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Participation on a robotics team affords students the opportunity to learn science and engineering skills in a competition-based environment. Mentors on these robotics teams play important roles in helping students acquire these skills. This study used an apprenticeship learning theory to examine how mentors on one high school robotics team contributed to students attaining the knowledge associated with designing and building a robot for competition. How active of a role did mentors play on their competition-based robotics team? How did mentors and students together handle the challenges they faced? The mentor-student interactions detailed in the research revealed an apprenticeship model where mentors played leadership roles reluctant to move beyond modeling tasks to students. The mentors’ roles bring into question if they were granting their students the full opportunities to develop skills associated with working on a robot. Despite these developmental concerns, the students on the team gradually took up simple tasks working side-by-side mentors, saw expert engineers model professional habits, and expressed being inspired while contributing to a winning team.

In longitudinal studies, measurement invariance is required to conduct substantive comparisons over time or across groups. In this study, we examined measurement invariance on a recently developed instrument capturing student preferences for seven instructional strategies related to science learning and career interest. We have labeled these seven instructional strategies as Collaborating, Competing, Caretaking, Creating/Making, Discovering, Performing, and Teaching. A better understanding of student preferences for particular instructional strategies can help educators, researchers, and policy makers deliberately tailor programmatic instructional structure to increase student persistence in the STEM pipeline. However, simply confirming the relationship between student preferences for science instructional strategies and their future career choices at a single time point is not sufficient to clarify our understanding of the relationship between instructional strategies and student persistence in the STEM pipeline, especially since preferences for instructional strategies are understood to vary over time. As such, we sought to develop a measure that invariantly captures student preference over a period of time: the Framework for Observing and Categorizing Instructional Strategies (FOCIS). We administered the FOCIS instrument over four semesters over two middle school grades to 1009 6th graders and 1021 7th graders and confirmed the longitudinal invariance of the FOCIS measure. This confirmation of longitudinal invariance will allow researchers to examine the relationship between student preference for certain instructional strategies and student persistence in the STEM pipeline.

This study examined a new form of pervasive gender inequality: the gender gap among high achievers in math and considered its implication for developing STEM talents. Using the cross-nation Programme for International Student Achievement (PISA) data from both 2003 and 2012, we examined the mathematics gender gap among 15-year-old high achievers across ten countries/regions. We showed a consistent male advantage among the top performers in mathematics. Follow-up regression analyses revealed that the gap was associated with some socio-demographic and schooling/attitudinal variables, even after controlling for the background variables. We argue that education communities should acknowledge and address this form of gender inequality, as it could have ramifications for the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education pipeline. Educators and society in general still face challenges in closing the gender gap among high achievers in math with an aim to develop a gender-balanced STEM talent pool.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between self-efficacy and maintenance of interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) resulting in completion of an undergraduate degree in a science related area. To pursue this analysis, the researchers surveyed 3,510 graduates from selective specialized science high schools within the United States as well as 603 same age participants in Talent Search programs who did not graduate from a specialized science high school. Using binary logistic regression analysis, the researchers identified individual-level variables associated with the decision by both groups of high-ability adolescents to earn an undergraduate degree in STEM. These variables include self-efficacy and stability of interest in science, mathematics, and/or technology, and suggest that both specialized science high schools and Talent Search programs both serve equally well as incubators of talent for adolescents with a proclivity for STEM related disciplines.

