From integers to fractions: The role of analogy in transfer and long-term learning

Fractions are the gatekeepers to advanced mathematics but are difficult to learn. One powerful learning mechanism is analogy, which builds fraction understanding on a pre-existing foundation of integer knowledge. Indeed, a short intervention that aligned fractions and integers on number lines improved children's estimates of fractions (Yu et al., 2022). The breadth and durability of such gains, however, are unknown, and analogies to other sources (such as percentages) may be equally powerful. To investigate this issue, we randomly assigned 109 fourth and fifth graders to one of three experimental conditions with different analogical sources (integers, percentages, or fractions) or a control condition. During training, children in the experimental conditions solved pairs of aligned fraction number line problems and proportionally-equivalent problems expressed in integers, percentages, or fractions (e.g., 3/8 on a 0-1 number line aligned with 3 on a 0-8 number line). Children in the control group solved fraction number-line problems sequentially. At pretest and a two-week delayed posttest, children completed a broad fraction knowledge battery, including estimation, comparison, categorization, ordering, and arithmetic. Results showed that aligning integers and fractions on number lines facilitated better estimation of fractional magnitudes, and the training effect transferred to novel fraction problems after two weeks. Similar gains were not observed for analogies using percentages. These findings highlight the importance of building new mathematical knowledge through analogies to familiar, similar sources.

The development of number line estimation in children at risk of mathematics learning difficulties: A longitudinal study

Children with mathematics learning difficulties (MLD) show poorer performance on the number line task, but how performance on this task relates to other mathematical skills is unclear. This study examined the association between performance on the number line task and mathematical skills during the first 2 years of school for children at risk of MLD. Children (N = 100; Mage = 83.63 months) were assessed on four occasions on the number line task and other mathematical skills (math fluency, numerical operations, and mathematical reasoning). Estimation patterns were analyzed based on the representational shift and proportional judgment accounts separately. More consistent longitudinal trends and stronger evidence for differences in mathematical skills based on estimation patterns were found within the representational shift account. Latent growth curve models showed accuracy on the number line task as a predictor of growth in some mathematical skills assessed. We discuss impacts of methodological limitations on the study of estimation patterns.

The Value of Support: STEM Intervention Programs Impact Student Persistence and Belonging

In response to unwaveringly high attrition from STEM pathways, STEM Intervention Programs (SIPs) support STEM students in effort to increase retention. Using mixed methods (survey and focus groups), we studied students at one university who were either supported or unsupported by SIPs to understand how students may differ in experiences believed to contribute to STEM persistence. We evaluated: sense of belonging, scientific self-efficacy, scientific community values, scientific identity, and STEM involvement. The enrollment status of students two and a half years postsurvey was also tracked. SIP students reported significantly higher science identity and sense of belonging and were more involved in STEM-related activities than counterparts unsupported by SIPs. Differences in these measures were correlated with race/ethnicity, college generation status, and age. Notably, SIP students had higher odds of persisting in STEM than students not supported by SIPs. Focus group data provide additional meaning to the measured survey constructs and revealed nuanced qualitative differences between SIP and non-SIP student experiences. Overall, being involved in a SIP at our institution trends positively with theoretical models that explain STEM student persistence. SIPs have the potential to provide and/or facilitate meaningful and critical support, and students without those intentional supports may be left behind.

The impact of reading metacognitive strategies on mathematics learning efficiency and performance: An analysis using PISA 2018 data in China

The current study employed latent profile analysis to examine the application patterns of students' reading metacognitive strategies using PISA 2018 data in China. Subsequently, it explored the differences in students' mathematics learning efficiency and performance. The results revealed that: (1) Six types of reading metacognitive strategies application patterns were identified: "Novice - indifferent," "Veteran - average," "Novice - low evaluating," "Veteran - skilled," "Novice - mixed," and "Novice - arbitrary." (2) The primary factors that affect the classification of reading metacognitive strategies application patterns were gender, and family economic, social, and cultural statuses (ESCS). (3) Mathematics learning time could positively predict performance overall, but the mathematics learning time of "Veteran - skilled" and "Novice - mixed" students had no significant correlation with their mathematics performance. The findings suggests that educators should not blindly increase students' mathematics learning time but instead provide appropriate guidance based on their mastery patterns of reading metacognitive strategies to enhance mathematics learning efficiency and performance.

