Why STEM Learning Communities Work: The Development of Psychosocial Learning Factors Through Social Interaction

STEM learning communities facilitate student academic success and persistence in science disciplines. This prompted us to explore the underlying factors that make learning communities successful. In this paper, we report findings from an illustrative case study of a 2-year STEM-based learning community designed to identify and describe these factors. A directed content analysis of 119 student narrative documents resulted in 6 content codes organized into two primary categories: academic self-regulation, STEM identity, metacognition, and self-efficacy comprise the psychosocial or ‘affect’ learning factors that students identified as improved as a result of their participation in the learning community; and interaction with faculty/staff/STEM professionals, and interaction with peers represent the aspects of the learning community that students identified as meaningful learning community experiences related to their academic development. In addition, we analyzed 3 sets of code co-occurrences to understand how the content codes interrelate. Our findings indicate that certain psychosocial learning factors are developed through social interactions within the context of learning community participation, which may help explain the positive effects of student participation in learning communities

Digital connection in a physical classroom: clickers and the student-teacher relationship

Education is fundamentally relational, and the student-teacher relationship is central to student learning. However, high-enrollment classrooms, now common on college campuses, limit student-faculty interaction and opportunities for relationship building. “Clickers” facilitate communication in large classes, but there is a lack of research on the potential relational functions of this technology. This study addresses this gap in the literature by asking: How might the use of clickers in the classroom contribute to the student-teacher relationship? Employing a mixed-method descriptive research design, I created and analyzed three data sets to respond to this question: I observed 3 large clicker-based classes, surveyed students to explore their perceptions of clicker use and student-teacher relational dimensions, and I interviewed a subset of students for assistance interpreting the results. Data analyses resulted in four general findings: clickers can be used for multiple purposes and ends; clickers facilitate aspects of the student-teacher pedagogical relationship; clicker communication is not perceived as comprising a student-teacher relationship; and clickers are viewed as a tool for collective rather than individual communication and dialogue. Clickers may have value as relational tools, as they facilitate some aspects of the student-teacher relationship. The frame of the technology may explain why only some relational dimensions are facilitated, and not others. More research is needed to explore how clickers and other educational technologies may facilitate the student-teacher relationship

SIISP: Self-Efficacy Intervention to Improve STEM Performance [Poster]

Poster presented at the 2018 STEMM Equality Congress in Amsterdam, October 11-12, 2018. OBJECTIVES: • Develop, test, document, and disseminate a practical,scalable intervention to increase self-efficacy in university STEM students. • Develop and validate an efficient instrument for measuring university STEM self-efficacy, growth mindset, and perceived academic control in university STEM students. • Improve our understanding of the dynamics of self-efficacy— the factors that lead to growth, especially for traditionally under-represented, at-risk demographic groups

Digital connection in a physical classroom: Clickers and the student-teacher relationship

Education is fundamentally relational, and the student-teacher relationship is central to student learning. However, high-enrollment classrooms, now common on college campuses, limit student-faculty interaction and opportunities for relationship building. “Clickers” facilitate communication in large classes, but there is a lack of research on the potential relational functions of this technology. This study addresses this gap in the literature by asking: How might the use of clickers in the classroom contribute to the student-teacher relationship? Employing a mixed-method descriptive research design, I created and analyzed three data sets to respond to this question: I observed 3 large clicker-based classes, surveyed students to explore their perceptions of clicker use and student-teacher relational dimensions, and I interviewed a subset of students for assistance interpreting the results. Data analyses resulted in four general findings: clickers can be used for multiple purposes and ends; clickers facilitate aspects of the student-teacher pedagogical relationship; clicker communication is not perceived as comprising a student-teacher relationship; and clickers are viewed as a tool for collective rather than individual communication and dialogue. Clickers may have value as relational tools, as they facilitate some aspects of the student-teacher relationship. The frame of the technology may explain why only some relational dimensions are facilitated, and not others. More research is needed to explore how clickers and other educational technologies may facilitate the student-teacher relationship