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![An illustration of the " leaking " STEM pipeline showing how more and more students do not end up pursuing STEM careers despite initial interest. Reprinted from Engage to excel: Producing one million additional college graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, Table C-6, The STEM pipeline [Online image], (2012). Retrieved from http://www.achieve.org. Copyright [2012] Washington, DC: President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Reprinted with permission.](profile/Janet-Ahn/publication/291829604/figure/fig1/AS:389124734373896@1469785974226/An-illustration-of-the-leaking-STEM-pipeline-showing-how-more-and-more-students-do.png)
An illustration of the " leaking " STEM pipeline showing how more and more students do not end up pursuing STEM careers despite initial interest. Reprinted from Engage to excel: Producing one million additional college graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, Table C-6, The STEM pipeline [Online image], (2012). Retrieved from http://www.achieve.org. Copyright [2012] Washington, DC: President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Reprinted with permission.
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Science instruction has focused on teaching students scientific content knowledge and problem-solving skills. However, even the best content instruction does not guarantee improved learning, as students’ motivation ultimately determines whether or not they will take advantage of the content. The goal of our instruction is to address the “leaky STEM...
Citations
... This design case demonstrates that the same approach would be useful in our teaching, both for our own process in course design and for student learning. Ahn et al. (2016) describe designing a "struggle-oriented" learning experience -henceforth referred to as the "struggle STEM design case" -to motivate diverse students to pursue STEM degrees in college, a relatable and enduring issue. The instruction was developed to challenge the myth that only smart people create scientific knowledge and belong in STEM disciplines. ...
... In the course schematics design case, Wilson and Bruni-Bossio (2020) describe the challenges of supporting faculty to take up student points of view in developing visuals that would be useful to students, as well as contending with their own limited capacity to design visuals. In the struggle STEM design case, the authors share the difficulties they faced integrating the stories they developed with typical course content (Ahn et al., 2016). In the dementia design case, Wan et al. (2016) share challenges encountered during pilot testing, such as needing to create a low-battery alarm, as well as challenges they faced in partnering. ...
... This is important for parents as well as math educators to understand, particularly when they are dealing with students who struggle with math. Because math is a domain in which a fixed mindset is often adopted (Ahn et al., 2016), students may be receiving different messages from their parents, siblings, teachers, and/or peers about the extent to which math ability is inborn or whether it is able to improve. These messages could impact students' motivation, as well as their behavioral and emotional responses to challenges, in complex ways. ...
Mindsets are defined as people’s beliefs about the nature of intelligence, and previous research has found effects of students’ mindsets on their academic outcomes. In the present study, we bring together two recent lines of mindset research: research that has demonstrated that the mindset contexts that surround students matter above and beyond students’ own mindsets; and research that has demonstrated the importance of parents’ mindsets on students’ academic outcomes. Specifically, we explored associations among the family mindset context—operationalized as undergraduate students’ perceptions of their parents’ and older siblings’ mindsets beliefs about math ability—and their motivation, behavior, and affect in math. We found that students’ (N = 358) perceptions of their parents’ and older siblings’ fixed math mindsets were negatively associated with their motivation, engagement, and help-seeking behaviors in math. These findings underscore the importance of family mindset contexts to students’ math motivation and engagement, especially the role of older siblings, which is a particularly novel contribution.
... Reconocer los "puntos de fuga y sus causas" resulta clave para saber dónde y cómo actuar para superar esas pérdidas. La Fig. 2, adapta al contexto ingenieril la mencionada tubería de fugas [14] y explicita algunas barreras que, según la Australian Academy of Science [15], causan las fugas en las distintas etapas del trayecto formativo y en la profesión. Enfocando la lupa en el ejercicio profesional de las mujeres en STEM, según Grogan [16] surge que tienen menos probabilidades de ser contratadas en laboratorios o ámbitos estereotipados como masculinos; tienen la mitad de probabilidades de tener una excelente carta de recomendación; en tanto las mujeres que por su reconocida jerarquía firman en último lugar los trabajos científicos o figuran como directoras de proyectos tienen el 6,4% de probabilidad que sus trabajos sean aceptados por un panel de revisores hombres, cuestiones que tienen su consecuencia en la obtención de subvenciones, mejoras económicas y/o premios. ...
... Table 3 has a summary of the seven articles in this section. Compared to the other four areas of STEM, mathematics is a subject that students are less likely to enjoy (Christensen & Knezek, 2020) and they are less likely to endorse a growth mindset for mathematics (Ahn et al., 2016). Too many students tend to associate the ability to learn mathematics with an innate aptitude rather than through hard work, practice, and effort (Ahn et al., 2016). ...