Personalizing real-world problems: Posing own problems increases self-efficacy expectations, intrinsic value, attainment value, and utility value

BACKGROUND

Real-world problems are important in math instruction, but they do not necessarily trigger students' task motivation. Personalizing real-world problems by (1) matching problems to students' shared living environment (context personalization) and (2) asking students to pose their own problems (active personalization) might be two interventions to increase students' task motivation.

AIM

In the current study, we investigated the effects of context personalization and active personalization on students' self-efficacy expectations, intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value, and cost.

SAMPLE

The participants were 28 fifth- and sixth-grade students who voluntarily took part in a six-month afterschool program in which they posed problems with the aim of creating a math walk in their hometown.

METHOD

Using a within-subjects design, at the end of the afterschool program, the students rated their self-efficacy expectations and task values for four self-developed problems associated with their hometown, four peer-developed problems associated with their hometown, and four instructor-provided problems associated with unfamiliar locations.

RESULTS

Students reported higher self-efficacy expectations, intrinsic value, attainment value, and utility value for active-personalized than non-personalized problems. To a lesser extent, context personalization promoted intrinsic value and attainment value. No effect was found for cost.

CONCLUSIONS

Active personalization (i.e. asking students to pose their own real-world problems) is suited to enhance students' task motivation, specifically their self-efficacy expectations, intrinsic value, attainment value, and utility value. Context personalization still boosts students' intrinsic value and attainment value. Implementation in classroom instruction is discussed.

Development of early numeracy skills in children with moderate intellectual disability

This study assessed the effectiveness of a program aimed at improving the early numeracy skills of students with moderate intellectual disability. The persistence of the acquired skills and the program's impact on learning were monitored. Feedback from the students and their mothers was also gathered. Using a multiple-probe design across subjects, the results were visually presented through graphical analysis. Three male students aged 8-9 years participated. After obtaining high-reliability findings from reliability analyses, results showed the program effectively increased students' number skills with a high effect size. These skills persisted post-intervention, and both students and mothers expressed positive views of the intervention.

ChatGPT-generated help produces learning gains equivalent to human tutor-authored help on mathematics skills

Authoring of help content within educational technologies is labor intensive, requiring many iterations of content creation, refining, and proofreading. In this paper, we conduct an efficacy evaluation of ChatGPT-generated help using a 3 x 4 study design (N = 274) to compare the learning gains of ChatGPT to human tutor-authored help across four mathematics problem subject areas. Participants are randomly assigned to one of three hint conditions (control, human tutor, or ChatGPT) paired with one of four randomly assigned subject areas (Elementary Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, College Algebra, or Statistics). We find that only the ChatGPT condition produces statistically significant learning gains compared to a no-help control, with no statistically significant differences in gains or time-on-task observed between learners receiving ChatGPT vs human tutor help. Notably, ChatGPT-generated help failed quality checks on 32% of problems. This was, however, reducible to nearly 0% for algebra problems and 13% for statistics problems after applying self-consistency, a "hallucination" mitigation technique for Large Language Models.

Effects of a 3-factor field intervention on numerical and geometric knowledge in preschool children

The main aim of this study was to develop and test the effects of a field math intervention program on both number and geometry knowledge. The intervention was developed based on three basic skills previously associated with mathematical performance: symbolic number knowledge, mapping processes and spatial reasoning. The participants were 117 preschoolers from six schools in Cali and Bogotá. The children were assigned to an intervention group (N = 55) or a control group (N = 62). The intervention lasted 11 weeks with 3 sessions per week where the children participated in different game-based activities. Tests of numerical and geometric knowledge were administered before and after the intervention. The effects of the intervention were tested twice, immediately after the program ended and six months later. The results show that the children in the intervention group improved more than the control group in both number and geometry. The second posttest revealed a significant intervention effect for geometry, but not for numerical knowledge. The implications of these mixed patterns of results are discussed in the paper.

