Interactive science notebooks, used as a learning tool during science instruction, was found to have a positive influence on student self-efficacy in expressing science content knowledge and interest in pursuing a STEM-related career. This study, involving 25 participants, discusses the integration of interactive notebooks into two elementary school classrooms in a rural Kentucky community over 55 instructional days. Through an explanatory sequential multiple-method research design, a quantitative survey given at two intervals, pre and post study, and qualitative student interviews, data found that 76% of the sample had an increase in their overall attitude toward science and 10 out of 12 STEM careers had an increase in overall interest at the conclusion of the study. The qualitative data, three oral interviews, revealed that 22 participants referenced an increase in science interest, two participants stayed the same, and one participant noted a decrease in interest. Nine participants felt that their interest in pursuing a STEM career remained about the same or had no significant changes since their initial survey and 16 participants referenced an increase in pursuing a STEM career in their final interview. This study aims to engage educators and administration in conversation about an explanatory sequential multiple-methods research design involving a unique population of transient students and the influence of a new learning tool used in the classroom. / Doctor of Philosophy / Interactive science notebooks, used as a learning tool during science instruction, was found to have a positive influence on student self-efficacy in expressing science content knowledge and interest in pursuing a STEM-related career. This study, involving 25 participants, discusses the integration of interactive notebooks into two elementary school classrooms in a rural Kentucky community over 55 instructional days. Seventy six percent of the population had an increase in their overall attitude toward science and ten out of twelve STEM careers had an increase in overall interest at the conclusion of the study. This study aims to engage educators and administration in conversation about an explanatory sequential multiple-method research design involving a unique population of transient students and the influence of a new learning tool used in the classroom.

The purpose of this study was to determine if students with special needs participating in an inclusive classroom can learn the skills related to a STEM career as compared to the general student population. The study involved seventh grade students from two rural middle schools in north central Texas and was framed through a constructivist lens using a quasi-experimental design with a convenience sample. The Solenoid Invention Kit Assessment and the STEM Semantics Survey used in this study were used from a previously large existing dataset from a grant funded by the National Science Foundation for Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers. Findings suggested that there were no significant differences between the general student population and students with special needs. However, STEM coursework in an inclusive classroom may impact students' decision to pursue STEM careers.

Researchers have shown rural elementary and middle-grade science teachers' inability to integrate STEM career-related lessons into their curricula despite engagement in professional development linked to the teachers' intent-driven beliefs. Researchers, however, have not investigated the influence of intentions on teachers' abilities to integrate STEM career-related lessons into science instruction. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand how intentions impacted rural elementary and middle-grade teachers' ability to integrate STEM career-related lessons during science instruction. Guided by Ajzen's (1988) theory of planned behavior, this study was designed to examine teachers' intentions to integrate STEM career-related lessons during science instruction and the underlying causes of such intentions. In this transcendental phenomenological study, reflective journal entries and interview data were collected through purposeful sampling of 10 rural elementary and middle-grade science teachers. Data were analyzed using a modification of the Van Kaam method of analysis. Findings showed that teachers intended to regularly integrate STEM career-related lessons, but needed more support from their administrators, colleagues, and community partners in fulfilling their intents to integrate STEM career-related lessons. Additional studies are needed for an increased understanding of how teachers in rural areas intend to integrate STEM career-related lessons amid challenges rural teachers face. This study may be of benefit to administrators and teachers who want to unite efforts in constructing a positive climate of integrating STEM career-related lessons during science instruction.

This project used narrative inquiry to examine adolescent experiences that contributed to the development of positive mathematics identities in successful African Americans. Ten African Americans, who had worked in a STEM-related occupation for at least two years, were asked to reflect on in- and out-of-school experiences with mathematics during their middle and high school years. Data collection included individual interviews and one focus group discussion. A combination of internal and external factors emerged as contributors to participants’ adolescent mathematics identities. Internal factors included early career interest, finding enjoyment in the challenges associated with learning mathematics, or facing setbacks they were determined to overcome. External influences included parents/family members, teachers/school staff, and peers who were influential agents in participants’ mathematics socialization. Participants’ stories revealed that mathematics identities were developed in several communities of practice—the mathematics classroom, after-school (or school-affiliated) programs, summer programs, and during unstructured free time. The findings offer three possible applications to practice: 1) Continue developing school-based and out-of-school programs aimed at exposing African American adolescents to STEM and allowing them to apply the knowledge gained in the classrooms in the real world; 2) Increase efforts to educate African American parents about the variety of occupations related to STEM and the foundational knowledge needed to gain access to these occupations; and 3) Continue efforts to recruit African American secondary teachers for STEM-related courses.

