Student Attitudes/Beliefs

Supporting Student Voice in Science Classrooms: The Limits of Psychosocial Approaches and the Importance of Sociocultural and Critical Perspectives on Student Agency

In this paper, we examine traditional psychosocial approaches to the study of student agency in science education, emphasizing the importance of incorporating sociocultural and critical perspectives. We present both contemporary studies of student agency in educational psychology and the work of scholars who study students’ student agency with attention to the cultural, economic, political, and historical forces shaping agentic behaviors in schools.

Author/Presenter

Christine Lee Bae

Ananya M. Matewos

John Fife

Year
2024
Short Description

In this paper, we examine traditional psychosocial approaches to the study of student agency in science education, emphasizing the importance of incorporating sociocultural and critical perspectives.

Inspiring STEM Education Focused on Solutions

Nancy Butler Songer, from the University of Utah, makes a call for collective action to create a new curriculum focused on the design of solutions.

Songer, N. B. (2023). Inspiring STEM education focused on solutions. Open Access Government July 2023, pp.322-323. https://doi.org/10.56367/OAG-039-10836

Author/Presenter

Nancy Butler Songer

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2023
Short Description

Nancy Butler Songer, from the University of Utah, makes a call for collective action to create a new curriculum focused on the design of solutions.

How Do We Design Curricula to Foster Innovation, Motivation and Interest in STEM Learning?

Purpose
The authors designed a science and engineering curricular program that includes design features that promote student interest and motivation and examined teachers' and students' views on meaningfulness, motivation and interest.

Design/methodology/approach
The research approach consisted of mixed methods, including content analyses and descriptive statistics.

Author/Presenter
Julia E. Calabrese

Nancy Butler Songer

Holly Cordner

Daniel Kalani Aina Jr

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2023
Short Description

The authors designed a science and engineering curricular program that includes design features that promote student interest and motivation and examined teachers' and students' views on meaningfulness, motivation and interest.

Youth as Essential Problem-Solvers of Our Futures

Nancy Butler Songer, Associate Provost of STEM Education at the University of Utah, discusses the importance of supporting and including young people as part of environmental decision-making teams and key problem-solvers of our futures.

Songer, N. B. (2023). Youth as essential problem-solvers of our futures. Open Access Government October 2023, pp. 312-313. https://doi.org/10.56367/OAG-040-10836

Author/Presenter

Nancy Butler Songer

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2023
Short Description

Nancy Butler Songer, Associate Provost of STEM Education at the University of Utah, discusses the importance of supporting and including young people as part of environmental decision-making teams and key problem-solvers of our futures.

Youths’ Solutions to Local Invasive Species

Educating students about real-world, issues such as local invasive species aims to encourage wider engagement with STEM.

Calabrese, J. E. & Songer, N. B. (2024). Youths’ solutions to local invasive species. Open Access Government January 2024.

Author/Presenter

Julia E Calabrese

Nancy Butler Songer

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2024
Short Description

Educating students about real-world, issues such as local invasive species aims to encourage wider engagement with STEM.

STEP UP: Supporting Teachers in Having Difficult Conversations

While the field of physics has become more diverse over the last few decades, it does not reflect the demographics of the population of the United States by any metric. Founded in 2017, the STEP UP program began as a partnership between the American Physical Society (APS), the American Association of Physics Teachers, Florida International University, and Texas A&M University-Commerce. The project research team developed two active learning lessons examining the diverse profiles of individuals who earned a bachelor’s degree in physics, and issues of marginalization of women in physics.

Author/Presenter

Bree Barnett Dreyfuss

Year
2023
Short Description

The project research team developed two active learning lessons examining the diverse profiles of individuals who earned a bachelor’s degree in physics, and issues of marginalization of women in physics. After participating in the lessons, research showed that both the students’ sense of physics identity and their intentions to pursue a physics major increased, especially among female-identifying students.

STEP UP: Supporting Teachers in Having Difficult Conversations

While the field of physics has become more diverse over the last few decades, it does not reflect the demographics of the population of the United States by any metric. Founded in 2017, the STEP UP program began as a partnership between the American Physical Society (APS), the American Association of Physics Teachers, Florida International University, and Texas A&M University-Commerce. The project research team developed two active learning lessons examining the diverse profiles of individuals who earned a bachelor’s degree in physics, and issues of marginalization of women in physics.

Author/Presenter

Bree Barnett Dreyfuss

Year
2023
Short Description

The project research team developed two active learning lessons examining the diverse profiles of individuals who earned a bachelor’s degree in physics, and issues of marginalization of women in physics. After participating in the lessons, research showed that both the students’ sense of physics identity and their intentions to pursue a physics major increased, especially among female-identifying students.

STEP UP: Supporting Teachers in Having Difficult Conversations

While the field of physics has become more diverse over the last few decades, it does not reflect the demographics of the population of the United States by any metric. Founded in 2017, the STEP UP program began as a partnership between the American Physical Society (APS), the American Association of Physics Teachers, Florida International University, and Texas A&M University-Commerce. The project research team developed two active learning lessons examining the diverse profiles of individuals who earned a bachelor’s degree in physics, and issues of marginalization of women in physics.

Author/Presenter

Bree Barnett Dreyfuss

Year
2023
Short Description

The project research team developed two active learning lessons examining the diverse profiles of individuals who earned a bachelor’s degree in physics, and issues of marginalization of women in physics. After participating in the lessons, research showed that both the students’ sense of physics identity and their intentions to pursue a physics major increased, especially among female-identifying students.

STEP UP: Supporting Teachers in Having Difficult Conversations

While the field of physics has become more diverse over the last few decades, it does not reflect the demographics of the population of the United States by any metric. Founded in 2017, the STEP UP program began as a partnership between the American Physical Society (APS), the American Association of Physics Teachers, Florida International University, and Texas A&M University-Commerce. The project research team developed two active learning lessons examining the diverse profiles of individuals who earned a bachelor’s degree in physics, and issues of marginalization of women in physics.

Author/Presenter

Bree Barnett Dreyfuss

Year
2023
Short Description

The project research team developed two active learning lessons examining the diverse profiles of individuals who earned a bachelor’s degree in physics, and issues of marginalization of women in physics. After participating in the lessons, research showed that both the students’ sense of physics identity and their intentions to pursue a physics major increased, especially among female-identifying students.

Examining the Effect of Counternarratives About Physics on Women’s Physics Career Intentions

Women and many people of color continue to be minoritized in STEM and notably in physics. We conducted two studies demonstrating that exposure to counternarratives about who does physics and why one does physics significantly increases high school students—especially women’s—physics-related career intentions. These counternarratives facilitate making connections with students’ career plans and help in sensemaking causes for the continued minoritization of women in physics.

Author/Presenter

Geoff Potvin

Zahra Hazari

Raina Khatri

Hemeng Cheng

T. Blake Head

Robynne M. Lock

Anne F. Kornahrens

Kathryne Sparks Woodle

Rebecca E. Vieyra

Beth A. Cunningham

Laird Kramer

Theodore Hodapp

Year
2023
Short Description

Women and many people of color continue to be minoritized in STEM and notably in physics. We conducted two studies demonstrating that exposure to counternarratives about who does physics and why one does physics significantly increases high school students—especially women’s—physics-related career intentions.