The sums are larger than their natural number addends: Relation to operands understanding predicts growth in arithmetic/algebraic problem solving

The relation to operands (RO) principles describe the relation between operands and answers in arithmetic problems (e.g., the sum is always larger than its positive addends). Despite being a fundamental property of arithmetic, its empirical relation with arithmetic/algebraic problem solving has seldom been investigated. The current longitudinal study aimed to address this issue. Two-hundred-and-two Chinese fifth graders (57% boys) were assessed on their RO understanding. Their arithmetic/algebraic problem solving were assessed multiple times over 2 years. Results from latent growth curve modeling showed that RO understanding predicted the growth in arithmetic/algebraic problem solving when other known predictors of arithmetic/algebraic problem solving were controlled. The findings highlight the role of RO understanding in children's mathematical development. Interventions should be developed to enhance children's RO understanding. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Formative evaluation of a STEAM and nutrition education summer program for low-income youth

In-depth formative evaluations are vital for curriculum development and program planning but are often not conducted before a program pilots. A formative evaluation of Project stRIde was conducted to gain insight from experts and identify revisions to the curriculum. Project stRIde is a science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) and nutrition-based curriculum developed for 4th and 5th grade students from low-income and diverse families. Nine experts spanning the fields of nutrition education, cultural competency, elementary education, summer programs, and STEAM outreach were recruited to participate in an expert content review (ECR) survey and virtual interviews. Seven core themes were identified: effectively promoting student engagement, increased guidance or support needed, activity too difficult for age, time, confidence in teaching lessons, cultural appropriateness, and strengths of curriculum in promoting STEAM education and innovation. Across the lessons, all reviewers agreed that the lessons were accurate, incorporated STEAM concepts, and were culturally appropriate for this population. Future major edits to the curriculum include creating supplemental videos, modifying some activities for age level, and incorporating more opportunities for participant engagement. Overall, an ECR is an effective way to examine a program's strengths and limitations and should be included in the beginning stages of program planning.

Digital games for learning basic arithmetic at home

Many early learners need individualized support when regular teaching is not readily available. Here we present results of a progressive digital game that was played at home rather than under the supervision of the teacher. "NumberBeads" was designed to help low attaining learners, but also typical early learners. The game required learners to construct objects-sets and digits-to match a target object, and was played at home using an online platform. The participants were first-graders (n=140) enrolled in 10 classrooms randomly assigned to two groups. One group played NumberBeads, requiring students to construct solutions in a microworld of sets and digits. Another group played a similar game, NumberChoice, which contained the same elements, sets and digits, but used multiple-choice questions with right/wrong feedback. Results showed that learners using both games were able to complete the game unsupervised at home, but there was greater improvement with NumberBeads especially with learners identified as low attaining. Overall these findings support the feasibility of boosting early numeracy at home using a game designed to help basic numerical competence that requires no teacher supervision, and very little guidance by parents or carers.

Professional development and career-preparedness experiences of STEM Ph.D. students: Gaps and avenues for improvement

This study presents the experiences of current science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) Ph.D. students and alumni with respect to professional development opportunities in their Ph.D. training. Specifically, it investigates if and how the Ph.D. training supports graduates to pursue non-academic and non-R&D roles, which have become increasingly common career paths post-graduation. A mixed-methods questionnaire was developed to obtain quantitative and qualitative data regarding the graduate school experiences of current Ph.D. students and recent Ph.D. graduates pursuing diverse career paths. The study investigates the values, needs, and conceptions of professional development from the student perspective, as well as the contributions of peers and mentors in graduate school towards their professional development. Experiences of Ph.D. alumni are used to identify the barriers for transitioning to the first job post-graduation and to provide an assessment of the current professional development opportunities in Ph.D. programs. It is reported that although Ph.D. training allowed alumni to develop a robust skillset that includes research, teaching, and scientific writing; some common barriers associated with obtaining a job post-graduation were lack of awareness about career options, limited or no professional networks outside academia, and a lack of preparation and support for non-academic job transitions. Through analyzing the student perspective on various aspects of professional development, the study identifies gaps and avenues for improvement for professional development in Ph.D. training, including increased awareness of diverse career paths for STEM PhDs, increased networking opportunities for PhD students with sectors outside academia, embedding professional development in the PhD curriculum, and others; so that programs can support students in entering the labor market in a variety of careers that extend beyond academia and traditional R&D jobs, using interventions that resonate with the students and meet their needs.