With recent attention to improving scientific workforce development and student achievement, there has been a rise in effort to understand and encourage student engagement in physical science. This study examines the association of family influence and initial interest in science through multiple and logistic regression models. Research questions addressed include Controlling for demographic variables, are physical science doctoral students or scientists who report family as a primary source of interest in science, as opposed to those that do not, more likely to develop an early interest in science? And what specific forms of family support are associated with doctoral students or scientists who report family as a primary source of initial interest in science? The study uses survey data from Project Crossover (n = 4,285), a sequential mixed methods study that examines factors influencing entrance into physical science doctoral programs as well as the transition from graduate students to independent researcher. Results suggest that family interest in science facilitates earlier initial interest in science. Further analyses show that family influence shifts from parental occupation as the primary source of interest for the older generation of scientists to one of three influences (occupation, diversion or hobby, and encouragement) among doctoral students. © 2013Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 97:395–409, 2013

This study addresses the association between middle-school students' reported participation in science summer programmes and their reported expectation of a career in science and engineering. Data were collected on 1,580 students from eight middle schools in five states, applying an accelerated longitudinal design. Two consecutive cohorts were sampled over a two-year period time. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between students' participation in science summer camps and their career interest in science and engineering while initial career interest and background information were considered. Results indicate that students who participated in science summer camps before or in the first year of the study, compared to students who did not, are significantly more likely to report science and engineering as their future career field in the second year of the study. It appears that students who once participated in science summer camps were more likely to later report a career i...

Spurred by concerns about an inadequately sized science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce, there has been a growing interest in out-of-school time (OST) science activities as a means to foster STEM career interest. This study examines the association between OST science activities and STEM career interest in university through a logistic regression model and the calculation of prototypical odds ratios. The analysis addresses two main research questions: What is the correlation among different forms of OST activities? And, controlling for student demographic and background variables, what specific forms of OST activities are associated with STEM career interest in university? The study uses data from the ‘Persistence Research in Science and Engineering’ survey (n = 6882), which employs a nationally representative sample of university students enrolled in introductory English courses. Results indicate that students’ participation in OST activities, as well as their middle school int...

Even with the history of debate over the merits of homework, there are significant gaps in the research record regarding its benefit to students. The focus of this study is on the association between time spent on homework and academic performance in science and math by assessing survey and transcript data from two nationally representative samples of high school students collected in 1990 and 2002. Using multiple linear regressions and controlling for students’ background, motivation, and prior achievement, we investigated how much variance in science and math course grades and achievement test scores could be explained by time spent on homework in those classes. The results indicate that there is no consistent significant relationship between time spent on homework and grades, but a consistently positive significant relationship between homework and performance on standardized exams.

In a climate where increasing numbers of students are encouraged to pursue post-secondary education, the level of preparedness students have for college-level coursework is not far from the minds of all educators, especially high school teachers. Specifically within the biological sciences, introductory biology classes often serve as the gatekeeper or a pre-requisite for subsequent coursework in those fields and pre-professional programmes (eg pre-medicine or pre-veterinarian). Thus, how helpful high school science and mathematics experiences are in preparing students for their introductory biology classes is important and relevant for teachers, science educators and policy makers alike. This quantitative study looked at the association between students' high school science and mathematics experiences with introductory college biology performance. Using a nationally representative sample of US students (n = 2667) enrolled in 33 introductory college biology courses, a multi-level statistical model was deve...

As the global economic crisis continues, sustaining the United States' position as a leader in research and development is a top concern of policy makers. Looking to increase the number of students pursuing degrees in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), calls for improved mathematics and science education abound. We completed a two-part analysis to assess the school-based factors related to students choosing to complete a major in STEM. The results indicate that the majority of students who concentrate in STEM make that choice during high school, and that choice is related to a growing interest in mathematics and science rather than enrollment or achievement. These results indicate that the current policy focus on advanced-level course taking and achievement as measures to increase the flow of students into STEM may be misguided. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed95:877–907, 2011

Laboratory experiences play a substantial role in most high school science courses, and many teachers believe the number of labs they offer is a measure of the quality of their curriculum. While some teachers believe labs are meant to confirm concepts taught during lectures, others feel labs should address students' everyday beliefs about the world. Still other teachers emphasize learning of the scientific method and laboratory techniques.1 Accordingly, many articles offer advice on “effective” pedagogical practices.2–5