... Compared to the other four areas of STEM, mathematics is a subject that students are less likely to enjoy (Christensen & Knezek, 2020) and they are less likely to endorse a growth mindset for mathematics (Ahn et al., 2016). Too many students tend to associate the ability to learn mathematics with an innate aptitude rather than through hard work, practice, and effort (Ahn et al., 2016). The studies demonstrate the positive benefits of students believing in a growth mindset for mathematics including motivation (Blackwell et al., 2007) and academic achievement and engagement (Bostwick et al. 2017(Bostwick et al. , 2019. ...
Growth mindset has received more focus in schools in the past fifteen years as a possible way to improve various educational outcomes. Helping students to believe in the malleability of intelligence and the potential to improve in ability and various human qualities is important. Students with growth mindsets set self-improvement as achievement goals, use all of their resources, seek feedback, attribute failure to something that is under their control, and work harder when faced with setbacks. For the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects these beliefs and outcomes of a growth mindset are especially important. The notion that only some students can do well in STEM subjects is important to counter. Growth mindset research has most often concentrated on students beyond middle school. Given the possible benefits of a growth mindset, the elementary and middle grades should receive more focus with growth mindset research and interventions. The purpose of this article to review the research on growth mindset in K-8 STEM education, science education, and mathematics education since 2007. Directions for future research are discussed including the importance of teachers in growth mindset interventions and integrated STEM education lessons as a method for students to develop and internalize growth mindset orientations.
... According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2020), employment in STEM occupations is projected to increase by 8% from 2019 to 2029. Even though opening jobs in the STEM field are growing, a well-known leaky STEM pipeline is expanding (Ahn et al., 2016). According to the study of Ahn et al. (2016), two reasons can explain this pipeline which leads to lower science achievement. ...
... Even though opening jobs in the STEM field are growing, a well-known leaky STEM pipeline is expanding (Ahn et al., 2016). According to the study of Ahn et al. (2016), two reasons can explain this pipeline which leads to lower science achievement. First, the depersonalization of science content does not satisfy the need for the relatedness of students (Ryan and Deci, 2017). ...
The current study explored the associations between non–cognitive science-related variables, i.e., science interest, utility, self-efficacy, science identity, and science achievement in a serial mediation model. The study also further explored the potential heterogeneity in the model parameters using one of the data-mining techniques, which is the structural equation model (SEM) Tree. Data on 14,815 high school students were obtained from a large-scale database High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09). The results highlighted science interest and science utility positively influencing science achievement through a sequential pathway of mediators, including science self-efficacy and science identity. The strength of direct effects considerably varied across students, resulting in classifying them into four subgroups. For instance, among females with a low SES subgroup, developing substantial science interest would result in better science self-efficacy and science identity that flourish science achievement. These valuable findings provide fruitful tailored recommendations, elevating the science achievement in the subgroups (146 words).
... Despite the importance and benefits of introducing programming into the chemistry curriculum, students often encounter various obstacles that discourage them from learning to program. Indeed, decades of research in psychology and education indicate that successful learning not only depends on the instructors' pedagogy (e.g., effective instruction), but also on students' motivation to learn [9][10][11]. Motivation is defined here as "the beliefs, values, and goals that determine which tasks [students] pursue and their persistence in achieving them [12]. ...
... Finally, incorporating narratives about the struggles that a role model (e.g., a successful computer scientist) went through also corrects students' belief about what it takes to succeed in programming [9,29]. A struggle-oriented instruction proceduralizes and clarifies the process of success; it shows how the scientist dealt with struggles by explaining the strategies they used to overcome challenges, thereby making their success more attainable to students. ...
We describe project-based learning (PBL) activities centered around developing and deploying computer simulations inspired by a canonical experiment in quantum mechanics known as the Stern-Gerlach experiment. One significant result of the Stern-Gerlach experiment was the illustration of superposition and uncertainty, which are foundational concepts in quantum mechanics that students often struggle to assimilate. Students work in groups to develop a Python program that simulates the evolution of a model quantum system (for example, the particle in a box, rigid rotor, or the harmonic oscillator) subject to sequential measurement of two incompatible observables (for example, position followed by momentum). They utilize the animation capabilities of Matplotlib to create movies that show the time evolution of the wavefunction and probability density over the course of the simulated experiment. The motivations for this programming PBL activity are threefold: (1) involving students in thinking through the basic logic required to simulate a Stern-Gerlach-type experiment helps to make the quantum mechanical principles more concrete, (2) implementing simulations within the context of common model systems in quantum chemistry reinforces student learning outcomes related to these models, and (3) the resulting animations can be studied to help reinforce student’s intuition about concepts like wavefunction collapse, superposition, and uncertainty. We also discuss the psychological obstacles that may discourage students from learning when introducing programming into the curriculum and share best practices for combating those obstacles. Finally, example code reflecting a student-completed PBL is provided.