Leading by example: developing mentoring strategies to promote diversity and student success

Research has shown that individuals from diverse backgrounds and women are underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. A lack of identifiable role models/mentorship and poor mentoring experiences are a few cited factors that continue to limit increased diversity. As an underrepresented individual and a faculty member at a minority-serving institution, I strive to provide my students with a strong example, one that they can identify with. Part of my approach has been to develop mentoring pillars and strategies that seek to build relationships with my mentees and that aim to improve their research experience. This essay briefly describes my experiences as a mentor and the mentoring pillars I developed to promote a diverse and inclusive environment for my current and future mentees.

Integrating active learning activities and metacognition into STEM writing courses

Although active learning is highly recognized and recommended in the educational community, instructors are still struggling with how to incorporate active learning tools into writing courses. This study aims to 1) describe specific challenges encountered in the course of Molecular Cell Biology Laboratory-Critical Thinking through Writing (BIOL3810-CTW); 2) introduce the active learning approaches and metacognition integrated into this writing-intensive course; 3) demonstrate the effectiveness of these active learning approaches in engaging students in classes; and 4) share the principles of integrating active learning activities into writing courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and beyond.

Reimagining the Introductory Math Curriculum for Life Sciences Students

Calculus is typically one of the first college courses encountered by science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. Calculus often presents major challenges affecting STEM student persistence, particularly for students from groups historically underrepresented in STEM. For life sciences majors, calculus courses may not offer content that is relevant to biological systems or connect with students' interests in biology. We developed a transformative approach to teaching college-level math, using a dynamical systems perspective that focuses first on demonstrating why students need math to understand living systems, followed by providing quantitative and computational skills, including concepts from calculus, that students need to build and analyze mathematical models representing these systems. We found that students who complete these new math courses perform better in subsequent science courses than their counterparts who take traditional calculus courses. We also provide evidence that the new math curriculum positively impacts students' academic performance, with data that show narrowing of the achievement gap, based on students' math grades, between student subgroups in the new math courses. Moreover, our results indicate that students' interest in the concepts and skills critical to the quantitative preparation of 21st-century life sciences majors increases after completing the new contextualized math curriculum.

Virtual Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy highlighted the opportunity to impact early STEMM students career knowledge through narrative

Due to COVID-19 precautions, the Vanderbilt University summer biomedical undergraduate research program, the Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy (VSSA), rapidly transitioned from offering an in-person training program to a virtual seminar format. Our program typically supports undergraduate development through research and/or clinical experience, meeting with individuals pursuing postgraduate training, and providing career development advice. Evidence supports the idea that summer programs transform undergraduates by clarifying their interest in research and encouraging those who haven’t previously considered graduate studies. We were interested in exploring whether a virtual, synchronous program would increase participants’ scientific identity and clarify postgraduate career planning. Rather than create a virtual research exposure, our 5-week "Virtual VSSA" program aimed to simulate the casual connections that would naturally be made with post-undergraduate trainees during a traditional summer program. In seminars, presenters discussed 1) their academic journey, explaining their motivations, goals, and reasons for pursuing a career in science as well as 2) a professional story that illustrated their training. Seminars included Vanderbilt University and Medical School faculty, M.D., MD/Ph.D., as well as Ph.D. students from diverse scientific and personal backgrounds. In addition, weekly informational sessions provided an overview of the nature of each degree program along with admissions advice. Through pre-and post-program surveys, we found that students who registered for this experience already strongly identified with the STEMM community (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine). However, participation in the Virtual VSSA increased their sense of belonging. We also uncovered a gap in participants’ understanding of postgraduate pathways prior to participation and found that our program significantly increased their self-reported understanding of postgraduate programs. It also increased their understanding of why someone would pursue a Ph.D. or Ph.D./MD versus M.D. These changes did not uniformly impact participants’ planned career paths. Overall, by providing personal, tangible stories of M.D., MD/Ph.D., and Ph.D. training, the Virtual VSSA program offered seminars that positively impacted students’ sense of belonging with and connection to the STEMM disciplines.

Child Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

BACKGROUND

The United Nations (UN) created the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) to monitor progress toward achieving goals of the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection, and Development of Children and its plan of action. The MICS is nationally representative and internationally comparable.

