Mobile technology is changing the way we communicate and programmers are needed to turn a companies’ ideas into reality. This report describes the design decisions and programming details involved in developing a novel iPhone app for the medical industry. In the process, the report examines how women succeed in a male-dominated sector of engineering – software development – and explores how to encourage high school students to take an interest in software engineering as a possible career. / text

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to evaluate the effectiveness of 14 Mathematics, Science, Technology Teacher Preparation (MSTTP) Academies located across the state of Texas. The aim of the academies was to increase the number of highly qualified mathematics, science, and technology teachers, while also improving the quality of certified teachers in these areas by focusing on seven established goals. The researcher examined best practices for professional development and teacher preparation utilized by the academies, as well as strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, the extent to which the participants perceived the academy had improved their content knowledge and pedagogical skills was examined. Finally, the extent to which the seven goals were associated with participants’ perceived content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge was analyzed. The study used secondary data from a larger evaluation of the MSTTP Academies. A mixed-methods design utilizing triangulation to analyze both quantitative and qualitative data was employed for the study. The results of the current study revealed that the14 MSTTP academies demonstrated the following key strengths: (a) a focus on strengthening content knowledge; (b) a willingness for developing professionally committed teachers; and (c) providing funding for participants. In regard to weaknesses, the degree of program effectiveness revealed that none of the academies had fully implemented all seven goals. All 14 academies, however, struggled to accomplish two of the goals: (a) the integration of the areas of science technology and mathematics; and (b) the infusion of technology into curriculum. Additionally, the findings indicate that participants felt as though the academies had improved their content knowledge and pedagogical skills. The findings also reveal that all academies exhibited three features of effective professional development: (a) a focus on content; (b) active learning opportunities; and (c) intensive and sustained over time. Only one academy exhibited the remaining two features, collective participation and coherence. Finally, the study revealed that only the goal of strengthening content knowledge was a good predictor for participants’ content qualifications, while strengthening content knowledge and strengthening pedagogical skills were good predictors of participants’ pedagogical qualifications. This research study contributes to the to fields of teacher preparation and professional development.

In today's new and changing world, Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) education has come to the forefront of educational reform. The expectation for better prepared workers for today's technology infused businesses requires a better trained student, not only at the post-secondary level, but also at the secondary level. Today's student has access to technology that could have only been dreamed of 60 years ago. With this need for higher level skills in the STEM field for the work force, it would only be logical to expose students to aspects of engineering in younger grades, particularly at the high school level. The Antenna Design challenge has been designed to expose students to the engineering process and technology that is relevant to their everyday lives. This report will examine how an engineering challenge can be incorporated into the physics classroom, while observing how different levels of scaffolding affect mastery of the material and implementation of the lesson. / text

Using piezoelectric materials to harvest the energy of vibration is a popular and fast-growing field of study. This report details an attempt to use piezoelectric energy harvesting techniques to support an interesting and engaging lab experience for high school engineering students in which the vibration of musical instruments (specifically drums, for this report) is harnessed to power a string of decorative LEDs. The likelihood of the energy harvesting actually being successful enough to light the LEDs was not known before undertaking this lab, so the goals of the project became twofold: 1. Conduct the experiment from scratch to determine if a substantial amount of energy can be harvested from the instruments (enough to reach the goal of lighting the LEDs), and 2. Identify how this lab experience (or one similar to it, if the goal of lighting the LEDs is unattainable) can be beneficial to high school engineering students. The purpose of this report is to summarize the research that was carried out to harvest energy from drums using piezoelectric technology, and to outline how similar lab exercises can be utilized in the high school engineering classroom setting. / text

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University

Despite all the national efforts to increase STEM enrollment in the United States, the gap between the U.S. and other developed countries in terms of STEM graduates has widened over the last 20 years. Researchers have studied factors such as gender, race, high school GPA, and the student’s socioeconomic status for their impact on STEM enrollment. This study offers another possible explanation of why students might choose, or not choose, to enroll in STEM majors by examining the relationship between personality and STEM enrollment. the sample included 2,745 respondents to the 2008 Cooperative Institutional Research Program freshman survey at a large research university in the southwestern United States. Factor analysis was used to create four personality scales, based on John Holland’s theory of personality types, with items selected from the survey. Logistic regression was utilized to answer three research questions: Are students classified as a strong investigative personality type more likely to enroll in STEM majors than students classified as a weak investigative personality type? Are there differences in their likelihood to enroll in STEM majors among students of investigative-social, investigative-artistic, and investigative-enterprising personality types? What effect does personality have on students’ self-selection into a biological versus a physical STEM major? Results suggested that students with a combined investigative and social personality were more likely to enroll in STEM majors whereas students with a combined investigative and artistic personality were less likely to do so. Additionally, STEM students with an enterprising personality were more likely to choose a biological STEM major than a physical STEM major. These results should benefit educators and policy makers who seek to strengthen the pipeline into STEM fields.

