An investigation of instructional practices which promote occupational safety and health

Threeton, Mark D.; Kwon, Kibum; Fleck, Joey A.; Ketchem, R. Brian; Farzam, Leila

doi:10.1080/10803548.2019.1659000

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Authentic, hands-on experiential learning experiences are critical for higher order thinking in STEM and CTE courses [9,11,17,19], and this must remain a key component in STEM and CTE curricula. However, these learning experiences must be provided while following data-informed safety practices, such as those discussed in this article.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Engaging students in transdisciplinary STEM instruction that is directly relevant to the world today requires authentic hands-on learning opportunities. Such experiential learning opportunities are the foundation of STEM and CTE courses that help prepare P-12 students for success in the workforce and postsecondary education [7][8][9][10][11][12]. However, these valuable learning opportunities do not come without potential safety hazards and resulting health/safety risks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Call to Prioritize Safety in STEM and CTE: Addressing Overcrowded Classes and Other Critical Safety Issues

Love,

Roy,

West

2024

Laboratories

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Authentic hands-on learning experiences are paramount for applying content and practices in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and career and technical (CTE) education. Such learning experiences are foundational for preparing P-12 students for future post-secondary and workplace opportunities. However, valuable hands-on learning opportunities often involve some level of potential safety hazards and resulting health and safety risks. While progress has been made in some aspects of STEM education and CTE safety, numerous safety issues and barriers remain. This article provides a detailed overview of some of the most pertinent health and safety issues from the literature and recent studies (e.g., overcrowding and occupancy load). Moreover, this article provides important information for policy makers, state departments of education, teacher preparation programs, school systems, school administrators, curriculum directors, educators, and other stakeholders to make data-informed decisions to improve safety in P-12 STEM education and CTE programs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Call to Prioritize Safety in STEM and CTE: Addressing Overcrowded Classes and Other Critical Safety Issues

Love,

Roy,

West

2024

Laboratories

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“…It is plausible to expect that the more time students are engaged in potentially hazardous hands-on construction learning activities, the more opportunities there are for an accident to occur. However, this does not suggest that authentic hands-on learning opportunities should be reduced or eliminated given the valuable role they play in preparing TEE and CTE students to be career-and college-ready [5,59]. Rather, this finding reinforces the importance of conducting a potential hazards analysis, resulting health and safety risk assessment [5,52], and implementing the safety protective factors described in this article to help reduce the odds of an accident while also maintaining a focus on safer teaching and hands-on learning.…”

Section: Standard Operating Safety Procedures Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study of Safety Issues and Accidents in Secondary Education Construction Courses within the United States

Love

Roy²

2023

Sustainability

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Hands-on learning is paramount to teaching concepts about construction and the built environment; however, this poses some inherent safety risks. This study analyzed a subsample of 119 teachers from a national safety study, focusing on those who taught secondary-level construction courses. The current study aimed to examine the demographics of construction teachers, accident occurrences in construction courses compared to other secondary-level technology and engineering education (TEE) courses, and safety factors and items associated with accident occurrences in construction courses. The analyses revealed that a significantly higher number of minor accidents occurred in construction courses compared to other TEE courses during a five-year span. Additionally, 20 safety factors were found to be significantly associated with increases or decreases in accident occurrences. Most notably, increases in major accident occurrences increased with marginal significance when average class sizes (occupancy load) exceeded 20 students. Construction courses were also found to have significantly more accidents involving hand and power tools compared to other TEE courses. This research contributes to the limited literature on this topic and has implications for proactively limiting potential safety hazards and resulting risks. It also provides data to inform the safety efforts of post-secondary construction programs and the construction industry.

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A closer look at the relationship between course enrollment size and accident occurrences in hands-on engineering design-based STEM courses

Love

2024

Int J Technol Des Educ

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Engaging students in hands-on engineering design-based instruction as called for in national science, and technology and engineering (T&E) education standards in the United States (U.S.) poses inherent hazards and risks that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educators must be adequately prepared to address. Helping students develop safer habits while creating solutions to design challenges can translate to practices they will implement at home, in post-secondary education programs, and in the workplace. This study analyzed responses from 117 P-12 educators delivering hands-on engineering design-based STEM instruction in the U.S. Certain protective factors (e.g., safety training) were found to be significantly associated with reducing the odds of an accident; however, when controlling for course enrollment sizes, the odds of an accident significantly increased. Logistic regression models demonstrated that STEM courses with enrollments of 24 or fewer students had an 87.5% reduction in the odds of an accident occurring. Courses with enrollments surpassing 24 students were 8 times more like to have had an accident, and courses with more than 30 students were 21 times more likely to have had an accident occurrence within the past five years. The findings from this study provide insight about the importance of occupancy load and overcrowding in hands-on engineering design-based STEM courses. STEM educators can utilize the results from this study to make informed decisions about addressing significant risk and protective factors associated with accident occurrences. Most importantly, this study has implications for improving safety policies and changing legal precedent related to overcrowding and course enrollment sizes in P-12 STEM courses, which the analyses in this study suggest should help reduce accident occurrences.

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An investigation of instructional practices which promote occupational safety and health

Cited by 7 publications

References 14 publications

A Call to Prioritize Safety in STEM and CTE: Addressing Overcrowded Classes and Other Critical Safety Issues

A Call to Prioritize Safety in STEM and CTE: Addressing Overcrowded Classes and Other Critical Safety Issues

A Study of Safety Issues and Accidents in Secondary Education Construction Courses within the United States

A closer look at the relationship between course enrollment size and accident occurrences in hands-on engineering design-based STEM courses

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