The mediating roles of academic self-efficacy and learning interest in the relationship between teaching style and math behavior engagement among junior high school students in China.

Teacher guidance can positively impact students' learning interest and mathematical behavior engagement. As a crucial part of classroom teaching, effective teaching styles play an indispensable role in middle school students' mathematical behavior engagement. This study addresses the gap in understanding how different teaching styles influence junior high school students' math behavior engagement in China, by examining the underexplored mediating roles of academic self-efficacy and learning interest in this relationship, which are critical yet often overlooked factors in fostering student engagement and improving educational outcomes in mathematics. Students from grades 7 to 9 in six middle schools in Jiangsu Province, China participated in the survey. The results indicate that: (1) academic self-efficacy mediates the relationship between effective teaching styles (humorous and lively style, rigorous and logical style, caring and sharing style) and mathematical behavior engagement among Chinese middle school students; (2) math learning interest mediates the relationship between effective teaching styles (humorous and lively style, rigorous and logical style, caring and sharing style, innovative and exploratory style) and mathematical behavior engagement among Chinese middle school students. Recommendations include encouraging teachers to adopt diverse teaching styles that foster both self-efficacy and interest.

Development of a Scale to Measure Planned Behavior in Inclusive Science Communication: Validity Evidence in Undergraduate STEM Students.

Science communication has historically been inequitable, with certain voices and perspectives holding the power and dominant ways of knowing being promoted over others. Recently, there has been a push toward inclusive science communication, which values diverse perspectives and ways of knowing in collaborative conversations to solve complex socioscientific issues. However, there is a lack of both trainings in inclusive science communication for undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students as well as established ways to evaluate the efficacy of these trainings. To address this need, we designed a new multifactorial survey based on the Theory of Planned Behavior to assess students' attitudes/norms, self-efficacy, behavioral intents, and behaviors in inclusive science communication, which we termed the Planned Behaviors in Inclusive Science Communication (PB-ISC) Scale. We utilized expert review, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, cognitive interviews, and quantitative measures to gather evidence of validity supporting the proposed use of the final 4-factor, 26-item survey. This survey can be used as a tool by science communication educators and researchers to assess students' planned behavior in inclusive science communication in response to trainings or experiences in science communication or related topics like socioscientific issues, civic engagement, and citizen science.

Exploring Variations in STEM Instructors' Approaches to Office Hours.

Office hours are an integral component of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses at nearly all colleges and universities. Despite their ubiquity as a support mechanism, there has only been limited work examining how instructors approach office hours and what shapes these approaches. Here, we conduct a phenomenographic study to investigate how instructors of STEM courses experience office hours and how these experiences may impact their approaches to promoting and managing office hours. We identified variations in how instructors promoted office hours, the modality of office hours (i.e., when and where office hours were held), and how instructors facilitated learning during office hours. These variations spanned from student-centric (strategies instructors use with students' interest in mind, e.g., wanting to increase student learning, accessibility, comfort, etc.) to instructor-centric (strategies the instructors use with their own self-interest in mind, e.g., saving time and/or bandwidth, personal needs, comfort, etc.). Additionally, we identify several challenges and barriers, including a lack of formal training or opportunities to discuss office hour approaches with other faculty, and conclude with general recommendations for instructors and administrators in STEM departments for engaging and supporting students during office hours.

Gender parity in African science.

Africa has seen a notable increase in young women's participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields over the past two decades. In 2019, the continent boasted the greatest share of female STEM students globally-47% across 49 universities-according to a report from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sadly, much of this talent is underutilized. Traditional gender expectations and domestic roles pose substantial obstacles, restricting African women from accessing STEM career opportunities. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, only 31% of professional researchers are women. Without closing the gender gap in African science, progress on widespread problems such as maternal and child health, and food security, is unlikely.

All In: Understanding and Motivating Stakeholders to Create an Equitable Culture of Student Success.

Discourse around Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in the United States has long focused on improving the persistence and academic achievement of students. On the surface, such goals are reasonable and well-intentioned. However, the near-exclusive focus on those two outcomes as shorthand for "success" serves hegemonic norms which preclude the equitable success of all students. Although STEM education research has begun to address the inequitable systems within which students and faculty operate, the language of success has largely not changed. While previous work has aimed to recognize and characterize how normative definitions of success harm students and faculty, they fall short of providing readers with strategies for how to sustainably change these systems of injustice. Utilizing the four frames model for systemic change, this Essay 1) deconstructs the operational definitions of student success among key stakeholders involved in STEM higher education: students, faculty, departments, and institutions; 2) determines how extant policies and practices drive misalignments among these definitions and thwart equity; and 3) highlights three key opportunities for change agents to transform how success is measured and defined within STEM higher education.