Specialized public high schools of science, mathematics, and technology are commonly viewed as the “crown jewel” of their respective school districts and, many times, of their respective states. These schools are intended to coalesce the most academically talented, science-focused students in each district or state and typically draw excellent teachers as well. As the nation considers policies to address Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education issues, options for additional functions are likely to arise. Currently no existing studies provide a comprehensive analysis of the contribution these schools make over and above regular high schools to the STEM pipeline. This article presents the extant literature on variables that have been shown to predict participation in STEM careers on the part of adolescents in and out of specialized high schools. The literature review is followed by a description of a recently embarked 3-year National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored study design...

In this study, the evaluation of high school biology, chemistry, and physics teachers by their students is examined according to the gender of the student and the gender of the teacher. Female teachers are rated significantly lower than male teachers by male students in all three disciplines, whereas female students underrate female teachers only in physics. Interestingly, physics is also the field that suffers the greatest lack of females and has been criticized most for its androcentric culture. The gender bias in teacher ratings persists even when accounting for academic performance, classroom experiences, and family support. Furthermore, male and female teachers in each discipline appear equally effective at preparing their students for future science study in college, suggesting that students have a discipline-specific gender bias. Such a bias may negatively impact female students and contribute to the loss of females in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. C

This US study investigates interactive associations between structure in inquiry‐type learning activities and academic attainment in high school science with introductory college science performance as the outcome. Past studies of this type have tended to use smaller samples and shorter‐range methods of assessing the influence of interactions. This study used a large‐scale nationally representative sampling of science students and investigated the existence of long‐range associations between high school and college. Replicated across three different disciplinary data‐sets (biology, chemistry, and physics) totaling over 8,000 surveys, the analysis discovered an interaction between structure and attainment associated with differences in long‐range student performance. The implications for these findings in terms of theory and practise are discussed in the conclusions.

This study relates the performance of college students in introductory science courses to the amount of content covered in their high school science courses. The sample includes 8310 students in introductory biology, chemistry, or physics courses in 55 randomly chosen U.S. colleges and universities. Students who reported covering at least 1 major topic in depth, for a month or longer, in high school were found to earn higher grades in college science than did students who reported no coverage in depth. Students reporting breadth in their high school course, covering all major topics, did not appear to have any advantage in chemistry or physics and a significant disadvantage in biology. Care was taken to account for significant covariates: socioeconomic variables, English and mathematics proficiency, and rigor of their preparatory high science course. Alternative operationalizations of depth and breadth variables result in very similar findings. We conclude that teachers should use their judgment to reduce coverage in high school science courses and aim for mastery by extending at least 1 topic in depth over an extended period of time. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed93:798–826, 2009

The disparity in persistence between males and females studying physics has been a topic of concern to physics educators for decades. Overall, while female students perform as well as or better than male students,1 they continue to lag considerably in terms of persistence. The most significant drop in females studying physics occurs between high school and college.2 Since most female physicists report that they became attracted to physics and decided to study it further while in high school, according to the International Study of Women in Physics,3 it is problematic that high school is also the stage at which females begin to opt out at much higher rates than males. Although half of the students taking one year of physics in high school are female, females are less likely than males to take a second or Advanced Placement (AP) physics course.4 In addition, the percentage of females taking the first physics course in college usually falls between 30% and 40%.1 In other words, although you may see gender parity in a first high school physics course, this parity does not usually persist to the next level of physics course. In addition, even if there is parity in a high school physics course, it does not mean that males and females experience the course in the same way. It is this difference in experience that may help to explain the drop in persistence of females.

Honors and advanced placement (AP) courses are commonly viewed as more demanding than standard high school offerings. Schools employ a range of methods to account for such differences when calculating grade point average and the associated rank in class for graduating students. In turn, these statistics have a sizeable impact on college admission and access to financial aid. The authors establish the relationship between the grade earned and type of high school science course taken for 7,613 students by modeling their later performance in an introductory college course. The sample is drawn from more than 100 introductory science courses at 55 randomly chosen college and universities. Accounting for variations in college grading systems, strong evidence is found in favor of the practice of adding bonus points to students’ high school course grades in the sciences, namely, on a 4-point scale, 1 point for AP courses and .5 for honors courses.

