Adam Maltese

Young adolescents who expected to have a career in science were more likely to graduate from college with a science degree, emphasizing the importance of early encouragement.

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 Ed 95:877 …

This paper examines the experiences reported by scientists and graduate students regarding the experiences that first engaged them in science. The interviews analysed for this paper come from Project Crossover, a mixed‐methods study of the transition from graduate student to PhD scientist in the fields of chemistry and physics. This analysis involved review of 116 interviews collected from graduate students and scientists and focused on the timing, source, and nature of their earliest interest in science. The majority (65%) of participants reported that their interest in science began before middle school. Females were more likely to report that their interest was sparked by school‐related activities, while most males recounted self‐initiated activities. Our findings indicate that current policy efforts (which focus on high school science reform) to increase the numbers of students studying in the science fields, may be …

Previous research has established the importance of early interest in STEM as a key factor in persistence. Our current research builds on this foundation and extends it to add more detail to understanding the types of experiences that trigger and maintain interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Using survey data from nearly 8,000 individuals, we are able to address the When?, What?, and Who? of those first experiences. Additionally, our data provide information on the types of experiences that maintained interest (or not) beyond the triggering event. Through purposeful sampling, our data include those who ended up in STEM fields and those who did not, which allows us to make important comparisons across these groups. Overall, our findings indicate that individuals who complete STEM degrees have quite varied histories and that the triggering of their interest happened across a …

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 the information age, a person’s ability to read and make data visualizations is nearly as important as being able to read and write text. This article reports the results of a multi-phase study conducted in informal learning environments in three US science museums. The goal of the study was to determine the familiarity of youth and adult museum visitors with different visualization types. To address this, a total of 273 visitors were shown 5 out of 20 different visualizations that included two charts, five maps, eight graphs, and five network layouts. They were asked to judge the familiarity of the visualization, provide information on how to read it, and provide a name and identify typical locations where they would encounter the data display and possible data sources that might be visualized in this way. The results show that while most participants have a strong interest in science, math, and art, many have a hard time …

Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have been endorsed as a powerful instructional tool in higher education; however, relatively little is known about the long-term effects of participation in these programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the educational enhancements of URE participation from the perspective of practicing scientists in chemistry and physics. Data used in this analysis are from a national mixed-methods study, which sought to investigate the transition from graduate student to practicing scientist. Respondents (n= 4,300) provided extensive data regarding their demographic and educational backgrounds, motivations, research, and professional experiences. Initial findings indicate UREs afford students a multitude of long-term enhancements, with the largest being exposure to genuine research, building of confidence to conduct research, and development of laboratory techniques …

With 66.7% of high school graduates from the class of 2004 enrolled in colleges or universities (United States Department of Labor, July 2005), the importance of high school as a means to prepare students for a successful college experience is evident. Educators and administrators strive to find a schedule that allows for greater retention, provides for adequate content coverage, and produces high academic achievement across all subject areas. Prisoners of Time and the No Child Left Behind initiative focused attention on educational topics like the intensity of class time and the restructuring of school days (NECTL, 1994). The National Science Education Standards (Teaching Standard D) state that “Teachers must:… Structure the time available so that students are able to engage in extended investigations”(NRC, 1996, p. 43). Having these goals in mind, many schools have shifted from Traditional scheduling systems to Block scheduling. In 1996 Rettig and Canady estimated that approximately 50% of American secondary schools were on some form of Block scheduling. Much of the existing literature views the Block vs. Traditional scheduling issue as an “either/or” debate, with voices on both sides of the scheduling divide (Canady & Rettig, 1995; Lindsay, 2000). Kienholz, Segall, and Yellin (2003) commented that Block scheduling allowed students to learn material at a “more relaxed, less frenetic pace”(p. 64) and that it enhanced the “environment for learning for both teacher and students”(p. 65). The extended class periods and attainment as well-suited to use within a Block schedule. Day, Ivanov, and Binkley (1996) reported the benefits of …

While the number of Bachelor’s degrees awarded annually has nearly tripled over the past 40 years (NSF, 2008), the same cannot be said for degrees in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, where the data reveal that in 2005 the relative percentages of students earning degrees in nearly all STEM fields were at, or below, previous levels. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that by the year 2014 the combination of new positions and retirements will lead to 197,000 openings in the life and physical sciences, 507,000 engineering positions, and over 1.3 million jobs in computers and mathematics (BLS, 2005). The main research questions I sought to answer with this study were:

