Browsing by Author "Peterson, Bryanne"
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- Applying Curriculum Treatments to Improve STEM Attitudes and Promote STEM Career Interest in Fifth GradersPeterson, Bryanne (Virginia Tech, 2018-04-19)The Federal Government has called for an overhaul of STEM education, saying that we as a nation must increase "opportunities for young Americans to gain strong STEM skills" (Office of Science and Technology Policy, 2013, p.1). Economically, these skills expand beyond those that make good doctors, professors, and engineers; there is a world of jobs going unfilled because our students are graduating without the skills or knowledge that such opportunities exist. To increase the future STEM workforce, we first need to increase student awareness of a variety of STEM careers early on (Tai et al., 2006). Career decisions are being made by students as early as middle school (Tai et al., 2006); and very little if any STEM career exploration is occurring before high school. This lack of early exposure to STEM career options means that students are likely making decisions about career choices without accurate information; choosing a path before knowing about all the options. This research is broken into two manuscripts; the first of which examined the impacts of design-based learning and scientific inquiry curriculum treatments with embedded career content on the career interest of fifth-grade students as compared to traditional classroom methods. It found that there is an upward trend in career interest with the use of these curriculum treatments, but it is not a significant change, likely due to the short time period of the unit and/or small n. The second manuscript examined the effect of a design-based learning curriculum treatment implementation for a single unit on Radford City Schools fifth-grade students' STEM attitudes and interest in STEM careers through a pre/post design. The study showed statistically significant growth in overall STEM attitudes and within the science subtest specifically. Career interest in the general field of science showed a significant increase, while a change of interest in specific career areas was not statistically significant. Collectively, this research serves as a foundation for the effectiveness of having career awareness and career exposure opportunities built into active learning instruction, which does not occur currently. Built on secondary principles, but at a level appropriate for elementary students, using active learning opportunities with embedded career connections has the potential to be an effective solution to students' premature exclusion of STEM-related study and work options identified in the literature. Through preliminary exposure to this unique combination at the elementary level, a stronger foundation can be built for both ability and interest in STEM.
- Building Stem Career Interest Through Curriculum TreatmentsPeterson, Bryanne (Springer Open, 2020)Watson and McMahon’s (2005) work identified a need for research to examine the what and how of children’s career development learning; this research is a start to answering that call, specifically focusing on STEM career interest as a precursor to development due to the current needs nationally for an increase in the STEM pipeline. This study examined the impacts of design-based learning and scientific inquiry curriculum treatments with embedded career content on the career interest of fifth-grade students as compared to traditional classroom methods. Findings show an upward trend in interest with the use of these curriculum treatments, though the change is not significant in most career areas, likely due to the short time period of the unit and/or small n.
- Exploring Authenticity Through an Engineering-Based Context in a Project-Based Learning Mathematics ActivityBowen, Bradley D.; Peterson, Bryanne (Purdue University, 2019-01-01)As education works to reconnect student learning to something more than standardized testing, project-based learning (PBL) has become a popular way to increase student engagement while providing more authentic applications of student knowledge. While research regarding PBL is bountiful, little has been done to connect this body of research with student perceptions regarding its classroom application, especially concerning authenticity and student engagement. This research focuses on the topic of ‘‘task authenticity’’ as a means to improve student outcomes. Two groups of seventh-grade students were presented the concept of slope and y-intercept in the context of engineering-based activities. The research design measures if there is a difference in student achievement and perceived importance of these mathematics concepts when presented with authentic and non-authentic approaches to the material. Given this particular methodology, the results show that although no significant difference was found in student achievement, there is a significant difference in the perception that students have regarding the importance of understanding slope and y-intercept.
- Formative Assessment in Hands-On STEM EducationPeterson, Bryanne; Hipple, Britton T. (IGI Global, 2020)This chapter serves as an introduction to transdisciplinary learning, Integrative STEM Education, and current methods for infusing formative assessment into hands-on instruction at the elementary level. Subscribing to the approach that formative assessment is a process that takes place in the classroom to enable learning, the chapter discusses the use of engineering notebooks, competency-based assessment, and qualitative assessment (rubrics and portfolios) in the context of formative assessment while facilitating hands-on learning opportunities. In addition to introducing each of these topics from a research and literature perspective, examples are provided and discussed from a practical perspective. No one formative assessment is better than another, however, one type may be more practical due to the teacher's willingness to try new things, development of students, standards teacher is measuring, type of lesson/unit, time, available resources, and associated costs.
- Visualizing Acid-Base Chemistry for Environmental Scientists and EngineersDietrich, Andrea M.; Briganti, Jonathan; Brown, Anne M.; Godrej, Adil N.; Gallagher, Conor; Kelly, Conor; Peterson, Bryanne; Schreiber, Madeline E.; Stamper, Michael J.; Walz, Anita R. (2020-02-14)Our interdisciplinary team of educators from the sciences and engineering joined forces to create a novel and original technology-enhanced software tool for acid-base chemistry. Acid-base chemistry is an underlying principle throughout life and the universe, from controlling the pH of human blood to influencing global warming, virus attachment, and life on other planets. Our interactive pKAnalyzer, available on line through GitHub, empowers students and professionals to visualize acid-base species while performing calculations. Student (n=27) response is terrific for the pKAnalyzer tool. The tool scored nearly all 7’s (strongly agree) for ease of use, aesthetics, and format of output, using the 7-point likert scale. pKAnalyzer: Link to App: https://databridgevt.github.io/pka-analyzer Copy and paste into Firefox or Chrome. Make sure JAVA is installed.