What Questions Are on the Minds of STEM Undergraduate Students and How Can They Be Addressed?

Meaders, Clara L.; Smith, Michelle K.; Boester, Timothy; Bracy, Anne; Couch, Brian A.; Drake, Abby Grace; Farooq, Saima; Khoda, Bashir; Kinsland, Cynthia; Lane, A. Kelly; Lindahl, Sarah E.; Livingston, William H.; Bundy, A.; McCormick, Amber; Morozov, Anya; Newell-Caito, Jennifer L.; Ruskin, Katharine J.; Sarvary, Mark A.; Stains, Marilyne; Juliana, Justin R. St.; Thomas, Stephanie R.; Es, Cindy van; Vinson, Erin; Vitousek, Maren N.; Stetzer, MacKenzie R.

doi:10.3389/feduc.2021.639338

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Among the available options, our choice was to perform a reciprocal interview activity, as explained in detail in Section 2.1. This activity has been carried out successfully in different sessions during the first day of class of a subject [17,20,36], in line with other research studies that have found that asking the students the proper questions may be very effective [25,37]. It should be noted that it is out of the scope of this study to compare the reciprocal interview activity with a 'one-way' speech-based approach for a first day of class session.…”

Section: First Day Of Class Activities Of a Subject Mattersupporting

confidence: 65%

Promoting Students’ Interaction in Higher Education: A Reciprocal Interview Activity Carried out during the First Class Session in Management Subjects

et al. 2023

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This study analyzes students’ thoughts and reflections on an activity carried out during the first day of class of management subjects which are part of technological programs. The purpose of the activity was to promote student interaction during the first session of class of these subjects, with the aim to positively influence the class climate and the students’ wellbeing. A reciprocal interview activity between the students and the team of instructors was conducted in the first session of the subjects, instead of a standard ‘one direction’ presentation of the syllabus by the instructor. Once the activities were completed, students were asked to answer a survey about the activity through qualitative and quantitative questions with a twofold research aim: (1) to analyze the effects of the activity on the students; (2) to gather feedback from the students to improve future editions of the activity. The results obtained showed a clear preference for this type of interactive technique, as opposed to the more classical approach to the first session of a subject.

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Section: First Day Of Class Activities Of a Subject Mattersupporting

confidence: 65%

Promoting Students’ Interaction in Higher Education: A Reciprocal Interview Activity Carried out during the First Class Session in Management Subjects

et al. 2023

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“…Instructors teaching large introductory classes have a unique opportunity to assist first-year students who have recently transitioned from high school (Meaders et al, 2020). The first experiences in college can have a profound impact (Lane et al, 2021), and instructors should share effective learning strategies and time management techniques, which are known to be the most common concerns voiced by college students (Meaders et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While extensions may be created with the intent to allow students to complete their work and increase their alignment with the course goals, they may be taken advantage of to seek a higher letter grade. Students in large STEM courses have a lot of ideas and expectations (Meaders et al, 2020(Meaders et al, , 2021; therefore, the instructors' efforts in designing an unbiased extension system should be student-centered and include the analysis of student perceptions and the system's impact on final grades.…”

Section: Framing Extensions Within the Classroommentioning

confidence: 99%

Structure and flexibility: systemic and explicit assignment extensions foster an inclusive learning environment

Ruesch,

Sarvary

2024

Front. Educ.

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Many educators strive to create inclusive classrooms where students receive not only knowledge but also empathy from their instructors. When students face unexpected challenges due to illness, academic pressure, or exhaustion, they often seek extensions on assignments. Instructors insert their own biases when they decide who is eligible for an extension. An explicitly communicated penalty-free extension system can eliminate this bias, create an inclusive learning environment, and disinter extension requests from the hidden curriculum. Students used an “extension without penalty” system (EWP) in a large introductory biology course. Mid-semester qualitative data collection helped design an end-of-the-semester quantitative survey about students’ perceived benefits. Assignment submission data, EWP use frequency and grades were directly extracted from the learning management system. Students preferred a two-tier extension system with ideal and extension due dates. The EWP system was used by 78% of the students, but half of them only used it once. Students reported benefits in stress reduction, handling of sickness and emergencies, and improved performance in other courses. Exploratory results indicate there were additional benefits in some areas for first-generation college students. Using the extension due dates did not impact student grades. This study uses evidence to debunk common misconceptions about assignment extensions.

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“…Our results support that instructors attend to the sociocultural communities within their courses to different degrees through the use of non-content talk and that overall students detect the messages shared by their instructors. Students in introductory courses hold a variety of concerns as well as course anxiety at the beginning of the term (England et al, 2019 ; Meaders et al, 2020 ), and the first day of class and language used by instructors provides an opportunity to directly address student questions and alleviate concerns (Hsu & Goldsmith, 2021 ; Meaders et al, 2021 ). Because student perceptions of instructor support are negatively correlated with student anxiety (Schussler et al, 2021 ) and difficulty in accessing help for course work is a large factor in STEM attrition (Seymour et al, 2019 ), non-content talk on the first day of class may be a key tool instructors can use to signal support and availability for their students.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Am I getting through? Surveying students on what messages they recall from the first day of STEM classes

et al. 2021

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Background The first day of class helps students learn about what to expect from their instructors and courses. Messaging used by instructors, which varies in content and approach on the first day, shapes classroom social dynamics and can affect subsequent learning in a course. Prior work established the non-content Instructor Talk Framework to describe the language that instructors use to create learning environments, but little is known about the extent to which students detect those messages. In this study, we paired first day classroom observation data with results from student surveys to measure how readily students in introductory STEM courses detect non-content Instructor Talk. Results To learn more about the instructor and student first day experiences, we studied 11 introductory STEM courses at two different institutions. The classroom observation data were used to characterize course structure and use of non-content Instructor Talk. The data revealed that all instructors spent time discussing their instructional practices, building instructor/student relationships, and sharing strategies for success with their students. After class, we surveyed students about the messages their instructors shared during the first day of class and determined that the majority of students from within each course detected messaging that occurred at a higher frequency. For lower frequency messaging, we identified nuances in what students detected that may help instructors as they plan their first day of class. Conclusions For instructors who dedicate the first day of class to establishing positive learning environments, these findings provide support that students are detecting the messages. Additionally, this study highlights the importance of instructors prioritizing the messages they deem most important and giving them adequate attention to more effectively reach students. Setting a positive classroom environment on the first day may lead to long-term impacts on student motivation and course retention. These outcomes are relevant for all students, but in particular for students in introductory STEM courses which are often critical prerequisites for being in a major.

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What Questions Are on the Minds of STEM Undergraduate Students and How Can They Be Addressed?

Cited by 7 publications

References 44 publications

Promoting Students’ Interaction in Higher Education: A Reciprocal Interview Activity Carried out during the First Class Session in Management Subjects

Promoting Students’ Interaction in Higher Education: A Reciprocal Interview Activity Carried out during the First Class Session in Management Subjects

Structure and flexibility: systemic and explicit assignment extensions foster an inclusive learning environment

Am I getting through? Surveying students on what messages they recall from the first day of STEM classes

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