The National & State Context of STEM Education: Past, Present, and Future

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Approaches to Understanding and Measuring Interdisciplinary Scientific Research (IDR): A Review of the Literature

Interdisciplinary scientific research (IDR) challenges the study of science from a number of fronts, including one of creating output science and engineering (S&E) indicators. This literature review began with a narrow focus on quantitative measures of the output of IDR, but expanded the scope as it became clear that differing definitions, assessment tools, evaluation processes, and measures all shed light on aspects of IDR. Key among the broader aspects are (a) characterizing the concept of knowledge integration, and (b) recognizing that it can occur within a single mind or as the result of team dynamics. Output measures alone cannot adequately capture this process. Among the quantitative measures considered, bibliometrics (co-authorships, collaborations, references, citations and co-citations) are the most developed, but leave considerable gaps in understanding. Emerging measures in diversity, entropy, and network dynamics are promising, but require sophisticated interpretations and thus would not serve well as S&E indicators. Combinations of quantitative and qualitative assessments coming from evaluation studies appear to reveal S&E processes but carry burdens of expense, intrusion, and lack of reproducibility. This review is a first step toward providing a more holistic view of measuring IDR; several avenues for future research highlight the need for metrics to reflect the actual practice of IDR

Considering Our Standards: The Foundations of Undergraduate STEM Education

Student success in STEM fields in Georgia is directly tied to the academic standards they are held to. State-level success in STEM education requires K-12 and higher ed alignment on expectations and standards for students. Dr. Bobb will discuss the implications to higher ed of the current K-12 standards in math

The Duality of Innovation: Liberation and Economic Competitiveness

Economic competitiveness and liberation are treated as dual objectives of innovation in traditional industries in developing countries that have endured both slavery and colonization. In developing nations that slave and colonial histories, the objective of innovation may be more than the assumed one, economic competitiveness; it may be liberation as well. The objective of innovation may be to wrest domestic control over national resources from international agencies and multinational corporations. This dissertation explores this idea with case studies of the sugar industry in Barbados and Guyana. Evidence from semi-structured interviews in both locations is used to determine whether liberation is indeed an objective of the innovation process and if so, whether it is complementary or contradictory to the standard relationship between innovation and economic competitiveness. The results suggest that the concept of liberation is not only present in large philosophical discussions of national strategy, but also in the practical "bench-level" discussions about technical options for the Caribbean sugar regime. The connection of sugar to the slave and colonial past introduces notions of powerlessness and resentment into innovation discussions that customarily revolve exclusively around research agendas, technological options and their economic costs and benefits. Consideration of this dimension is a necessary addition to the National Innovation Systems framework when it is being applied to the developing world.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Dr. Susan Cozzens; Committee Member: Dr. Bhaven Sampat; Committee Member: Dr. Monica Gaughan; Committee Member: Dr. Philip Shapira; Committee Member: Dr. Reginald DesRoche