Background
The U.S. has experienced a shift from a manufacturing‐based economy to one that overwhelmingly provides services and information. This shift demands that technological skills be more fully integrated with one's academic knowledge of science and mathematics so that the next generation of engineers can reason adaptively, think critically, and be prepared to learn how to learn.
Purpose (Hypothesis)
Project Lead the Way (PLTW) provides a pre‐college curriculum that focuses on the integration of engineering with science and mathematics. We documented the impact that enrollment in PLTW had on student science and math achievement. We consider the enriched integration hypothesis, which states that students taking PLTW courses will show achievement benefits, after controlling for prior achievement and other student and teacher characteristics. We contrast this with alternative hypotheses that propose little or no impact of the engineering coursework on students' math and science achievement (the insufficient integration hypothesis), or that PLTW enrollment might be negatively associated with student achievement (the adverse integration hypothesis).
Design/Method
Using multilevel statistical modeling with students (N = 140) nested within teachers, we report findings from a quantitative analysis of the relationship between PLTW enrollment and student achievement on state standardized tests of math and science.
Results
While students gained in math and science achievement overall from eighth to tenth grade, students enrolled in PLTW foundation courses showed significantly smaller math assessment gains than those in a matched group that did not enroll, and no measurable advantages on science assessments, when controlling for prior achievement and teacher experience. The findings do not support the enriched integration hypothesis.
Conclusions
Engineering education programs like PLTW face both challenges and opportunities to effectively integrate academic content as they strive to prepare students for college engineering programs and careers.
BACKGROUNDIf we are to effect change in teacher practices and decision making regarding instruction, college preparation, and career success in engineering, then knowledge of teachers' beliefs and expectations about engineering needs to be understood.
PURPOSE (HYPOTHESIS)The primary purpose was to develop a statistically reliable survey instrument to document teachers' beliefs and expectations about pre-college engineering instruction, college preparation, and career success in engineering, called the Engineering Education Beliefs and Expectations Instrument (EEBEI), and to compare teachers' views.
While numerous scholars have investigated the role of mentoring in the success of women of color in faculty positions, few have examined how mentoring affects the development of women leaders of color in higher education. Using qualitative data gathered from interviews with women leaders of color at Hispanic-serving institution, this study presents findings from cross-case studies to provide insights into perceptions of mentoring and various types of mentorship across the different levels within the organization. Supported by the empirical data, this paper challenges traditional notions of mentoring and advocates for a more critical approach to mentoring to reflect the multidimensionality of the mentoring process and explores how mentoring can be used as a strategy to facilitate institutional change.
Fifty-two low performing schools were randomly assigned to receive Spatial-Temporal (ST) Math, a supplemental mathematics software and instructional program, in second/third or fourth/fifth grades or to a business-as-usual control. Analyses reveal a negligible effect of ST Math on mathematics scores, which did not differ significantly across subgroups defined by prior math proficiency and English Language Learner status. Two years of program treatment produced a nonsignificant effect. Publication of evaluation results from large-scale real-world supplemental mathematics instructional implementations such as this one can provide a realistic view of the possibilities, costs, and limitations of this and other computer aided instruction supplemental interventions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.