... Unfortunately, as students-especially students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds-progress through secondary school, their math engagement tends to decline (Li & Lerner, 2011;Wang & Degol, 2014;Wigfield, Eccles, Schiefele, Roeser, & Davis-Kean, 2006). In particular, adolescent students tend to regard math performance as rooted in aptitude and inherited ability rather than hard work, effort, and persistence (Ahn et al., 2016). The belief that performing well in math requires exceptional innate ability is de-motivating and may contribute to decreases in student engagement in math learning over time . ...
... Unfortunately, math is one domain in which students are less likely to endorse a growth mindset, as many students tend to associate the ability to learn math with an innate aptitude rather than hard work, practice, and effort (Ahn et al., 2016). Therefore, students with a fixed math mindset may attribute their struggles in math to their lack of ability, while those with a growth math mindset often recognize their struggles as part of the learning process or the need to use alternative strategies. ...
This article used self‐regulated learning as a theoretical lens to examine the individual and interactive associations between a growth mindset and metacognition on math engagement for adolescent students from socioeconomically disadvantaged schools. Across three longitudinal studies with 207, 897, and 2,325 11‐ to 15‐year‐old adolescents, students’ beliefs that intelligence is malleable and capable of growth over time only predicted higher math engagement among students possessing the metacognitive skills to reflect upon and be aware of their learning progress. The results suggest that metacognitive skills may be necessary for students to realize their growth mindset. Thus, growth mindsets and metacognitive skills should be promoted together to capitalize on the mutually reinforcing effects of each, especially among students in socioeconomically disadvantaged schools.
... Study 2 aimed to conceptually replicate the findings in Study 1 and to also explore an aspect that we thought would matter in influencing role aspirants' views of scientists' exceptional talent-the scientist's fame. Though prior research has highlighted the importance of famous scientists as role models (e.g., Ahn et al., 2016;Hong & Lin-Siegler, 2012;Lin-Siegler et al., 2016;Nauta & Kokaly, 2001), an analysis of media representations (e.g., television coverage) showed that famous scientists tend to be touted as talented individuals who seem to succeed effortlessly (Chimba & Kitzinger, 2010). On the other hand, evidence seems to suggest that non-famous scientists are viewed differently. ...
Three experiments examined how role aspirants’ (i.e., people exposed to role models) views of scientists’ exceptional talent affected motivation. Study 1 demonstrated that when exposed to a scientist whose success is associated with effort (i.e., Thomas Edison), rather than inborn talent (i.e., Albert Einstein), role aspirants’ motivation increased. Study 2 found that role aspirants benefitted less from exposure to Einstein than to a non-famous scientist. Study 3 replicated and supplemented Studies 1 and 2 by further examining the directionality of motivation. Exposure to Einstein and Edison had opposing effects on motivation relative to a non-famous scientist, due to the different views role aspirants hold of their success. These results suggest that role aspirants are critical in determining role modeling outcomes.
... Only 10.1% of all of the engineering degrees awarded in the United States in 2017 were awarded to students of international descent. 22 Depersonalized instruction has been revealed to cause students to disidentify with their field of study 33 . This is a threat for international students due to factors including language barriers and cultural disparities. ...
... Student learning motivation is very dynamic and can be increased if students find unusual behavior or rarely encountered (Moos & Honkomp, 2011;Ahn et al., 2016;Azrai et al., 2016) also visualization of concepts can also encourage students to become self-regulated learner (Maree et al., 2013;Rosamsi, et al., 2019). The use of media is also able to improve students academic abilities (Aloraini, 2010;Ristanto, 2011;Sartono et al., 2017) and participation in class (Acha et al., 2009;Ali et al., 2010;Abdullah et al., 2012). ...
This study aims to reveal the anticancer mechanism of the bioactive compound of Pisangulin angulata and to assess the feasibility of that results as teaching material. This research includes descriptive explorations. In the first stage, an in silico analysis was performed by molecular docking method between physalin compounds and GLI1 protein. The second steps of this study aim to develop teaching materials based research using the Analysis, Reorganizing, Piloting Class, and Evaluating (ARPE models). Feasibility test was carried out by experts and practitioners. Think Pair Share was used in the pilot project. Student motivation and misconception were recorded using SMI and CRI instrument. This study reveals that physalin B has higher activities than controls. The type of chemical bond that is formed between GLI1 amino acids residues with physalin is hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic bonds. The visualization of the types of bonds in that molecular docking between GLI1 amino acid residues and physalin has a high degree of feasibility (89) and can be used to enrich Chemistry for Biology lectures. The visualization of these chemical bonds can increase learning motivation and can improve the understanding of the concept of chemical bonds.
