Al Aqra, Maram H. (2023-07). Promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Among Latinx Students. Doctoral Dissertation.
Thesis
My purpose of this dissertation was to study and document how we could increase the interest and involvement of Underrepresented Minority (URM) students in STEM fields. I conducted three research studies. The purpose of the first study was to explore the effect of a community-based service and a contextualized STEM education program on adolescence students' STEM self-efficacy, beliefs about succeeding in a STEM career, finishing high-school and college, life skills, and learning experiences. In the first study, I utilized a mixed methods research approach to investigate the impact of a community-based service program on URM students. The results from the first study suggests that there is a statistically significant difference in students' gain scores of self-efficacies in ability to succeed in high school and college between Latinx and non-Latinx students. The findings from the qualitative data proposed that a community-based service approach to learning STEM has the potential to enhance students' interpersonal skills, understanding of the subject matter, career awareness, and social responsibility toward community. The purpose of the second study was to explore URM's high school students' experiences with a contextualized and experiential STEM research on students' STEM self-efficacy, beliefs about succeeding in a STEM career, perceptions towards science and scientists, life skills, and learning experiences. In the second study, I utilized a qualitative research approach to investigate URM high school students' lived experiences, STEM self-efficacy, and beliefs about succeeding in a STEM career. The findings of the second study show that the research experiences inspired students to choose STEM majors after graduation from high school, enhanced students' life skills, helped them gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter, and improved their perceptions of the characteristics of science. The purpose of the third paper was to investigate the authentic research experiences that the URM teachers go through and evaluate the impact of those experiences on teachers' identities, approaches to teaching, and approaches to scientific research. findings indicate that the authentic research experience has the power to change teachers' stereotypical representation of science and scientists, provide them with an eye-opening experience, provide them with real science practices, and enable them to create a community of practice.