The purpose of this research was to document the ways in which the pedagogical approaches of technology/engineering design-based learning (T/E DBL) were shown to promote change in concept knowledge of eighth grade mathematics students. A mixed method, sequential explanatory multiple embedded case study was used to determine the significance between the T/E DBL intervention and bivariate measurement data concept knowledge. Whole Group quantitative data analysis indicated a statistical significance between pretest and posttest scores. Qualitative data (Interactive Engineering Journals and semi-structured interviews) analyses for the Sub-Group confirmed that students did possess the bivariate data concept knowledge as documented through quantitative results and those gains were directly related to experiences students had while engaged in the T/E DBL intervention. This research demonstrated that the utilization of T/E DBL in an eighth-grade mathematics classroom has the potential to foster a change in concept knowledge of bivariate measurement data through informed design decision-making in a 21st century problem context. This study can be used as a guide for mathematics educators and curriculum developers implementing T/E DBL pedagogy allowing students to learn through contextual experiences. Future research should explore the utilization of T/E DBL to teach additional mathematical concepts at different grade levels. / Doctor of Philosophy / This research demonstrated that the utilization of technology/engineering design-based learning (T/E DBL) in an eighth-grade mathematics classroom has the potential to increase mathematical concept knowledge through informed design decision-making in a 21st century problem context. Participants were asked to design a solution to a real-world problem which required mathematics concept knowledge in order for students to make decisions about their design. Participants also kept an Interactive Engineering Journal (IEJ) throughout the design challenge. The results of the mathematics pre/posttest taken before and after the design challenge indicated that students increased their mathematical concept knowledge through their experiences during the design challenge. A small group of participants were selected to participate in IEJ analysis and individual interviews. These data confirmed that students did gain mathematical concept knowledge in connection to their experiences during the design challenge. This study can be used as a guide for mathematics educators and curriculum developers implementing T/E DBL pedagogy allowing students to learn through contextual experiences. Future research should explore the utilization of T/E DBL to teach additional mathematical concepts at different grade levels.

The purpose of this project was to create a series of lessons that incorporate both Biology and Engineering concepts. The three lessons were intended to increase in complexity as the students progress throughout the year. Using PyMol software allowed students to visually represent complex protein structures while introducing and providing an opportunity to practice programming. Each lesson was followed by a worksheet or activity to aid in students' comprehension and application of practice. These lessons were designed to maximize students' time learning to program and using PyMol software while enhancing the current curriculum. Lesson one introduced students to the PyMol software while building and representing the four main structures of proteins. With increased programming knowledge, lesson two focused on modeling the DNA double helix. The final lesson introduced students to evolutionary relationships based on a protein's amino acid sequence. / text

Are our students just consumers of technology or do their interests in technology translate into positive perceptions about STEM majors and careers? This research aimed to describe the role of the Internet in undergraduate students’ academic and career perceptions in STEM areas. The purpose of the research was addressed in three parts. First, the attitudes of undergraduate students towards five functions of the Internet namely tool, toy, treasure, telephone and territory were described. Second, students’ STEM career-related perceptions were described in terms of their science and mathematics self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and attitudes towards a STEM career. Third, the relationship between the five Internet functions and the three STEM career-related perceptions was examined. The participants for this study were 566 undergraduate students from a large Southern university. The research design followed a mixed methods approach using multivariate analyses and content analyses. The findings of the research indicated that there was a small but meaningful relationship between undergraduate students’ Internet and STEM perceptions. In their daily lives, the students perceived the Internet more as a toy and a tool. For general career related purposes, they perceived the Internet more as a treasure and a tool. For STEM areas in particular, they perceived the treasure and toy dimensions of the Internet more relevant. Findings on the differences in students’ Internet and STEM career-related perceptions based on gender, major and enrollment in an Honors program are also discussed.

<p>  </p> <p>The purpose of this research was to understand: (1) how students perceive a polytechnic high school model in relation to students’ college and career readiness, as well as (2) the challenges and successes that this type of school model presents, from the student perspective, after attending a semester of higher education at the model's collaborating university. To address these two research objectives, the authors conducted a case study of a novel public-charter high school developed by a state’s flagship research-intensive university in partnership with community, industry, and academic leaders. What makes this polytechnic high school model unique is its focus on supporting urban youth to pursue passions through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) focused experiences, that are situated within industry-driven, hands-on projects, and a personalized learning environment. More specifically, this study examined the perceptions of this polytechnic high school model from its active senior class as well as its first graduating class after matriculating to the collaborating university. This study was conducted to better comprehend the model in relation to students’ college and career readiness (defined here as 21st century skills [creativity, communication, and collaboration], sense of belonging, and college/career intent). This was achieved by analyzing beginning of the year survey results from one school’s current seniors, as well as administering pre- and post-surveys to graduates of the unique polytechnic high school as students began and ended their first semester of post-secondary education at the collaborating university. In addition, data were obtained from a focus group with the alumni after completion of the first semester at the collaborating university. The resulting data were then analyzed to identify the participants perception of the innovative school model in relation to students’ 21st century skills, sense of belonging, college/career intent, as well as determining the challenges and successes encounter after transitioning to the collaborating university. While this research discusses the outcomes of a case study specifically focused on a polytechnic high school that is an innovative school-university collaborative model, the resulting data can be used to provide more information surrounding innovative educational approaches so that schools, educators, and other educational stakeholders have the necessary information needed to make informed decisions as they attempt to transform secondary learning experiences in response to societal changes.</p>