A system for equity: enhancing STEM education during a pandemic
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report the change in students' STEM perceptions in two different informal learning environments: an online STEM camp and a face-to-face (FTF) STEM camp. Design/methodology/approach – For this quasi-experimental study, 26 students participated in an onli...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Emerald Publishing
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JRIT-12-2020-0087/full/pdf?title=a-system-for-equity-enhancing-stem-education-during-a-pandemic |
| _version_ | 1811182390182150144 |
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| author | Macie N. Baucum Robert M. Capraro |
| author_facet | Macie N. Baucum Robert M. Capraro |
| author_sort | Macie N. Baucum |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report the change in students' STEM perceptions in two different informal learning environments: an online STEM camp and a face-to-face (FTF) STEM camp. Design/methodology/approach – For this quasi-experimental study, 26 students participated in an online STEM summer camp and another 26 students participated in the FTF STEM camp. Students from each group took the same pre- and post-STEM Semantics Survey documenting their perceptions of the individual STEM fields and of STEM careers. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests, Mann–Whitney U tests and corresponding effect sizes were used to compare the pre- and post-scores within and between the camps. Findings – Results indicate that both camps produce similar outcomes regarding STEM field and career perceptions. However, analysis of all statistical values indicates that the online STEM camp can produce a larger positive influence on STEM field perceptions and the FTF camp can produce a larger positive influence on STEM career perceptions. Research limitations/implications – This suggests that STEM camps, both online and in-person, can improve students' perceptions of the STEM fields and of STEM careers. Implications from this study indicate that modifications of informal learning environments should be based on the type of learning environment. Originality/value – This manuscript discusses the development and impact of an online STEM camp to accommodate for the sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the inability to hold an in-person STEM camp. These results may influence the curriculum and organization of future online and FTF STEM camps. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:31:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f1b2202597da45c3a42e0e15118cdeda |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2397-7604 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:31:48Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | Emerald Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning |
| spelling | doaj.art-f1b2202597da45c3a42e0e15118cdeda2022-12-22T04:31:53ZengEmerald PublishingJournal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning2397-76042021-11-0114336537710.1108/JRIT-12-2020-0087670217A system for equity: enhancing STEM education during a pandemicMacie N. Baucum0Robert M. Capraro1Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USADepartment of Teaching, Learning, and Culture, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USAPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to report the change in students' STEM perceptions in two different informal learning environments: an online STEM camp and a face-to-face (FTF) STEM camp. Design/methodology/approach – For this quasi-experimental study, 26 students participated in an online STEM summer camp and another 26 students participated in the FTF STEM camp. Students from each group took the same pre- and post-STEM Semantics Survey documenting their perceptions of the individual STEM fields and of STEM careers. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests, Mann–Whitney U tests and corresponding effect sizes were used to compare the pre- and post-scores within and between the camps. Findings – Results indicate that both camps produce similar outcomes regarding STEM field and career perceptions. However, analysis of all statistical values indicates that the online STEM camp can produce a larger positive influence on STEM field perceptions and the FTF camp can produce a larger positive influence on STEM career perceptions. Research limitations/implications – This suggests that STEM camps, both online and in-person, can improve students' perceptions of the STEM fields and of STEM careers. Implications from this study indicate that modifications of informal learning environments should be based on the type of learning environment. Originality/value – This manuscript discusses the development and impact of an online STEM camp to accommodate for the sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the inability to hold an in-person STEM camp. These results may influence the curriculum and organization of future online and FTF STEM camps.https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JRIT-12-2020-0087/full/pdf?title=a-system-for-equity-enhancing-stem-education-during-a-pandemiconline learninginformal learningperceptionsremote stem learningsynchronous stem learning |
| spellingShingle | Macie N. Baucum Robert M. Capraro A system for equity: enhancing STEM education during a pandemic Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning online learning informal learning perceptions remote stem learning synchronous stem learning |
| title | A system for equity: enhancing STEM education during a pandemic |
| title_full | A system for equity: enhancing STEM education during a pandemic |
| title_fullStr | A system for equity: enhancing STEM education during a pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | A system for equity: enhancing STEM education during a pandemic |
| title_short | A system for equity: enhancing STEM education during a pandemic |
| title_sort | system for equity enhancing stem education during a pandemic |
| topic | online learning informal learning perceptions remote stem learning synchronous stem learning |
| url | https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JRIT-12-2020-0087/full/pdf?title=a-system-for-equity-enhancing-stem-education-during-a-pandemic |
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