METHODS

In this study, we use MICS data from 51 low- and middle-income countries on 159 959 children between 36 and 59 months of age. To index national development, we used the 2013 UN Human Development Index (HDI), which provides data on country-level life expectancy, education, and income. To index child development, we used the Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI), which assesses literacy and numeracy, socioemotional development, physical health, and approaches to learning.

RESULTS

Children's literacy and numeracy, socioemotional development, and approaches to learning all increase linearly as national development on the HDI (especially education) increases. Overall, the HDI revealed a positive association (r = 0.40) with the ECDI: the HDI explained 16% of variance in children's ECDI scores and was the most influential predictor of ECDI scores examined. HDI-ECDI relations are robust, even when we control for multiple demographic aspects of children (age, sex), mothers (age, education), and households (size variables) as covariates. No family demographic variable was a stronger predictor of child development than national development.

CONCLUSIONS

To promote child development, low- and middle-income countries need to develop and implement policies that ensure national health and wealth and, particularly, the educational achievements of children's caregivers. These findings are faithful to the World Summit for Children and inform the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which drive the international development agenda through 2030.

The relation between home numeracy practices and a variety of math skills in elementary school children

A growing number of studies suggest that the frequency of numeracy experiences that parents provide at home may relate to children's mathematical development. However, the relation between home numeracy practices and children's numerical skills is complex and might depend upon both the type and difficulty of activities, as well as the type of math skills. Studies have also argued that this relation may be driven by factors that are not systematically controlled for in the literature, including socio-economic status (SES), parental math skills and children's IQ. Finally, as most prior studies have focused on preschoolers, it remains unclear to what extent there remains a relation between the home numeracy environment and math skills when children are in elementary school. In the present study, we tested an extensive range of math skills in 66 8-year-olds, including non-symbolic quantity processing, symbolic number understanding, transcoding, counting, and mental arithmetic. We also asked parents to complete a questionnaire about their SES, academic expectations, academic attitudes, and the numeracy practices that they provide at home. Finally, we measured their arithmetic fluency as a proxy for parental math skills. Over and above differences in socio-economic status, parental arithmetic fluency, child's IQ, and time spent with the child, we found a positive relation between the frequency of formal numeracy practices that were at or above grade level and two separate measures of mental arithmetic. We further found that the frequency of these advanced formal numeracy practices was related to parents' academic expectations. Therefore, our study shows that home numeracy experiences predict arithmetic skills in elementary school children, but only when those activities are formal and sufficiently challenging for children.

Effects of double-dose algebra on college persistence and degree attainment

In 2003, Chicago Public Schools introduced double-dose algebra, requiring two periods of math-one period of algebra and one of algebra support-for incoming ninth graders with eighth-grade math scores below the national median. Using a regression discontinuity design, earlier studies showed promising results from the program: For median-skill students, double-dose algebra improved algebra test scores, pass rates, high school graduation rates, and college enrollment. This study follows the same students 12 y later. Our findings show that, for median-skill students in the 2003 cohort, double-dose significantly increased semesters of college attended and college degree attainment. These results were not replicated for the 2004 cohort. Importantly, the impact of the policy on median-skill students depended largely on how classes were organized. In 2003, the impacts on college persistence and degree attainment were large in schools that strongly adhered to the cut-score-based course assignment, but without grouping median-skill students with lower-skill peers. Few schools implemented the policy in such a way in 2004.

Effect of providing gender equality information on students' motivations to choose STEM

The social climate for women studying STEM subjects is changing, but the proportion of women taking STEM subjects in Japan is small. Only 27.9% of university students in the department of science is women in 2019. In this study, we used an online survey to investigate whether randomly providing three types of gender equality information increased the motivation of junior high school students to choose STEM subjects and the motivation of their parents to support that choice. Information on STEM, especially about social equality, and information on math stereotypes and STEM occupations, increased students’ motivations for studying STEM. This suggests that providing gender equality information is an effective way to change students’ attitudes toward STEM.

