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Journal of College Science Teaching

In this paper we present results

relating undergraduate student

retention in science, technology,

engineering, and mathematics

(STEM) majors to the use of Peer

Instruction (PI) in an introductory

physics course at a highly selective

research institution. We compare

the percentages of students who

switch out of a STEM major after

taking a physics course taught

using traditional lectures only or

one taught using PI, nding that

nearly twice the percentage of

students switch after the lecture-

based course. By examining these

results in light of the literature on

STEM retention, we propose that

providing opportunities for students

to think, respond, and interact in

class may have a substantial impact

on the retention of students in STEM

disciplines.

Retaining Students in Science,

Technology, Engineering, and

Mathematics (STEM) Majors

By Jessica Watkins and Eric Mazur

he Higher Education Re-

search Institute recently

reported nding that the

proportion of incoming col-

lege students interested in science,

technology, and engineering majors

is rising (Higher Education Research

Institute, 2010). However, although

more students are considering these

majors, the fraction of these stu-

dents who graduate within 5 years

with a science or engineering bach-

elor’s degree is declining (Higher

Education Research Institute, 2010).

These ndings point to the growing

success of elementary and secondary

education in getting more students

interested in science but also suggest

that more work needs to be done at

the postsecondary level to help retain

them. To address this need, we pres-

ent results suggesting that changing

to an interactive teaching pedagogy

in a single introductory science

course can help retain students in

STEM majors.

Background

In their book, Talking About Leaving:

Why Undergraduates Leave the Sci-

ences, Seymour and Hewitt (1997)

categorized and ranked the reasons

that students abandon science majors

at 4-year colleges and universities.

In interviews and focus groups, the

authors discovered that after loss of

interest in science and growing inter-

est in other majors, the third highest

ranked reason for leaving science is

poor teaching. Over 90% of students

who switch out of science—and

three quarters of the students who

remain in the science major—say

they are concerned about the poor

quality of teaching in their science

courses. Specically, students list

the lack of faculty–student interac-

tion, “coldness”’ of the classroom,

lack of preparation and organiza-

tion, and dullness of presentations as

evidence of poor teaching. Students

also describe how teaching could be

improved in science courses, listing

“openness, respect for students, en-

couragement of discussion, and the

sense of discovering things together”

(p. 148). In a similar study at highly

selective universities, science majors

rate their course instruction lower

than students with nonscience ma-

jors (Strenta, Elliott, Adair, Matier,

& Scott, 1994). Furthermore, al-

though most students who switch

out of a science major list “interest

in another major” as their primary

reason for leaving, about 40% of stu-

dents criticize the poor quality of in-

struction as cause for leaving science

(Strenta et al., 1994).

College student attrition from sci-

ence, technology, engineering, and

mathematics (STEM) majors most

often occurs in the rst or second year

of college (Seymour & Hewitt, 1997).

Furthermore, Manis, Thomas, Sloat,

and Davis (1989, as cited in Strenta

et al., 1994) reported that students’

experiences in their freshmen sci-

ence courses are the most inuential

in their decision to switch out of

their major. In a study on retention in

engineering majors, Lichtenstein and

colleagues found that poor teaching

in preengineering courses can cause

Teachers Association (NSTA).

Reprinted with permission from Journal of

College Science Teaching, Vol. 42, No. 5,

2013.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Podsumowanie treści

Strona 1 - Mathematics (STEM) Majors

36Journal of College Science TeachingIn this paper we present results relating undergraduate student retention in science, technology, engineering, an

Strona 2 - Peer Instruction

37Vol. 42, No. 5, 2013Retaining Students in STEM Majorsstudents to think that their engineering courses would be poorly taught, and therefore they con

Strona 3 - Results

38Journal of College Science Teachingphilosophy (Bigelow, Butchart, & Handeld, 2006), and mathematics (Miller, Santana-Vega, & Terrell, 20

Strona 4 - Discussion

39Vol. 42, No. 5, 2013Retaining Students in STEM Majorsswitch out of science than those with lower SAT scores; for every 100-point decrease in SAT sco

Strona 5 - Acknowledgments

40Journal of College Science Teachingtenstein et al., 2007).In addition to addressing student concerns about introductory science courses, there are o

Strona 6 - 41Vol. 42, No. 5, 2013

41Vol. 42, No. 5, 2013Retaining Students in STEM Majorsfor introductory physics courses. American Journal of Physics, 66, 64–74.Higher Education Resea

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