This paper focuses on the influence of high school science class size on students' achievement in introductory college science courses and on the variation of teacher practice across class size. Surveys collected information about high school science class experiences from 2754 biology, 3521 chemistry, and 1903 physics students across 36 public and 19 private institutions from 31 different states. The first analysis includes a cross-tabulation of 6 different class sizes and the frequencies of teacher practices reported by students. The second analysis includes a multiple linear regression of class size and student achievement. Results show no differences for pedagogy and student achievement until class sizes fall to 10 or fewer students. These findings suggest that incremental reductions in class size are likely not to have a significant impact on later student achievement.

This pilot study investigated the capacity of eye‐gaze tracking to identify differences in problem‐solving behaviours within a group of individuals who possessed varying degrees of knowledge and expertise in three disciplines of science (biology, chemistry and physics). The six participants, all pre‐service science teachers, completed an 18‐item multiple‐choice science assessment while having their eye‐gaze tracked and recorded. Analysis of the data revealed differences in eye‐gaze behaviour across different disciplines and similarities among participants with similar science backgrounds. This manuscript discusses various issues in eye‐gaze tracking data analysis and suggests some analytical techniques for addressing these issues. The findings suggest that eye‐gaze tracking may potentially be a useful approach to furthering our understanding of students’ problem‐solving behaviours.

This study compares frequencies of instructional practices across differing scheduling plans (Traditional and Block plans), and explores the association between high school scheduling plans and college science preparation, using introductory college science grades as the outcome measure. More than 7000 students enrolled in introductory college biology, chemistry, and physics were surveyed.f No large difference was found when comparing the use of frequencies of instructional practices across scheduling plans. Regression models investigating associations between scheduling plans and college grades found significant, but small differences in predicted college grades for Traditional, 4:4, and Unique Block students; however, the analysis found two negative interactions on college grades linking alternate Block (AB) with HS science achievement and AB block with peer tutoring. Overall, the results indicate that Block scheduling plans do not appear to provide an advantage to students in terms of college preparation in science. Learning in America is a prisoner of time. For the past 150 years, American public schools have held time constant and let learning vary. The rule, only rarely voiced, is simple: learn what you can in the time we make available. It should surprise no one that some bright, hard-working students do reasonably well. Everyone else--from the typical student to the dropout--runs into trouble. From Prisoners of Time (1994) Introduction Since the mid 1990s, many states have shifted from existing Traditional scheduling systems to Block scheduling, with many voices on each side (Canady & Rettig, 1995; Lindsay, 2000). (1) Recently, the No Child Left Behind initiative and Virginia state guidelines have focused an introspective lens on educational topics like intensity of class time and restructuring of school days. Educators, administrators, and students strive to find a schedule that allows for greater retention, provides for adequate time, and produces high academic achievement across all subject areas. The most recent estimate is that about 50% of American secondary schools are on some form of Block scheduling, including alternate-day blocks of all-year scheduling (Wild, 1998). For example, according to Short & Thayer (1998-1999), 168 of Virginia's 294 high schools were using some form of Block scheduling. Some advantages become clear within these modified scheduling frameworks. Varied and innovative methods of teaching can be incorporated as the old lecture style becomes incompatible with new, longer classes. The daily schedule gains flexibility, making it more conducive to team teaching, multidisciplinary classes, labs, and fieldwork (Center for Education Reform, 1996). Given that these forms of pedagogy are often applied in science classes, it seems reasonable to explore the impact of scheduling plan on student achievement in this discipline. Traditional teachers often had "lab envy" because Block teachers could complete an entire lab in a day (Veal, 2000). However, Block scheduling does not increase total class time and often reduces it, for example when two 50-minute periods are replaced with a single 90-minute class (Bennett, 2000). The potential benefit of Block scheduling appears to lie with the extended block of time. Management of class time appears within the National Science Education Standards. For example, the first bulleted item in Teaching Standard D states that "Teachers must: ... Structure the time available so that students are able to engage in extended investigations" (NRC, 1996, p. 43). As a result, some have cited Block scheduling as a means of addressing these standards (Bernard, 2005). A number of studies have compared Traditional and Block scheduling plans in terms of students' test scores and GPAs, two measures of academic success. Bateson (1990) conducted a nation wide study in Canada to investigate if science students experience greater success in Traditional or Block schedules. …

