This study examines teachers' and students' self-efficacy in the US and Egyptian context. More specifically, the study examines teachers' and students' self-efficacy in twelve classrooms; six in the US and six in Egypt. The research questions are formulated in order to understand the relationship between students' self-efficacy, their perceptions…

This study was conducted in response to the growing concern about the lack of U.S. students majoring in STEM fields and pursuing STEM careers (NSF, 2013). In order for the U.S. to compete in a global economy that is increasingly technologically-based, a skilled STEM workforce is a necessity (National Academies, 2010). Understanding the factors…

A teacher's sense of self-efficacy may have significant influence on the pedagogical decisions in the classroom. An elementary school teacher's sense of self-efficacy in teaching science may negatively influence student achievement in science. Negative beliefs concerning science or the ability to teach and promote student learning in science may…

The purpose of this study was to examine science teachers' self-efficacy with teaching science and their self-efficacy level for teaching ELL students while also examining the types of vocabulary instructional strategies used in the classroom. The study consisted of an electronic on-line survey to measure self-efficacy levels of teaching science…

Current literature reveals that researchers are not using student perceptions as a large component to their data collection nor as an avenue to investigate how students pick up on their teachers' self-efficacy (SE) for, interest in, and enjoyment of science teaching. In my dissertation, I explored the relationship between teacher beliefs, student…

As the need for a STEM-literate workforce grows, educators must prepare to develop STEM-literate thinkers. American educators must modernize teaching practices and utilize the best research-based STEM pedagogy. STEM education can no longer be a novelty or supplement to classroom instruction, and this is especially true in elementary classrooms.…

There is a lack of literature that has investigated the relationships between stereotype threat, impostor phenomenon, and other related constructs on career development, particularly for women in STEM. While various resources (National Science Foundation, 2013; Sax, Kanny, Jacobs, Whang, Weintraub, & Hroch, 2016; US Department of Labor, 2014)…

Over the course of the last few decades, there has been a push to diversify the field of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through the recruitment of underrepresented minorities (URM) to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in STEM. A body of research has demonstrated that graduates of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program…

This study examined the relationships between teacher leadership, science teacher self-efficacy, and fifth-grade science student achievement in diverse schools in a San Antonio, Texas, metropolitan school district. Teachers completed a modified version of the "Leadership Behavior Description Question" (LBDQ) Form XII by Stogdill (1969),…

This study investigated high-achieving and non-high-achieving students' persistence in STEM fields using nationally representative data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 for the years 2009, 2012, 2013, 2013-2014, and 2016. The results indicated that approximately 70% of high-achieving and non-high-achieving students continued their…

This study examined kindergarten through fifth grade elementary school teachers' self-efficacy regarding classroom science teaching and then related these findings to the daily instructional methods that these teachers use when teaching science. Survey methodology was used to explore the perceptions of elementary school teachers (n = 143)…

This dissertation conducted a science classroom intervention using two instructional approaches, computational modeling and paper-based pictorial modeling, in the context of food webs. A series of research papers were written on the impact of the intervention on students' attitudes and learning, and on teachers via professional development and…

Underrepresentation of both females and minority racial groups in college science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors contribute to an unbalanced STEM workforce. This was a quantitative descriptive cross-sectional survey research study utilizing secondary data analysis of the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 public use…

Background: Research has shown that certification and an undergraduate major in a teaching subject are consistent positive-significant predictors of teacher effectiveness and the lack of at least a minor in an assigned subject as a consistent and negative indicator of student success. Texas secondary science teachers have either subject-specific…

The study tested the hypothesis that self-efficacy, stress, and acculturation are useful predictors of academic achievement in first year university science, independent of high school GPA and SAT scores, in a sample of Latino students at a South Texas Hispanic serving institution of higher education. The correlational study employed a mixed…