Robotics competitions for K-12 students are popular, but are students really learning and improving their STEM scores through robotics competitions? If not, why not? If they are, how much more effective is learning through competitions than traditional classes? Is there room for improvement? What is the best robotics competition model to maximize…

A wind energy focused curriculum for grades 4-8 was designed and implemented to promote the understanding of wind energy concepts with American Indian students. 57 students who participated in the 2009 summer program of the "Reach for the Sky" (RFTS) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) received the curriculum. The…

Background: Score improvements and retention are important metrics in studying the efficacy of any learning intervention. Research studies have shown a positive correlation between time spent completing online homework assignments and student performance on final exams. Yet these studies are not only rare in the field of engineering; they are…

This paper examines the development of students' metacognitive skills in a data-rich environment. The study involves the development and use of a Metacognitive Inventory, which evaluates students' awareness of their cognitive processes as they approach and solve problems. This 26-item inventory is based on the Problem Solving Inventory and State…

In 2009, the North Carolina Virtual Public Schools worked with researchers at the William and Ida Friday Institute to produce and evaluate the use of game creation by secondary students as a means for learning content related to career awareness in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines, with particular emphasis in…

Recent decline of students pursuing engineering degree programs is a great concern for many higher education authorities including Federal and State governments. Existing programs in high schools have not yet produced the desired results. Consequently, a number of initiatives to remedy this situation have been proposed and implemented. One such…

Undergraduate research experiences can be highly effective in motivating students to pursue advanced degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). An important task for those who oversee undergraduate research programs is to determine if, in addition to producing quality research, the program is achieving its…

The importance of STEM education to societal developments provides justification for assuring K-12 teachers are prepared to teach the related content. Inservice teacher professional development is critical to achieving the goal of enhanced student knowledge of STEM. Combining the need for increased capacity to teach STEM and the extant literature…

Ethics is among the professional skills embedded in the first year engineering curriculum in many institutions. The general format of the study of ethics is similar to many other institutions: student teams review case studies and develop written and oral presentations on the ethical issues encountered. This report investigates whether the use of…

There is continued growth and development of outreach programs designed to increase pre-college students' awareness and understanding of engineering as a profession and as a career. These outreach programs vary in format and in the groups targeted for participation, but maintain the same fundamental goal of increasing participant knowledge of…

A review of "social experiments" with adoption of multimedia-based technologies in Europe has been reported. But, there has been limited discussion on the value of multimedia instructional materials in technical disciplines. This study combines results from experiments carried out over a period of three years with multiple audiences--IT managers…

The purpose of this study is to empirically examine whether presenting a multimedia case study enhances the learning experience of students in an undergraduate management class. A questionnaire was administered before and after the presentation of the case study and the results showed that the multimedia case did indeed enhance the learning…

This article describes the use of "4MALITY", a web-based mathematics tutoring system, with 125 Massachusetts fourth graders and their teachers in three rural school districts during the 2007-2008 school year. At the outset, "4MALITY" was envisioned as a stand-alone web based system providing tutorial support to individual students as they…