<p>My three chapters are all related to the study of immigrants in how they impact the US</p> <p>economy. The first two chapters look at international students in particular and how they</p> <p>impact their domestic peers and the local college towns they reside in. The third chapter</p> <p>looks at immigrant workers and their effect on native workers’ propensity to consolidate to</p> <p>form labor unions.</p> <p>To be specific, the first chapter, titled How International students Affect Domestic Students’</p> <p>Achievement: evidence from the OPT STEM-extension, looks at the role of immigrants</p> <p>in shaping the educational outcome of domestic students pursuing STEM degrees</p> <p>in the United States. By utilizing the mass influx of international students after an immigration</p> <p>policy change (OPT-STEM-extension) in 2008, I investigate the peer effects that</p> <p>international students have on grades, attrition, and first-year salary of STEM graduates.</p> <p>I account for the common selection issues present in the peer-effects literature by looking</p> <p>at the yearly exogenous change in international student share in a specific course-instructor</p> <p>pair and controlling for rich individual ability and demographics. This was made possible</p> <p>by having access to administrative data of a land-grant university with one of the highest</p> <p>international student enrollments in the US. I find that international students tend to lower</p> <p>grades and persistence of domestic students in STEM. Still, this negative effect is more than</p> <p>compensated for in the increase in salary due to spill-over effects in learning for those who</p> <p>persist and graduate.</p> <p>My research aims to eventually aid policymakers in both the local educational institutions</p> <p>and the federal government. To this end, I have extended my analysis of international</p> <p>students by shifting my focus outside the classroom to the local economies of the college</p> <p>campuses. In my second chapter, titled International Students’ Effect on Local Businesses, I</p> <p>use the zip code-level Census data on small businesses to see how the influx of international</p> <p>students affected the regional college campuses. I find that international students have a</p> <p>significantly positive effect on job creation in the local economy. To my knowledge, this is</p> <p>the first data-driven-causal analysis of international students on local businesses in the US.</p> <p>12</p> <p>My third chapter is a co-authored work with Alex Nowrasteh and Artem Samiahulin</p> <p>titled Immigrants Reduce Unionization in the US. Here we attempt to relate immigrants to</p> <p>a more traditional labor economics topic: labor unions. Although there is a vast amount of</p> <p>literature on unions, we found that the literature that causally estimates immigrants’ effect</p> <p>on unions is severely lacking in the US setting. Using a combination of representative data</p> <p>such as the CPS, Census, and the ACS, we show that immigrants accounted for about onethird</p> <p>of the decline in unions since the 1980s. We based our paper on the theoretical model</p> <p>of Naylor and Cripps  1993  and borrowed George Borjas’s skill-cell method for our empirical</p> <p>method.(Borjas  2003 )</p>

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I investigated why math capable students are not entering science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. To research the problem, I explored how highly effective elementary math teachers (HEMT) create student interest in mathematics using the self- efficacy (SE) theory and information and communication technology (ICT). The purpose of the study was to discover if teacher training and instructional strategies can influence student interest in mathematics to improve STEM career entry. The theoretical framework adopted for this study was the SE theory, and the 4-phase model of interest development was the conceptual framework. Participants in this multi-case qualitative study included 5 HEMT who work in a southern ICT-based urban school. The data gathered were individual teacher observations, interviews, and discussions about student artifacts, which were then analyzed for themes and patterns using NVivo software. The results indicated that the teacher participants use vertical curriculum experiences to improve student SE in 4th and 5th-grade students to fill-in curriculum gaps. Also, problem-solving math equations based on real-world simulations are used to stimulate and sustain a perceived student interest in mathematics. Additionally, ICT was used to augment math lessons and to personalize learning. Society will benefit from this information when educational stakeholders implement instructional strategies that improve student interest through the use of real life scenarios. Real-world math applications can influence elementary student interest in taking higher levels of math education that lead to STEM careers.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) academic programs and career fields continue to lack representation among females and minorities. STEM learning programs that engage youth in culturally relevant and personally meaningful experiences in STEM have been shown to develop participant self-concept as a scientist, as well as increase interest in related careers. This study uses the Draw-a-Scientist Checklist (DAST-C) instrument, as well as the Draw-a-Scientist Growth (DAST-G) instrument, which was developed and implemented by the author as part of this research. The DAST-C and DAST-G instruments were used to examine the science-related perceptions of youth before and after participation in a residential STEM geosciences program. An analysis found that the program produced statistically significant (p<.05) reductions to the DAST-C scientist stereotype scores in all twelve cycles of the program between 2018 and 2019, and statistically significant gains to the DAST-G scientist perception growth scores in eleven of the cycles.

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This study examined the gender socialisation process among ten recent high school graduates and the reasoning behind their chosen career paths. Three institutions: the family, school, and media, were examined to explore how these institutions could possibly have affected the participants’ career choices. This was accomplished through qualitative research by conducting in-depth interviews among five nursing students (three females and two males) and five engineering students (three females and two males) who were 18 or 19 years of age. The interviews revealed that the participants were aware of current gender stereotypes and had experienced gender socialisation through bedroom décor and/or parental roles. The interviews further revealed ‘influencers’ (such as one’s peer group or a close relative) as a significant factor leading males into nursing and females into engineering. Participants within each program revealed differences in personal definitions of success and thoughts on work-family balance. / Sociology / M.A. (Sociology)