Undergraduate Student Concerns in Introductory STEM Courses: What They Are, How They Change, and What Influences Them
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Undergraduate Student Concerns in Introductory STEM Courses: What They How They Are, Change, and What Influences Them Clara L. Meaders 1 & A. Kelly Lane 2 & Anya I. Morozov 2 & J. Kenny Shuman 2 & Emma S. Toth 3 & Marilyne Stains 4 & MacKenzie R. Stetzer 5,6 & Erin Vinson 6 & Brian A. Couch 2 & Michelle K. Smith 1 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Introductory STEM courses represent entry points into a major, and student experiences in these courses can affect both their persistence and success in STEM disciplines. Identifying course-based student concerns may help instructors detect negative perceptions, areas of struggle, and potential barriers to success. Using an open-response survey question, we identified 13 common concerns expressed by students in introductory STEM courses. We converted these student-generated concerns into closedended items that were administered at the beginning and middle of the semester to students in 22 introductory STEM course sections across three different institutions. Students were asked to reflect on each item on a scale from very concerned to not concerned. A subset of these concerns was used to create a summary score of coursebased concern for each student. Overall levels of student concern decreased from the first week to the middle of the semester; however, this pattern varied across different demographic groups. In particular, when controlling for initial concern and course grades, female students held higher levels of concern than their peers. Since student perceptions can impact their experiences, addressing concerns through communication and instructional practices may improve students’ overall experiences and facilitate their success. Keywords Concerns . Introductory STEM courses . Gender . Undergraduates
Clara L. Meaders, A. Kelly Lane, Brian A. Couch and Michelle K. Smith contributed equally to this work. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s41979-02000031-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
* Brian A. Couch [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
Journal for STEM Education Research
Introduction Undergraduate students’ experiences in introductory gateway science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses contribute to student retention and overall persistence in STEM majors and careers (Suresh 2006; Watkins and Mazur 2013). Half of college students who intend to graduate with STEM degrees fail to do so within six years of starting college (Eagan et al. 2014). The majority of students who leave STEM majors do not persist past the first year (Seymour and Hewitt 1997). Increasing student retention in STEM majors has been proposed as a key strategy to producing the overall number of graduates required to meet the growing need for a trained workforce (President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology 2012). Improving student retention rates is also necessary to increase diversity in STEM because r
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