Calling for Equity-focused Quantitative Methodology in Discipline-based Education Research: An Introduction to Latent Class Analysis.

Mixture modeling is a latent variable (i.e., a variable that cannot be measured directly) approach to quantitatively represent unobserved subpopulations within an overall population. It includes a range of cross-sectional (such as latent class [LCA] or latent profile analysis) and longitudinal (such as latent transition analysis) analyses and is often referred to as a "person-centered" approach to quantitative data. This research methods paper describes one type of mixture modeling, LCA, and provides examples of how this method can be applied to discipline-based education research in biology and other science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. This paper briefly introduces LCA, explores the affordances LCA provides for equity-focused STEM education research, highlights some of its limitations, and provides suggestions for researchers interested in exploring LCA as a method of analysis. We encourage discipline-based education researchers to consider how statistical analyses may conflict with their equity-minded research agendas while also introducing LCA as a method of leveraging the affordances of quantitative data to pursue research goals aligned with equity, inclusion, access, and justice agendas.

Using a QuantCrit Approach to Develop and Collect Evidence of Validity for a Measure of Community Cultural Wealth.

Students who hold minoritized identities are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Educational institutions often apply a deficit lens to understanding disproportionate outcomes between minoritized students and those from the cultural majority. Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) is an asset-based framework that focuses on the cultural strengths that diverse students develop in response to oppressive social structures, and which students use to be successful. Using a QuantCrit approach, we developed and collected evidence of validity for a measure of CCW. QuantCrit is a methodological framework that challenges researchers to critically evaluate their own biases to produce more equitable analyses. Each author reflected upon our experiences and the ways in which CCW manifested within our lived experiences. Through iterative reflection and discussion, we elected to design items that capture intersecting forms of CCW capital. We conducted cognitive interviews with minoritized students identifying with both seen and unseen forms of diversity to collect evidence of validity based on response process and to avoid construct underrepresentation. The resulting measure consists of 100 items on a 6-point response scale of agreement. Our methodological approach integrates teachings from critical theories to challenge deficit narratives and to capture the experiences of those frequently unheard by the majority culture.

A bird's-eye view of research practices in mathematical cognition, learning, and instruction: Reimagining the status quo.

Research on mathematical cognition, learning, and instruction (MCLI) often takes cognition as its point of departure and considers instruction at a later point in the research cycle. In this article, we call for psychologists who study MCLI to reflect on the "status quo" of their research practices and to consider making instruction an earlier and more central aspect of their work. We encourage scholars of MCLI (a) to consider the needs of educators and schools when selecting research questions and developing interventions; (b) to compose research teams that are diverse in the personal, disciplinary, and occupational backgrounds of team members; (c) to make efforts to broaden participation in research and to conduct research in authentic settings; and (d) to communicate research in ways that are accessible to practitioners and to the general public. We argue that a more central consideration of instruction will lead to shifts that make research on MCLI more theoretically valuable, more actionable for educators, and more relevant to pressing societal challenges.

Scaffolding learning: From specific to generic with large language models.

Large language models such as ChatGPT have been shown to excel in solving complex math problems. However, they cannot solve basic arithmetic problems such as 758*639 = 484,362. This makes us ponder if LLMs have been trained to solve math and science problems in the right way. When a student learns math at school, she or he starts with arithmetic, then moves to word problems, polynomials, and calculus. Each skill she or he acquires will be used in the next stage to solve more advanced problems. In this paper we propose Scaffolding Learning for LLMs, which imitates how a student learns a subject in a step-by-step manner. For example, we first train an LLM to perform highly specific operations such as multiplication and division, and then apply such "skills" in a more generic task such as solving word problems. This is related to Curriculum Training, which trains a model on tasks following a specific order, such as training on easy tasks first and then gradually increases the difficulty. Our proposed approach goes from specific tasks to generic ones, which can be considered as a special case of Curriculum Training. Our empirical studies show that when an LLM has "mastered" a specific skill, only a small amount of training is required to teach it to apply the skill to a more generic application.

Visualizing Inequities: A Step Toward Equitable Student Outcomes.

The underrepresentation and underperformance of low-income, first-generation, gender minoritized, Black, Latine, and Indigenous students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) occurs for a variety of reasons, including, that students in these groups experience opportunity gaps in STEM classes. A critical approach to disrupting persistent inequities is implementing policies and practices that no longer systematically disadvantage students from minoritized groups. To do this, instructors must use data-informed reflection to interrogate their course outcomes. However, these data can be hard to access, process, and visualize in ways that make patterns of inequities clear. To address this need, we developed an R-Shiny application that allows authenticated users to visualize inequities in student performance. An explorable example can be found here: https://theobaldlab.shinyapps.io/visualizinginequities/. In this essay, we use publicly retrieved data as an illustrative example to detail 1) how individual instructors, groups of instructors, and institutions might use this tool for guided self-reflection and 2) how to adapt the code to accommodate data retrieved from local sources. All of the code is freely available here: https://github.com/TheobaldLab/VisualizingInequities. We hope faculty, administrators, and higher-education policymakers will make visible the opportunity gaps in college courses, with the explicit goal of creating transformative, equitable education through self-reflection, group discussion, and structured support.

