Informal STEM: learning with robotics and game design in an urban context

Abstract

This mixed methods study examined how engagement in robotics and game design influenced students’ self-efficacy, STEM attitudes, and computational thinking (CT) skills. Predominantly African-American students engaged in engineering and computer science tasks during informal learning environments. Results revealed students’ self-efficacy scores on computer gaming increased significantly. Focus group data supported these findings, revealing that computer programing was challenging, but students enjoyed the tasks, added elements of culture in some cases, and valued the agency the tasks provided. Focal students were also able to make connections to STEM-related careers. Observational data demonstrated that focal students exhibited substantive CT during robotics and moderate CT during game design. Results support the idea that robotics and game design may be used to broaden underrepresented students’ participation in STEM.     

Summarizing Item Difficulty Variation with Parcel Scores

A new method for analyzing differential item functioning is proposed to investigate the relative strengths and weaknesses of multiple groups of examinees. Accordingly, the notion of a conditional measure of difference between two groups (Reference and Focal) is generalized to a conditional variance. The objective of this article is to present and illustrate a strategy for aggregating results across sets of similar items that exhibit item difficulty variation. Logically, this aggregation strategy is related to the idea of DIF amplification, but estimation is ultimately carried out in the framework of a confirmatory multidimensional Rasch model. Grade 4 data from the 2000 National Assessment of Educational Progress are used to illustrate the technique.     

Contextual religious education and the actuality of religions

Contextual religious educators tend to view discrete religious traditions as artificially constructed systems disconnected from the ordinary experiences of children. This article sets out the case for the continued representation of religions as substantial social facts in religious education classrooms. Accepting Robert Jackson’s critique of essentialist readings of religion, it argues that the most appropriate alternative is not the nominal reduction of discrete religious traditions to the atomistic level of the individual spiritual lives of adherents, but a realistic identification of such traditions as actual socio‐cultural realities. It suggests two criteria for such identification: the collective intentionality of adherents and the presence of prototypical features within their lifeworlds.     

Electroosmotic flow in vapor deposited silicon dioxide and nitride microchannels

Electroosmotic flow was studied in thin film microchannels with silicon dioxide and silicon nitride sidewalls formed using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). A sacrificial etching process was employed for channel fabrication allowing for cross-sections with heights of 3 μm, ranging from 2 μm to 50 μm in width. Flow rates were measured for single channels and multichannel electroosmotic pump structures for pH levels ranging from 2.6 to 8.3, and zeta potentials were calculated for both silicon dioxide and silicon nitride surfaces. Flow rates as high as 0.086 μL∕min were measured for nitride multichannel pumps at applied electric fields of 300 V∕mm. The surface characteristics of PECVD nitride were analyzed and compared to more well-known oxide surfaces to determine the density of amine sites compared to silanol sites.     

The drugs don't work: expectations and the shaping of pharmacogenetics

This article examines one particular set of technologies arising from developments in human genetics, those aimed at improving the targeting, design and use of conventional small molecule drugs-pharmacogenetics. Much of the debate about the applications and consequences of pharmacogenetics has been highly speculative, since little or no working technology is yet on the market. This article provides a novel analysis of the development of pharmacogenetics, and the social and ethical issues it raises, based on the sociology of technological expectations. In particular, it outlines how two alternative visions for the development of the technology are being articulated and embedded in a range of heterogeneous discourses, artefacts, actor strategies and practices, including: competing scientific research agendas, experimental technologies, emerging industrial structures and new ethical discourses. Expectations of how pharmacogenetics might emerge in each of these arenas are actively shaping the trajectory of this nascent technology and its potential socio-economic consequences.     

Sustainability behaviors among college students: an application of the VBN theory

While Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) theory has been widely applied to various populations, it has seldom been tested on college students. This study extends VBN theory to examine what socio-psychological factors influence sustainability behaviors among university students. Undergraduate students are an interesting and novel population, as they are still forming their values and beliefs, and therefore may be more open to engage in sustainability efforts. This study assessed five sustainability behaviors: (a) support for political candidates who say they will strengthen environmental policies, (b) recycling, (c) electricity use, (d) food selection, and (e) transportation choices. Findings support the notion that one’s values matter in environmental decision-making, but that different values are associated with different behaviors. Those who adhere to biospheric and altruistic values were more likely to engage in a range of sustainability behaviors whereas those who adhere to egoistic values were less likely to engage in most behaviors. Those who adhere to traditional or openness to change values showed mixed results. We discuss the theoretical application, practical recommendations for behavior change campaigns, and offer suggestions for future research.     

Won't Fade Away: Intersections of Narrative and HIV and AIDS Activism in Jackson,Mississippi

This article demonstrates the therapeutic benefits of storytelling and testimony through qualitative interviews with HIV+ Black gay men in Jackson, Mississippi, in 2017. Sponsored by Project + Connect, a story preservation nonprofit based in New York, the research trip was inspired by a New York Times article claiming that 50% of all gay Black men in the South will contract HIV in their lifetimes. Analyzing the personal narratives of the study's participants against the political and historical contexts of racism and homophobia in the deep South, the researcher argues for the strengthening of the HIV/AIDS movement through storytelling, providing a pathway for theater teaching artists to use their skills to facilitate social change.     

Social Activism Through Theater

ABSTRACT

Social Activism Through Theater” chronicles the author's first full year as a teaching artist in New York City, including the launch of National Queer Theater and its inaugural show, Speechless, as well as his experiences investigating film and storytelling with teenagers at the Refugee Youth Summer Academy.     

Sexual Content in Music and Its Relation to Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors among Consumers: A Meta-Analytic Review

While previous research has documented a relation between sexual content in music and the sexual attitudes and behaviors of consumers, to date, there are no meta-analytic reviews of the literature, making our meta-analysis the first in this area. Results from 26 studies indicated that sexual content in music had a significant effect on sexual attitudes and behaviors, with both music format and genre being significant contributors. Additionally, participant ethnicity, sex, age, location, and study design were found to be significant moderators. Theoretical implications are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.     

Predicting Engineering Student Attrition Risk Using a Probabilistic Neural Network and Comparing Results with a Backpropagation Neural Network and Logistic Regression

As the need for engineers continues to increase, a growing focus has been placed on recruiting students into the field of engineering and retaining the students who select engineering as their field of study. As a result of this concentration on student retention, numerous studies have been conducted to identify, understand, and confirm relationships between student attributes and attrition. Methods of prediction have also been evaluated and compared. Utilizing the attributes found in previous studies to have correlation with student attrition, this study considers the results of three different prediction methods—logistic regression, a multi-layer perceptron artificial neural network, and a probabilistic neural network (PNN)—to predict engineering student retention at a case study university. The purpose of this study was to introduce the PNN to the study of engineering student retention prediction and compare the results of the PNN to other commonly used methods in this field of study. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and overall results for each method are reported, compared, and discussed as the major contribution of this paper.