Developing Career Commitment in STEM-related Fields: Myths versus Reality

Madill, Helen M.; Campbell, Rachel G.; Cullen, Dallas; Armour, Margaret-Ann; Einsiedel, Albert A.; Ciccocioppo, Anna-Lisa; Sherman, Jody; Stewin, Leonard L.; Varnhagen, Stanley; Montgomerie, T. Craig; Rothwell, Cynthia J.; Coffin, Wendy L.

doi:10.4337/9781847206879.00019

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…In addition, preliminary research suggests that children who are exposed to STEM curriculum and computer programming at an early age demonstrate fewer gender-based stereotypes regarding STEM careers (Metz, 2007;Steele, 1997) and fewer obstacles entering these fields (Madill et al, 2007;Markert, 1996). Some aspects of engineering are very commonly seen in early childhood classrooms.…”

Section: Robotics In Pre-kindergartenmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Wheels on the Bot go Round and Round: Robotics Curriculum in Pre-Kindergarten

2013

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Executive SummaryThis paper qualitatively examines the implementation of an intensive weeklong robotics curriculum in three Pre-Kindergarten classrooms (N=37) at an early childhood STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) focused magnet school in the Harlem area of New York City. Children at the school spent one week participating in computer programming activities using a developmentally appropriate tangible programming language called CHERP, which is specifically designed to program a robot's behaviors. The children used CHERP to program "Robot Recyclers" that they constructed using parts from LEGO ® Education WeDo™ Robotics Construction Sets. The Robot Recyclers were designed to help carry, push, and/or sort recyclable materials found in the classroom. Researchers were participant-observers in the robotics lessons over the course of curriculum implementation. Each lesson was taught by the researchers, with classroom teachers present in order to facilitate classroom management and assist with small group work. A combination of interviews, video, photographs, and classroom observations were used to document the students' experiences. Classroom teachers were also interviewed and asked to complete anonymous pre and post surveys. Results from this study provide preliminary evidence that PreKindergarten children can design, build, and program a robot after just one week of concentrated robotics work. Additionally, results indicate that teachers were able to successfully integrate robotics work into their classrooms that included foundational math and literacy concepts while also engaging children in the arts. However, this study also highlights the difficulties and challenges that must be considered before implementing a robotics curriculum into a PreKindergarten classroom, including opportunities for one-to-one adult assistance during building and programming activities.

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Section: Robotics In Pre-kindergartenmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Wheels on the Bot go Round and Round: Robotics Curriculum in Pre-Kindergarten

2013

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“…Research suggests that children who are exposed to STEM curriculum and programming at an early age demonstrate fewer gender-based stereotypes regarding STEM careers (Metz 2007;Steele 1997) and fewer obstacles entering these fields (Madill et al 2007;Markert 1996). Thus, the TangibleK Program hoped to attract the interest of both boys and girls at an early age in order to prevent students from acting on negative stereotypes later in life.…”

Section: Stereotype Threatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender differences in kindergarteners’ robotics and programming achievement

Sullivan

Bers

2012

Int J Technol Des Educ

116

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Early childhood is a critical period for introducing girls to traditionally masculine fields of science and technology before more extreme gender stereotypes surface in later years. This study looks at the TangibleK Robotics Program in order to determine whether kindergarten boys and girls were equally successful in a series of building and programming tasks. The TangibleK Program consisted of a six lesson robotics and programming curriculum that was implemented in three different kindergarten classrooms (N = 53 students). Although previous research has found that males outperform females in robotics and programming related fields, it was hypothesized that the young age of participants and their limited cultural indoctrination regarding gender stereotypes would allow boys and girls to have equal success in this program. Although boys had a higher mean score than girls on more than half of the tasks, very few of these differences were statistically significant. Boys scored significantly higher than girls only in two areas: properly attaching robotic materials, and programming using Ifs. Overall, both boys and girls were able to successfully complete the program.

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“…Research shows that there are also a range of long-term benefits to introducing children to engineering curricula from an early age, such as fewer gender-based stereotypes regarding STEM careers [10,11] and fewer issues entering technical fields later in life [12,13]. Engineering education initiatives can be integrated into many learning domains, including architecture [14], robotics and computer programming [15,16,17], environmental sciences [18], and the arts [19].…”

Section: Engineering Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Billund builds music: An engineering education initiative in Danish Kindergartens

Strawhacker

Sullivan

Portsmore

2016

2016 IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC)

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In a recent educational initiative in Billund, Denmark, almost every student between the ages of three to eighteen years participated in Billund Builds Music, a one-week municipality-wide project to explore music and engineering by designing and creating musical instruments. This endeavor was a collaboration between the Tufts University Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO), the LEGO Foundation, and Billund's Capital of Children, and LEGO Foundation partner which represents children's voices in civic projects. Approximately 4,000 students and 300 educators from 10 schools across Billund took part in the project. This paper presents preliminary trends and findings from two participating Kindergartens. Results show that in this open-ended Danish Kindergarten setting, 3-5 year-old children were able to build musical instruments and play at least one unique sound on them.

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Developing Career Commitment in STEM-related Fields: Myths versus Reality

Cited by 16 publications

References 0 publications

The Wheels on the Bot go Round and Round: Robotics Curriculum in Pre-Kindergarten

The Wheels on the Bot go Round and Round: Robotics Curriculum in Pre-Kindergarten

Gender differences in kindergarteners’ robotics and programming achievement

Billund builds music: An engineering education initiative in Danish Kindergartens

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