The loss of talented women from the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pipeline has been widely recognized within science education as a pressing issue, particularly in the physical sciences. To provide a gender-based perspective of a popular educational device, the present study evaluated undergraduate research experiences (UREs) from a longitudinal perspective in respect to participation, learning enhancements, and contribution to the pursuit of a postgraduate education. Data from practicing scientists and graduate students indicated that women were more likely to participate in these research programs than their male counterparts. Of those who had participated (n = 1829), similar patterns in conferred gains for men and women were reported; however, gender-based variations were observed within items associated with self-efficacy, science interest, and the practice of authentic …

In the STEM fields, adequate proficiency in reading and interpreting graphs is widely held as a central element for scientific literacy given the importance of data visualizations to succinctly present complex information. Although prior research espouses methods to improve graphing proficiencies, there is little understanding about when and how students develop these skills during the course of their education. To address this gap in the research, we sought to create an assessment tool to measure differences in these abilities across groups with varied levels of experience in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This study presents results from a data visualization literacy assessment we created to begin to understand the development of expertise in this domain. Initial results indicate significant differences in the skill levels of expert and novice end-members, but little differentiation between the groups …

For more than half a century concerns about the ability of American students to compete in a global workplace focused policymakers' attention on improving school performance generally, and student achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) specifically. In its most recent form—No Child Left Behind—there is evidence this focus led to a repurposing of instructional time to dedicate more attention to tested subjects. While this meant a narrowing of the curriculum to focus on English and mathematics at the elementary level, the effects on high school curricula have been less clear and generally absent from the research literature. In this study, we sought to explore the relationship between school improvement efforts and student achievement in science and thus explore the intersection of school reform and STEM policies. We used school‐level data on state standardized test scores in …

The term failure typically evokes negative connotations in educational settings and is likely to be accompanied by negative emotional states, low sense of confidence, and lack of persistence. These negative emotional and behavioral states may factor into an individual not pursuing a degree or career in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). This is of particular concern considering the low number of women and underrepresented minorities pursing and working in a STEM field. Utilizing interview data with professionals across STEM, we sought to understand the role failure played in the persistence of individuals who enter and pursue paths toward STEM-related careers. Findings highlighted how participants’ experiences with failure (1) shaped their outlooks or views of failure, (2) shaped their trajectories within STEM, and (3) provided them with additional skills or qualities. A few …

Inquiry-based instructional practices are a mainstay of the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996). The National Research Council (NRC) teachers’ guide asks the critical question,“How does a teacher decide how much guidance to provide in an inquiry?”(NRC, 2000, p. 30). Another primary concern is the quality of student work produced in these activities. For many teachers who assign inquiry activities, the reality is that while some students may produce good work, others languish (O’Neill & Polman, 2004; Polman, 2000). A major finding of prior interaction research was that higher achievers responded better in less-structured learning environments, such as student designed projects and labs, while lower achievers responded better to more-structured environments, as in labs using worksheets and detailed directions (Cronbach & Snow, 1977; Tobias, 1981). Based on this finding, optimal levels of academic performance would be expected if instructional methods were chosen to more closely match students’ backgrounds. Will matching a student’s academic achievement with particular teaching practices have a long-range impact on their academic performance? A review of existing literature shows that these much autonomy they reported having in high school science through labs and projects. Our objective was to see if students who reported experiencing more or less self-directed projects and labs performed differently in college science when we took into account their prior academic background. To provide a more solid foundation for our conclusions, we performed the same analysis on three different …

Engaging students in class is paramount if they are to gain a deep understanding of class content. Student engagement is manifested by attention to the various components of instruction. However, there is little research at the tertiary level focusing on what aspects of instruction are related to changes in student attention during class. To address this gap, we collected multiple streams of data that provide a measure of student attention during instruction. We had students in an organic chemistry course who wear hats with a camera mounted on the brim, to provide a record of student gaze (i.e. looking at the board, notes, and friends). We also had students who use electronic pens that allowed us to record what information students transferred into their notes (pencasts). Based on our initial results, we believe the data provided by the point-of-view cameras and electronic pens hold great promise for using these …