Abstract

The United States must grow its science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) trained workforce in order to fill the jobs projected to be in demand. One of the ways in which this can be done is to tap into the vast population of minorities and women who are underrepresented in the STEM fields. The United States has been looking for ways to improve STEM participation in these groups for many years now, through outreach, legislation and innovative academic programs. The purpose of this research was to examine the impact that a robotics education enrichment program had on elementary, predominantly Latinx students in an inner-city public school in Orange County, California. The study was framed using self-efficacy theory to build approach behaviors towards STEM fields within these students. Student attitudes were measured using the S-STEM survey. In addition, field notes about the students, as well as notes from community of practice meetings amongst the co-sponsors were analyzed to see the impact of the enrichment program on students. The S-STEM survey had no statistical change between pre- and post-treatment survey results. In addition, the subgroups of GATE students, EL students and female students were too small to analyze individually. However, the qualitative data showed some positive outcomes for most students.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Science -- Study and teaching -- California -- Orange County -- Evaluation; Technology -- Study and teaching -- California -- Orange County -- Evaluation; Engineering -- Study and teaching -- California -- Orange County -- Evaluation; Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- California -- Orange County -- Evaluation.

Date of Award

2021

School Affiliation

Graduate School of Education and Psychology

Department/Program

Education

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctorate

Faculty Advisor

Kfir Mordechay

Download

Share

COinS