Connecting the STEM dots measuring the effect of

Authors: Paul R Hernandez Ralph Bodin Jonathan W Elliott Badaruddin Ibrahim Karen E RamboHernandez Thomas W Chen Michael A de Miranda

Publish Date: 2013/04/05

Volume: 24, Issue: 1, Pages: 107-120

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Abstract

Recent publications have elevated the priority of increasing the integration of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics STEM content for K12 education The STEM education community must invest in the development of valid and reliable to scales to measure STEM content knowledge fusion and perceptions of the nature of STEM This brief report discusses the development of an instrument to measure student perceptions of the interdependent nature of STEM content knowledge in the context of a complex classroom intervention implemented in five Colorado high schools N = 275 Specifically crossfunctional science technology engineering and mathematics teams of high school students were formed to complete engineering design problems Exploratory pretest and confirmatory posttest factor analyses indicated that a newly adapted scale to measure student perceptions of the interdependent nature of STEM content knowledge had possessed adequate model fit Furthermore analysis revealed a novel pattern of results for the intervention Specifically students with initially high perceptions of the interdependent nature of STEM sustained their high perceptions at posttest however students with initially low perceptions exhibited statistically significantly positive gains from pretest to posttest Therefore this intervention may work best with students who are at risk of losing interest in STEM disciplines The implications of these research findings are discussedThis program is based upon collaborative work supported by a National Science Foundation Grant No 0841259 Colorado State University Thomas W Chen Principal Investigator Michael A de Miranda and Stuart Tobet CoPrincipal Investigators Any opinions findings conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation

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