Effectiveness of (Introductory) STEM Courses in Higher Education
About this area of research
College success and pathways into the labor market are often uncertain for many students in STEM fields. Especially, large introductory gateway courses often represent a difficult hurdle for many students during their first years in college. Especially, students who are traditionally underrepresented in college struggle in these courses and may benefit from additional support structures. Projects in this research area examine university policies relevant for students enrolling and potentially retaking these courses, as well as exemplary courses (and interventions) that may increase performance in difficult (subsequent) courses. Furthermore, we develop early warning systems to identify students at risk for potential targeted interventions.
Personnel and Collaborations @ Tübingen and Beyond
Tübingen: Christian Fischer, Taiga Brahm, Marina Pumptow
International Collaborations: Mark Warschauer (UC Irvine), Penelope Collins (UC Irvine), Fernando Rodriguez (UC Irvine), Lily Wu (UC Irvine), Julia Massimelli (UC Irvine), Ha Nguyen (Utah State University), Christian Schunn (Pittsburgh), Stefano Fiorini (Indiana University), Yanan Feng (Indiana University), Chris Mead (Arizona State University), Chris Bork (Michigan State University), Becky Matz (University of Michigan), Paulette Vincent-Ruz (New Mexico State University), Eben Witherspoon (AIR Research)
Funded Grants and Projects
Tübingen Learning Analytics Initiative: Building Capacity for Understanding Success Factors in STEM Education. Hector Foundation Grant [€206,150, Grant awarded to PI Christian Fischer and Co-PI Taiga Brahm]
Development of an automated early warning system for students at risk for dropouts, LEAD Intramural Research Funds, University of Tübingen, Germany. [€6,455; Grant awarded to PI Marina Pumptow and Co-PI Christian Fischer]
Links to related projects and areas of research: Online Learning in Higher Ed, STEM Learning Environments, UCI-MUST
Selected Publications (as of October 22)
Fischer, C., Witherspoon, E., Nguyen, H., Feng. Y., Fiorini, S., Vincent-Ruz, P., Mead, C., Bork, W., Matz, R. L., & Schunn, C. (2022). Advanced Placement Course Credit and Undergraduate Student Success in Gateway Science Courses. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. Advanced Online Publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21799
Fischer, C., Nguyen, H., Estrella, G., & Collins, P. (2022). Examining Lecture and Inquiry-Based Laboratory Performance for Language Minority Students in Science Gateway Courses. PLoS ONE, 17(4), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267188
Wu., L. L., Fischer, C., Rodriguez, F., Washington, G., & Warschauer, M. (2021). Project-based Engineering Learning in College: Associations with Self-Efficacy, Effort Regulation, Interest, Skills, and Performance. SN Social Sciences, 1, Article 287, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-021-00286-4
Rodriguez, F., Fischer, C., Zhou, N., Warschauer, M., & Massimelli, J. (2021). Student spacing and self-testing strategies and their associations with learning in an upper-division microbiology course. SN Social Sciences, 1, Article 38, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-020-00013-5
Nguyen, H., Lim, K. Y., Wu, L. L., Fischer, C., & Warschauer, M. (2021). “We’re Looking Good”: Social Exchange and Regulation Temporality in Collaborative Design. Learning and Instruction, 74, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2021.101443
Nguyen, H., Lim, K. Y., Wu, L. L., & Fischer, C. (2021). A Dynamic Social Network Approach to Capturing Shared Regulation Interactions in Collaborative Learning. Proceedings of the 2021 Annual Meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS), Bochum, Germany.
Nguyen, H., Wu, L. L., Fischer, C., Washington, G., & Warschauer, M. (2020). Increasing success in college: Examining the impact of a project-based introductory engineering course. Journal of Engineering Education, 109(3), 384-401. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20319
Nguyen, H., Lim, K. Y., Wu, L. L., Fischer, C., & Warschauer, M. (2020). “I Thought We Said”: Perceived Peer Support, Discourse Cohesion, and Regulation in Engineering Design. Proceedings of the 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS). Nashville, TN.
Nguyen, H., Wu, L. L., Washington, G., Lim, K. Y., & Fischer, C. (2020). Collaboration Patterns and Design Practices in First-Year Project-Based Engineering. Proceedings of the 2020 annual conference and exposition of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE). Montreal, Canada