Abstract

The significance of attitudes in shaping middle school students' STEM career aspirations and STEM dispositions is vital in preparing students for a future in a STEM profession. The purpose of this study was to identify middle school students’ interests in a STEM career path with exposure to technology infused activities related to space science. Topics relating to the Parker Solar Probe mission to the sun, moon orbits, eclipses, space weather, solar storms, and solar wind were taught through various technologies to pique students’ interest in space science in hopes of ultimately creating interest in a STEM field. Twenty-three middle school students participated in these technology-infused activities. The analysis of data in the pre-/post- survey revealed a highly significant gain overall (p = .007; ES = .70, moderately large; t = 3.06; 18 df) in content knowledge of space science. Further analyses through Epistemic Network Analysis revealed peculiar growth in both boys' and girls' content knowledge structure and interest to pursue a profession in STEM.

Citation

Das, A., Trevisan, O., Knezek, G. & Christensen, R. (2022). Changes in Knowledge Structures Among Middle School Students Participating in Technology Infused Space Science Engagement Activities. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 731-736). Online: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved September 24, 2023 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/221364/.

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