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Students are making choices in middle school that will impact their desire and ability to pursue STEM careers. Providing middle school students with accurate information about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) careers enables them to make more knowledgeable choices about courses of study and career paths. Practical ways of helping students understand the nature of science careers are limited. This study investigates using video interviews of STEM professionals as a method for better informing students about STEM career possibilities. ANCOVA analysis was used to compare treatment and comparison student interest in pursuing STEM careers before and after viewing video interviews with STEM professionals. Evidence for implementing video interviews as a way to interest middle school students in pursuing STEM careers exists. No gender differential in interest in STEM was detected. (Contains 5 tables.)

This paper reports on the design and evaluation of a rubric for assessing discussions in online graduate level education courses. The aims of the research were twofold. The first goal was to develop a discussion rubric that provides guidance to graduate students participating in online courses that are heavily discussion based. The second goal was to evaluate the efficacy of the rubric in student comfort with the expectations for the course and the quality of the discussions. Qualitative and quantitative course evaluations from four sections of an online graduate course are utilized to report on the effectiveness of the rubric upon implementation. Student average grades also show a statistically significant increase with the implementation of the rubric.

Student perceptions of science-oriented careers and scientists have been shown to be largely inaccurate. Through an instructional design and development process we have developed a method for offering students more accurate information about science-oriented careers. This paper follows the steps involved in developing a volume of podcast/interviews with STEM professionals and implementing the podcasts in middle level science classes. The purpose of the podcasts is to better inform middle school students about STEM career options. We present the challenges and successes of the development process as well as the efforts to create a second volume of podcasts, planned improvements and efforts for larger scale implementation, and the results from a pilot study involving the podcasts.

The conflict between the amount of material to be addressed in high school science classes, the need to prepare students for standardized tests, and the amount of time available forces science educators to make difficult pedagogical decisions on a daily basis. Hands-on and inquiry-based learning offer students more authentic learning experiences with benefits beyond test scores. However, these alternative teaching/learning techniques can be more time consuming than textbook use and exacerbate the conflict between pedagogy and time. The study reported in this article questioned 2712 college Biology students about their high school science experiences. Analyses indicate that the amount of time spent reading biology texts does not influence learning outcomes. (Contains 3 tables.)

In section two of a 2002 amendment on the Undergraduate Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education Improvement Act, congress stated "A workforce that is highly trained in science...is crucial to generating the innovation that drives economic growth..." (Committee on Science, 2002). Given the growth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers and the exodus of aging and highly skilled workers from these fields as projected by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), fulfilling this order is likely to be challenging. In 2005, The BLS projected that between 2004 and 2014, employers in the United States would be hiring 2.5 million STEM workers (BLS, 2005). Despite this looming deficit, some STEM fields in the United States are actually graduating fewer bachelor's degree students than 20 years ago (NSF, 2006). In 2004, 64,675 students earned engineering bachelor degrees compared to 76,153 in 1984. Bachelor's degrees in Physical sciences totaled 14,240 in 2004, while they reached 15,831 in 1984. This emphasizes the importance of increasing student interest in science in order to ensure we will be capable of filling the projected openings and maintaining competitive in the global market.

Practicum experiences are an extremely critical component to any teacher education program. Yet how pre-service teachers are included in classrooms can be organized in multiple ways and is influenced by many factors. Structurally, universities must consider school schedules and student course offering schedules. More important is ensuring pre-service teachers have the experience and the support that best prepares them for classroom teaching. This study compares two structures for a pre-service teaching practicum to determine which best prepares pre-service teachers to take on the responsibilities associated with teaching in a classroom as reported by the pre-service teachers. One schedule allows for the professor to be in the field with the student, while the other does not. The specific objective of the study was to determine if there is a difference in what pre-service teachers feel they have gained from their field experience with varying faculty involvement. Results suggest that some benefits in planning and dealing with student-to-student conflict are offered with a scheduling structure that allows faculty to be on site. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

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. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 5 footnotes.)

In section two of a 2002 amendment on the Undergraduate Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education Improvement Act, congress stated 'A workforce that is highly trained in science ... is [...]

Practicum experiences are an extremely critical component to any teacher education program. Yet how pre-service teachers are included in classrooms can be organized in multiple ways and is influenced by many factors. Structurally, universities must consider school schedules and student course offering schedules. More important is ensuring pre-service teachers have the experience and the support that best prepares them for classroom teaching. This study compares two structures for a pre-service teaching practicum to determine which best prepares pre-service teachers to take on the responsibilities associated with teaching in a classroom as reported by the pre-service teachers. One schedule allows for the professor to be in the field with the student, while the other does not. The specific objective of the study was to determine if there is a difference in what pre-service teachers feel they have gained from their field experience with varying faculty involvement. Results suggest that some benefits in planning and dealing with student-to-student conflict are offered with a scheduling structure that allows faculty to be on site. Keywords: practicum experiences, pre-service teacher education, field experience scheduling, Researchers have identified many reasons for university faculty involvement in pre-service teacher practicum experiences including a stronger school-university partnership, helping teacher education faculty grow in understanding and maintaining contact with [...]

The underrepresentation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields is magnified as the level of degree attainment increases creating a STEM workforce that is lacking in female [...]