The impact of a lack of mathematical education on brain development and future attainment

Formal education has a long-term impact on an individual's life. However, our knowledge of the effect of a specific lack of education, such as in mathematics, is currently poor but is highly relevant given the extant differences between countries in their educational curricula and the differences in opportunities to access education. Here we examined whether neurotransmitter concentrations in the adolescent brain could classify whether a student is lacking mathematical education. Decreased γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentration within the middle frontal gyrus (MFG) successfully classified whether an adolescent studies math and was negatively associated with frontoparietal connectivity. In a second experiment, we uncovered that our findings were not due to preexisting differences before a mathematical education ceased. Furthermore, we showed that MFG GABA not only classifies whether an adolescent is studying math or not, but it also predicts the changes in mathematical reasoning ∼19 mo later. The present results extend previous work in animals that has emphasized the role of GABA neurotransmission in synaptic and network plasticity and highlight the effect of a specific lack of education on MFG GABA concentration and learning-dependent plasticity. Our findings reveal the reciprocal effect between brain development and education and demonstrate the negative consequences of a specific lack of education during adolescence on brain plasticity and cognitive functions.

Mixed results from a multiple regression analysis of supplemental instruction courses in introductory physics

Providing less prepared students with supplemental instruction (SI) in introductory STEM courses has long been used as a model in math, chemistry, and biology education to improve student performance, but this model has received little attention in physics education research. We analyzed the course performance of students enrolled in SI courses for introductory mechanics and electricity and magnetism (E&M) at Stanford University compared with those not enrolled in the SI courses over a two-year period. We calculated the benefit of the SI course using multiple linear regression to control for students’ level of high school physics and math preparation. We found that the SI course had a significant positive effect on student performance in E&M, but that an SI course with a nearly identical format had no effect on student performance in mechanics. We explored several different potential explanations for why this might be the case and were unable to find any that could explain this difference. This suggests that there are complexities in the design of SI courses that are not fully understood or captured by existing theories as to how they work.

What really impacts the use of active learning in undergraduate STEM education? Results from a national survey of chemistry, mathematics, and physics instructors

Six common beliefs about the usage of active learning in introductory STEM courses are investigated using survey data from 3769 instructors. Three beliefs focus on contextual factors: class size, classroom setup, and teaching evaluations; three focus on individual factors: security of employment, research activity, and prior exposure. The analysis indicates that instructors in all situations can and do employ active learning in their courses. However, with the exception of security of employment, trends in the data are consistent with beliefs about the impact of these factors on usage of active learning. We discuss implications of these results for institutional and departmental policies to facilitate the use of active learning.

The Abbreviated Science Anxiety Scale: Psychometric properties, gender differences and associations with test anxiety, general anxiety and science achievement

Science anxiety refers to students’ negative emotions about learning science. Across two studies, we investigated the psychometric properties of the newly developed Abbreviated Science Anxiety Scale (ASAS), which was adapted from the modified Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (m-AMAS) (Carey E., 2017). Using a sample of students in grades 7 to 10 (N = 710), Study 1 reported a two-factor structure of the ASAS (learning science anxiety and science evaluation anxiety) and negative associations between the ASAS factors and science achievement. Study 2 replicated this two-factor model in students in grades 11 and 12 (N = 362) and found that students in the “Arts” track were more anxious about science than those in “Sciences” track. Both studies consistently reported positive inter-correlations between the ASAS factors, with good internal reliabilities and modest meaningful associations with test anxiety and general anxiety, suggesting that science anxiety might be a distinct construct. Further, female students had higher science anxiety (especially science evaluation anxiety) than male students, even when test anxiety and general anxiety were considered in models. In summary, the ASAS is a brief, valid, and reliable instrument that can be used to guide and improve science education.

Use of artificial intelligence on Electroencephalogram (EEG) waveforms to predict failure in early school grades in children from a rural cohort in Pakistan

Universal primary education is critical for individual academic growth and overall adult productivity of nations. Estimates indicate that 25% of 59 million primary age out of school children drop out and early grade failure is one of the factors. An objective and feasible screening measure to identify at-risk children in the early grades can help to design appropriate interventions. The objective of this study was to use a Machine Learning algorithm to evaluate the power of Electroencephalogram (EEG) data collected at age 4 in predicting academic achievement at age 8 among rural children in Pakistan. Demographic and EEG data from 96 children of a cohort along with their academic achievement in grade 1–2 measured using an academic achievement test of Math and language at the age of 7–8 years was used to develop the machine learning algorithm. K- Nearest Neighbor (KNN) classifier was used on different model combinations of EEG, sociodemographic and home environment variables. KNN model was evaluated using 5 Stratified Folds based on the sensitivity and specificity. In the current dataset, 55% and 74% failed in the mathematics and language test respectively. On testing data across each fold, the mean sensitivity and specificity was calculated. Sensitivity was similar when EEG variables were combined with sociodemographic, and home environment (Math = 58.7%, Language = 66.3%) variables but specificity improved (Math = 43.4% to 50.6% and Language = 32% to 60%). The model requires further validation for EEG to be used as a screening measure with adequate sensitivity and specificity to identify children in their preschool age who may be at high risk of failure in early grades.