Previous research has found a wide range of predictors of student performance in introductory college chemistry. These predictors are associated with both the students' backgrounds and their high school learning experiences. The purpose of this research study was to examine the link between high school chemistry pedagogical experiences and performance in introductory college chemistry while accounting for individual educational and demographic differences. The researchers surveyed 1531 students enrolled in first-semester introductory college chemistry courses for science and engineering majors at 12 different U.S. colleges and universities. Using multiple regression analysis, the researchers uncovered several interesting high school pedagogical experiences that appeared to be linked with varying levels of performance in college chemistry. Most notably, the researchers found that repeating chemistry labs for understanding was associated with higher student grades, whereas overemphasis on lab procedure in high school chemistry was associated with lower grades in college. These results suggest that high school teachers' pedagogical choices may have a link to future student performance. 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 987-1012, 2005 Within the past decade, the quality of science education in the United States has come under increased scrutiny. Results from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) placed U.S. high school students' science literacy in the lower third of countries included in the Final Year of Secondary School Survey (Mullis, Martin, Beaton, Gonzalez, Kelly, & Smith, 1998, p. 33). The subsequent uproar in response to these results has been further fueled by more recent findings from American College Testing (ACT, 2003), suggesting that, although standardized test scores have risen in the past few years, mathematics and science preparation in high school appears to be weak. As a result, many high school students founder when they undertake college

Efforts to ameliorate gender disparity in pursuit of science careers in the USA have focused on equalizing girls' participation in pre-college science courses and out-of-school activities. Our examination of nearly 1500 US college students at 16 universities found that gender and preparation both have an impact on success in introductory college physics courses. In terminal, algebra-based physics females perform better than their male classmates. However, in calculus based introductory college physics courses, which are prerequisite to advanced study in many fields, women do significantly worse than their male counterparts with the same background. For both genders, taking a high school course that limits coverage and concentrates more time in in-depth study is associated with better performance in college physics. We conclude that efforts to ensure the success of women entering the physical sciences should concentrate on increasing the depth and reducing the vast coverage of most high school physics cour...

High school teachers and college physics professors differ in their beliefs concerning the extent to which a high school physics course prepares students for college physics success. In this study of 1,933 introductory college physics students, demographic and schooling factors account for a large fraction of the variation in college physics grades at 18 colleges and universities from around the nation. Controlling for student backgrounds, taking a high school physics course has a modestly positive relationship with the grade earned in introductory college physics. More rigorous preparation, including calculus and 2 years of high school physics, predicts higher grades. Students who had high school courses that spent more time on fewer topics, concepts, problems, and labs performed much better in college than those who raced through more content in a textbook-centered course. College professors should recognize that a substantial fraction of the variation observed in the performance of students they teach can be explained by the range in effectiveness of their pre-college preparation, not simply innate ability. Although students without a high school physics course often do well in college physics, they are more likely to be academically stronger, with more educated parents, having previously taken calculus, and taking physics in their sophomore or junior year in college. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed85:111–136, 2001.

