This qualitative study examined three research questions: 1) What motivates experienced middle school science teachers to use citizen science programs in their classrooms? 2) What do experienced middle school science teachers perceive to be the impact on their students as a result of using citizen science in their classrooms? and 3) What do experienced middle school science teachers perceive as the challenges in using citizen science in their classrooms? Twenty-two middle school teachers from across the United States were interviewed about their motivations and expectations regarding their use of citizen science projects in their classrooms. Using a basic thematic analysis, responses from these semi-structured interviews were coded and themes were developed. Findings indicated that teachers use citizen science to engage their students in authentic science experiences that make a contribution to science and society. Also, teachers perceive that citizen science activities broaden students&rsquo; perspectives and build their agency to make a difference in their environment. Teachers perceived two main challenges with citizen science: making the task meaningful and ensuring that students experience the whole scientific process. This study makes a start at understanding why teachers use citizen science and how they perceive it to impact their students. </p><p>

<p> This investigation examined how former members of the Wilderness Adventures Club at Bolsa Grande High School described the impacts of their outdoor experiences on their Interpersonal Connections, Outdoor Perspectives, Personal Growth and Well-Being, Agency, and Learning and Knowing. The data suggest that participants benefitted from participation in wilderness-based activities through the subsequent development of close friendships, connectedness to the natural world, 21st century skills like communication, feelings of well-being and agency, and increased knowledge. Administrative and district concerns about the perceived risks involved in outdoor extracurricular trips often become obstacles for educators who want to engage students in informal, wilderness-based learning opportunities. The results of this thesis may provide evidence of the benefits of these kinds of outings to argue for support for outdoor trips for students.</p><p>

<p> Women are underrepresented in the STEM workforce. Trends are starting to change as more and more women are starting to choose majors that are related to STEM. However, the numbers decline sharply in engineering, physical sciences and computer sciences. This project was created as a resource to be used in schools to encourage the increase of women studying, and eventually working, in STEM fields. Research has shown that many women who choose STEM majors and careers were heavily influenced by informal STEM enrichment opportunities outside of the school day and female role models in STEM. This project is an NGSS aligned lesson that incorporates a historical vignette highlighting the work of a female scientist. The vignette can be used in a lesson or as a pull out in a different class or program.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between students&rsquo; high school Project Lead They Way participation and their subsequent academic success in post-secondary engineering studies and to assess to what degree, if any, their level of Project Lead The Way (PLTW) participation, gender, and AALANA status (African American, Latino/a American and Native American) effected this success. </p><p> PLTW is the nation&rsquo;s single largest provider of pre-engineering curriculums, the subject of this research study, currently being offered in over 3,200 secondary schools nationwide. Despite this level of integration, the amount of research on PLTW&rsquo;s effectiveness has been very limited. To date, the majority of the literature on PLTW has examined its impact on students&rsquo; high school academic performance or their desire to further their engineering studies. The findings from these studies have been overwhelmingly positive, indicating that PLTW students often had greater achievements in math and science and either plan to, or have actually enrolled, in post-secondary studies at higher rates. Nevertheless, the amount of literature on PLTW&rsquo;s effects on students&rsquo; academic success in post-secondary engineering studies is very limited. Furthermore, no research has yet to examine for the moderating effects of gender, ethnicity, or level of PLTW participation on students&rsquo; post-secondary academics success. </p><p> The population of interest for this research study was 1,478 students who entered an undergraduate engineering program from 2007 to 2009 at a privately endowed, co-educational university located in the northeastern United States. </p><p> The findings of this research study were that virtually all the effects of PLTW participation, gender, and AALANA status had on academic success were observed during students&rsquo; freshmen and sophomore years. These effects were positive for PLTW participation, and adverse for female and AALANA students. Additionally, PLTW participation, gender, and AALANA status only explained a small amount of the variance for each of the academic success metrics. These conclusions suggest that future research on PLTW should focus on the first and second year of study and expand the factors examined, both quantitative and qualitative, to gain a greater understanding of the complex factors that influence students&rsquo; initial academic success in post-secondary engineering studies.</p><p>