Associations between parents' autonomy supportive management language and children's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics talk during and after tinkering at home.

We conducted a time series analysis of parents' autonomy supportive and directive language and parents' and children's STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) talk during and after a problem-solving activity (i.e., tinkering). Parent and child dyads (N = 61 children; Mage = 8.10 years; 31 boys; 54% White) were observed at home via Zoom. After tinkering, a researcher elicited children's reflections, and approximately 2 weeks later dyads reminisced together about the experience. During tinkering, the more autonomy supportive STEM talk parents used in 1 min, the more children talked about STEM in the next minute. During reminiscing, parents' autonomy support was also associated with children's STEM talk. Results suggest the importance of considering how both the content and style of parents' talk can support children's STEM engagement.

The relationship between technological pedagogical content knowledge and belief among preservice mathematics teachers.

The increasing interest in exploring beliefs about teaching mathematics with technology has led educators to employ belief systems as a framework for understanding the impact of technology on math instruction. However, the complex nature of pre-service teachers' beliefs in teaching mathematics with technology involves various dimensions. This study aims to investigate the predictive relationship between Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) sub-components and beliefs in teaching mathematics with technology, revealing a statistically significant direct impact. Utilizing a correlational research approach, we collected data from a cohort of 159 Malaysian pre-service teachers with a focus on mathematics education. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was employed to analyze the proposed model. The measurement model exhibited a satisfactory fit with the collected data. Notably, technological knowledge (25 %), technological pedagogical content knowledge (69 %), and technological content knowledge (39 %) significantly influence discovery learning, while technological knowledge (24 %), technological pedagogical content knowledge (74 %), and technological content knowledge (30 %) significantly influence multiple representations. This underscores the critical role of TPACK in shaping educators' perspectives and practices, providing a crucial avenue for enhancing technology integration in teaching mathematics.

An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Analysis of Factors Contributing to Students' Perceptions of Inclusion in Introductory STEM Courses.

In this exploratory mixed-methods analysis of students' perceptions of inclusion in introductory STEM courses for STEM majors, we asked students to rate inclusion in their class and to provide an open-text explanation of their rating. Analyzing 1930 qualitative responses resulted in a codebook containing academic, identity, and nonspecific categories. The majority of responses (>80%) cited academic factors such as interactions between students and instructors or course elements and policies. Most academic responses aligned with evidence-based teaching practices fostering inclusion, describing a range of strategies and policies instructors can implement to increase students' perceptions of inclusion. A small number of student responses indicated that their perception of the required knowledge background for the course impacted course inclusivity. Few differences in frequency distributions were found between subgroups examined (gender, race and ethnicity, self-reported inclusion score, and discipline). Additionally, tracking a subset of students (135) across three courses revealed that most (80%) cited different factors influencing their perception of inclusion in each course. This suggests students' perceptions of inclusive practices are complex, and most students recognize multiple factors that influence their inclusion. Overall, our findings suggest instructors can significantly influence students' perceptions of inclusion by using multiple inclusive teaching strategies and course policies.

Performance on curriculum-based mathematics assessments in developmental dyscalculia: the effect of content domain and question format.

Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) is characterised by persistent difficulties in learning mathematical skills, which usually becomes apparent in the early years of schooling. Traditionally, DD is known to affect children's arithmetic processing, whilst other domains of mathematics receive much less research attention. Nevertheless, contemporary diagnostic guidelines suggest that DD is linked to widespread and diverse difficulties, both within and outside of the domain of numbers. This study examined the performance (i.e., accuracy and number of questions attempted) of children on a curriculum-based mathematics assessment, considering the effect of content domains, question format (i.e., multiple-choice questions vs. constructed response questions) and test half. Participants were forty children aged 8 to 11 years old with DD (n = 20) and a carefully matched control group of typically developing children (n = 20) from primary schools in Northern Ireland. Results revealed that the DD group achieved significantly lower scores than the control group across all areas of the curriculum, and the magnitude of group differences was similar across all content domains. These findings indicate that performance in content domains other than in arithmetic may be equally informative in supporting the identification of children with DD. In addition, we found that using multiple-choice questions may support learners with DD in achieving the best outcome, and, thus, could be useful for assessing mathematics skills in dyscalculic children in classroom contexts. Nevertheless, constructed response questions may show the greatest sensitivity to identifying learners at risk, and could be the most useful in diagnostic settings.

