Intellectual Merit: This research project will investigate: a) ways in which high school physical science teachers currently address sustainability-related topics; b) whether exposure to these topics and engineers? key role in them increases the likelihood that women major in engineering; and c) how to meaningfully incorporate sustainability topics into high school physical science classes in ways that engage women to become active participants in engineering. This research builds on critical science agency, where students? learning and interest is enhanced when they see an opportunity to make change in their world. Sustainability is the mediating topic through which we will explore the development of critical science agency in high school women. The research approach to this project is an explanatory mixed methods design, with a quantitative phase to identify relationships followed by a qualitative explanatory phase to add detail and meaning to these relationships. The quantitative phase will identify relationships between high school science experiences with sustainability, interest in sustainability issues, beliefs about engineers? role in the pursuit of sustainability, and college major choice. The qualitative phase will add context to these relationships through in-depth student interviews and case studies of physical science teachers whose sustainability-related lessons led their female students to choose engineering majors.
Broader Impacts: This project applies critical science agency to understand how sustainability topics can empower females to choose to major in engineering. This understanding will help devise practical methods to attract more women to engineering and to increase the number and diversity of engineers working on sustainability issues. In addition, this project will identify methods to meaningfully incorporate sustainability topics into high school physical science classes in ways that engage women to become active participants in engineering. Increased participation of women in engineering will lead to a more well-rounded engineering profession and to more sustainable engineering solutions, which are increasingly important to address issues such as energy security and climate destabilization. Proactive outreach to high school physical science teachers will enable widespread dissemination of the project results beyond traditional academic channels.
This award is co-funded with the NSF EPSCoR office.
Intellectual Merit: In this research project, we investigated: a) the ways in which high school physical science teachers currently address sustainability-related topics; b) whether exposure to these topics and engineers’ key role in sustainability topics increases the likelihood that women major in engineering; and c) how to meaningfully incorporate sustainability topics into high school physical science classes in ways that engage women to become active participants in engineering. This research advanced understanding of critical science and critical engineering agency, in which students’ learning and interests in STEM (and, particularly, engineering) related careers are enhanced when they see an opportunity to make change in their world. In particular, we now know more about sustainability as a mediating topic in the development of critical agency among high school women. Data collection and analysis included a quantitative phase with a national survey to identify relationships between high school science experiences with sustainability, interest in sustainability issues, beliefs about engineers’ role in the pursuit of sustainability, and college major choice. For the most compelling relationships we identified through analysis of the survey data, we used in-depth student interviews and observational classroom case studies of physical science teachers to learn more about how sustainability-related lessons led their female students to choose engineering majors. In addition to advancing understanding of our primary research questions, we achieved another goal of our research project by exploring related but new questions that were uncovered through our extensive data collection and analysis. For example, findings from our research indicate that: Disaffection in high school physics classes (particularly among women) is correlated to having had a teacher who relies more frequently on lecturing. Engineering students at 2-year schools have lower prior academic performance, are less likely to be of Caucasian or Asian descent, are less likely to have taken chemistry or physics in high school, and show differences in attitudes towards engineering and career expectations than their 4-year counterparts. Conversely, such students are remarkably similar in many of their high school science and mathematics experiences, suggesting they may succeed in engineering careers if they are afforded the opportunity at the post-secondary level. Students who exhibit pro-sustainability attitudes and behaviors perform better than less-interested students on a spectrum of academic performance indices. These students include a higher percentage of females than the overall college population, a lower percentage of Caucasian/whites, and are more likely to desire careers in which they can help others. In-class coverage of climate change is less predictive of students’ recognition beliefs than time spent on science homework or science-themed extracurricular activities. These correlations, which persist even after accounting for students’ academic performance, suggest that simply "covering "climate change in class may not necessarily lead to greater recognition of the scientific consensus. There is a significant, positive relationship between interdisciplinary affinity and physics identity. Several classroom experiences and other factors have been found to be significant predictors of interdisciplinary affinity. Broader Impacts: The understanding gained from this project will help to guide the development of practical methods to attract more women to engineering and to increase the number and diversity of engineers working on sustainability issues. Increased participation of women in engineering will lead to a more well-rounded engineering profession and to more sustainable engineering solutions, which are increasingly important to address critical issues such as energy security and climate destabilization. In addition to sharing results with the research community, we have also published journal articles and presented at conferences for audiences that include K-12 physical science teachers and college admissions professionals, who are in a position to put our findings directly into practice. Finally, the project has also led to opportunities for exceptional students to pursue education careers related to this research. To date, 4 project team members, all from underrepresented groups, have gone on to tenure-track faculty positions. Another is scheduled to begin a faculty position in January 2015, and another has chosen to work as a K-12 teacher in an innovative charter school system.