The majority of existing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research studies compare women to men, yet a paucity of research exists that examines what differentiates female career choice within the physical sciences. In light of these research trends and recommendations, this study examines the following question: On average, do females who select physics as compared to chemistry doctoral programs differ in their reported personal motivations and background factors prior to entering the field? This question is analyzed using variables from the Project Crossover Survey data set through a subset of female physical science doctoral students and scientists ($n=1137$). A logistic regression analysis and prototypical odds ratio uncover what differentiates women in the physical sciences based on their academic achievement and experiences ranging from high school through undergraduate education. Results indicate that females who have negative undergraduate chemistry experiences as well as higher grades and positive experiences in undergraduate physics are more likely to pursue a career in physics as opposed to chemistry. Conclusions suggest that a greater emphasis should be placed on the classroom experiences that are provided to females in gateway physics courses. Analyses show that women are not a single entity that should only be examined as a whole group or in comparison to men. Instead women can be compared to one another to see what influences their differences in educational experiences and career choice in STEM-based fields as well as other academic areas of study.

The underrepresentation of women in physics doctorate programs and in tenured academic positions indicates a need to evaluate what may influence their career choice and persistence. This qualitative paper examines eleven females in physics doctoral programs and professional science positions in order to provide a more thorough understanding of why and how women make career choices based on aspects both inside and outside of school and their subsequent interaction. Results indicate that female physicists experience conflict in achieving balance within their graduate school experiences and personal lives and that this then influences their view of their future careers and possible career choices. Female physicists report both early and long-term support outside of school by family, and later departmental support, as being essential to their persistence within the field. A greater focus on informal and out-of-school science activities for females, especially those that involve family members, early in life may help influence their entrance into a physics career later in life. Departmental support, through advisers, mentors, peers, and women’s support groups, with a focus on work-life balance can help females to complete graduate school and persist into an academic career.

An individual's motivational orientation serves as a drive to action and can influence their career success. This study examines how goal orientation toward the pursuit of a graduate degree in physics and chemistry influences later success outcomes of practicing physicists and chemists. Two main categories of goal orientation are examined in this paper: performance orientation or motivation to demonstrate one's ability or performance to others, and learning orientation or motivation through the desire to learn about a topic. The data were obtained as part of Project Crossover, a mixed-methods study which focused on studying the transition from graduate student to scientist in the physical sciences and included a survey of members of two national professional physical science organizations. Using regression analysis on data from 2353 physicists and chemists, results indicate that physicists and chemists who reported a learning orientation as their motivation for going to graduate school were more productive, in terms of total career primary and/or first-author publications and grant funding, than those reporting a performance orientation. Furthermore, given equal salary, learning-oriented individuals produced more primary and/or first-author publications than their nonlearning oriented counterparts.

Out-of-discipline high-school science courses are not associated with better performance in introductory college biology, chemistry, or physics courses, but high-school math counts.

This large-scale survey study looks for connections between high school chemistry classroom instructional practices and the performance of these students in introductory college chemistry. Based on survey data collected from over 3000 students in 31 different colleges and universities, the results indicate that students who reported higher frequencies of high school chemistry experiences such as peer teaching and “everyday” (i.e., common) examples, on the average, earned higher college grades. However, students who reported higher frequencies of demonstrations and individual work among other indicators, on the average, earned lower grades. Overall, the results suggest that peer engagement in high school chemistry may be associated with success in college chemistry.

Do students who focus on some content areas in high school chemistry have an advantage over others in college chemistry? Published research on high school preparation for college science dates back as far as the 1920s, but results have been mixed. This manuscript seeks to answer this question through the use of a broad-based survey of 3521 introductory college chemistry students. This study provides descriptive analyses showing the distribution of high school content experiences reported by college chemistry students from 31 four-year colleges and universities in the United States. The results indicate that stoichiometry rises above seven other topic areas studied in high school as most strongly predictive of college chemistry success. In addition, three mathematics background predictors, including calculus background, were found to be highly significant.