Counting on Change: Conquering Challenges in Teaching Pharmaceutical Calculations.

All pharmacists are expected to accurately perform pharmaceutical calculations to ensure patient safety. In recent years, there have been trends in declining performance on the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination related to calculations. Understanding the cause of this decline and determining methods to correct underlying issues could benefit pharmacy administration, faculty, students, and patients. The aims of this commentary are to present the factors impacting the students' pharmaceutical calculations abilities, discuss the consequences of declining math skills, and provide a call to action for scholarship of teaching and learning pertaining to calculations, as well as increased administrative support to rectify this challenge.

Gestures can help children learn mathematics: how researchers can work with teachers to make gesture studies applicable to classrooms.

The gestures we produce serve a variety of functions-they affect our communication, guide our attention and help us think and change the way we think. Gestures can consequently also help us learn, generalize what we learn and retain that knowledge over time. The effects of gesture-based instruction in mathematics have been well studied. However, few of these studies are directly applicable to classroom environments. Here, we review literature that highlights the benefits of producing and observing gestures when teaching and learning mathematics, and we provide suggestions for designing research studies with an eye towards how gestures can feasibly be applied to classroom learning. This article is part of the theme issue 'Minds in movement: embodied cognition in the age of artificial intelligence'.

Reflections: enhancing critical thinking in science education by implementing philosophy elements into training.

In this work, I describe the trajectory of philosophy and science as separate disciplines from their early days as quite overlapping fields to their clear divergence in the latest centuries. From personal experience, I discuss the benefits of exposure to philosophy and closely related courses in undergraduate studies and bring to the forefront the positive aspects of integrating philosophy of science courses in graduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum. I also briefly offer some additional steps institutions can take to foster unity between areas of science and philosophy by incorporating interdisciplinary activities.

Emotion regulation skills as a mediator of STEM teachers' stress, well-being, and burnout.

The teaching profession highly stressful, and teachers are often faced with challenging situations. This is particularly the case in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education, which is a uniquely demanding and challenging field. This study examined the role of emotional regulation (ER) skills in STEM teachers' stress, well-being, and burnout. The sample included 165 STEM teachers in middle and high schools who completed standard online questionnaires on ER, stress, well-being, and burnout. They were also asked to comment on three videos depicting authentic mathematical and pedagogical situations. The results indicated that contrary to popular belief, seniority was not linked with levels of stress, difficulties in ER, lower levels of well-being, or higher levels of burnout. A structural equation model and bootstrapping analysis showed teachers' levels of stress predicted their well-being, and this link between stress and well-being was mediated by teachers' level of difficulty in ER. The study highlights the importance of STEM teachers' well-being and suggests the need to reduce stress and burnout by providing tools for teachers to regulate their emotions in the classroom.

A Coaching-Based Leadership Program for Women Postdoctoral Fellows at the National Cancer Institute that Cultivates Self-confidence and Persistence in STEMM.

Despite making strides in gender equality, women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) continue to face a persistent underrepresentation in leadership roles. In an effort to reverse this trend, the National Cancer Institute created the Sallie Rosen Kaplan (SRK) Postdoctoral Fellowship, a year-long coaching-based leadership training program. The SRK program aims to empower women to explore careers across a broad range of fields, including academia, industry, and government, and to excel in leadership positions in those fields. Analyzing a decade of data from 111 participants, we describe the positive impact of the SRK program on participant's self-reported capabilities. Increased self-confidence, improved time management and work/life balance, enhanced goal-setting and attainment skills, and strengthened communication and relationship-building abilities are highlighted as statistically significant outcomes. Moreover, the program's emphasis on coaching, mentorship, peer cohort support, and building lasting professional relationships also contributed to high ratings for satisfaction and value of the program. Successful programs like SRK can serve as a model for institutions striving to close gender gaps in leadership.

The Ungrading Learning Theory We Have Is Not the Ungrading Learning Theory We Need.

Ungrading is an emancipatory pedagogy that focuses on evaluative assessment of learning. Self-regulated learning (SRL) has consistently been referred to as the learning theory that undergirds ungrading, but SRL-with its deficit frame in the literature and in practice-fails to uphold ungrading's emancipatory aims. An asset-framed learning theory-one that combines the cultural orientation of funds of knowledge with the power dynamics of community cultural wealth-is proposed as an alternative to SRL. The proposed learning theory aligns ungrading to its emancipatory aims and may provide an opportunity to better understand the learning that occurs in ungraded classrooms. Scholarly and practical impacts for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and specifically biology, educational research and practice include investigating the plausibility of mixing learning theories, aligning learning theory to emancipatory aims and researching how faculty activate funds of knowledge and community cultural wealth, both individually and collectively, in ungraded STEM classrooms.