Causal Effects of Parent Number Talk on Preschoolers' Number Knowledge

Individual differences in children's number knowledge arise early and are associated with variation in parents' number talk. However, there exists little experimental evidence of a causal link between parent number talk and children's number knowledge. Parent number talk was manipulated by creating picture books which parents were asked to read with their children every day for 4 weeks. N = 100 two- to four-year olds and their parents were randomly assigned to read either Small Number (1-3), Large Number (4-6), or Control (non-numerical) books. Small Number books were particularly effective in promoting number knowledge relative to the Control books. However, children who began the study further along in their number development also benefited from reading the Large Number Books with their parents.

Effort Self-Talk Benefits the Mathematics Performance of Children With Negative Competence Beliefs

Children with negative competence beliefs often achieve below their potential in school. This randomized field experiment tested whether engaging in positive self-talk may benefit these children's mathematics performance. Participants (N = 212, Grades 4-6, Mage  = 10.6) worked on the first half of a standardized mathematics test, engaged in effort self-talk ("I will do my very best!"), ability self-talk ("I am very good at this!"), or no self-talk, and worked on the second half of the test. Compared to both the conditions, effort self-talk benefited the performance of children holding negative competence beliefs: It severed the association between negative competence beliefs and poor performance. By internally asserting that they will deliver effort, children with negative competence beliefs can optimize their achievement in school.

Math and language gender stereotypes: Age and gender differences in implicit biases and explicit beliefs

In a cross-sectional study of youth ages 8-15, we examined implicit and explicit gender stereotypes regarding math and language abilities. We investigated how implicit and explicit stereotypes differ across age and gender groups and whether they are consistent with cultural stereotypes. Participants (N = 270) completed the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) and a survey of explicit beliefs. Across all ages, boys showed neither math nor language implicit gender biases, whereas girls implicitly favored girls in both domains. These findings are counter to cultural stereotypes, which favor boys in math. On the explicit measure, both boys' and girls' primary tendency was to favor girls in math and language ability, with the exception of elementary school boys, who rated genders equally. We conclude that objective gender differences in academic success guide differences in children's explicit reports and implicit biases.

Brain-to-Brain Synchrony in the STEM Classroom

Cognitive neuroscience research is typically conducted in controlled laboratory environments that hold very little resemblance to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics classrooms. Fortunately, recent advances in portable electroencephalography technology now allow researchers to collect brain data from groups of students in real-world classrooms. Even though this line of research is still new, there is growing evidence that students' engagement, memory retention, and social dynamics are reflected in the brain-to-brain synchrony between students and teachers (i.e., the similarity in their brain responses). In this Essay, I will provide an overview of this emerging line of research, discuss how this approach can facilitate new collaborations between neuroscientists and discipline-based education researchers, and propose directions for future research.

Does mathematics training lead to better logical thinking and reasoning? A cross-sectional assessment from students to professors

Mathematics is often promoted as endowing those who study it with transferable skills such as an ability to think logically and critically or to have improved investigative skills, resourcefulness and creativity in problem solving. However, there is scant evidence to back up such claims. This project tested participants with increasing levels of mathematics training on 11 well-studied rational and logical reasoning tasks aggregated from various psychological studies. These tasks, that included the Cognitive Reflection Test and the Wason Selection Task, are of particular interest as they have typically and reliably eluded participants in all studies, and results have been uncorrelated with general intelligence, education levels and other demographic information. The results in this study revealed that in general the greater the mathematics training of the participant, the more tasks were completed correctly, and that performance on some tasks was also associated with performance on others not traditionally associated. A ceiling effect also emerged. The work is deconstructed from the viewpoint of adding to the platform from which to approach the greater, and more scientifically elusive, question: are any skills associated with mathematics training innate or do they arise from skills transfer?

Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation in Mathematics and Biology Education

With advances in computing, agent-based models (ABMs) have become a feasible and appealing tool to study biological systems. ABMs are seeing increased incorporation into both the biology and mathematics classrooms as powerful modeling tools to study processes involving substantial amounts of stochasticity, nonlinear interactions, and/or heterogeneous spatial structures. Here we present a brief synopsis of the agent-based modeling approach with an emphasis on its use to simulate biological systems, and provide a discussion of its role and limitations in both the biology and mathematics classrooms.

The effects of male peers on the educational outcomes of female college students in STEM: Experimental evidence from partnerships in Chemistry courses

A major concern among universities around the world is that female students face gender bias, discrimination and related barriers in male-dominated STEM fields. To investigate this concern, we conducted a novel large-scale experiment of interactions between female and male students in one of the most important gateway courses for the Sciences and a course in which students interact one-on-one extensively throughout the term. Over the past four years, at a large public research university, we randomly paired every student enrolled in an introductory Chemistry lab (3,902 students and total N = 5,537). Using precise estimates from the experiment, we provide novel evidence that female students are not negatively affected academically by male partners. When assigned a male partner, female students do not receive lower scores or grades, and they are no more likely to drop the course or not continue in Chemistry or a STEM field. We also find that academically weaker female students are not negatively affected by male students and that female students are not negatively affected when paired with academically stronger male students. Although previous studies have documented that female students self-report experiencing gender bias from male peers in STEM, importantly, we do not find evidence that female students are negatively affected by male peers in intensive, long-term pairwise interactions in their course grades or future STEM course taking. The findings provide hopeful news for future trends in female representation in STEM fields.

High School Internship Program in Integrated Mathematical Oncology (HIP IMO): Five-Year Experience at Moffitt Cancer Center

Modern cancer research, and the wealth of data across multiple spatial and temporal scales, has created the need for researchers that are well versed in the life sciences (cancer biology, developmental biology, immunology), medical sciences (oncology) and natural sciences (mathematics, physics, engineering, computer sciences). College undergraduate education traditionally occurs in disciplinary silos, which creates a steep learning curve at the graduate and postdoctoral levels that increasingly bridge multiple disciplines. Numerous colleges have begun to embrace interdisciplinary curricula, but students who double major in mathematics (or other quantitative sciences) and biology (or medicine) remain scarce. We identified the need to educate junior and senior high school students about integrating mathematical and biological skills, through the lens of mathematical oncology, to better prepare students for future careers at the interdisciplinary interface. The High school Internship Program in Integrated Mathematical Oncology (HIP IMO) at Moffitt Cancer Center has so far trained 59 students between 2015 and 2019. We report here on the program structure, training deliverables, curriculum and outcomes. We hope to promote interdisciplinary educational activities early in a student's career.

Introductory College Mathematics for the Life Sciences: Has Anything Changed?

This paper focuses on issues concerning the introductory college mathematics sequence with an emphasis on students interested in the life sciences, and concentration on the time after the publication of BIO2010 (BIO2010 in Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists, National Academies of Science, Medicine and Engineering, Washington, 2003). It also explores the potential uses of books targeted at introductory mathematics courses for life science majors today. As relevant background, we look at the evolution of the way that calculus has been taught over the past 50 years, including at the high school level. We also explore the implications of changes in technology and course delivery, such as online education. As we discuss different books and introductory course ideas, we focus on the needs of biology students, the inclusion of real-world problems and models, the role of technology, and the impact of data science. The paper is organized as follows: Sect. 1 provides some personal background with calculus dating back to the 1970s, and changes in calculus prior to BIO2010. Section 2 introduces goals for an introductory mathematics sequence and evaluates the calculus sequence in light of those goals. Sections 3–7 discuss various issues that will help to understand issues and challenges for introductory mathematics for the life sciences: Calculus in high school (Sect. 3), equity issues relative to calculus and other math topics (Sect. 4), the impact of online education (Sect. 5), math as a stumbling block for college students (Sect. 6), and the increasing importance and value of teaching data science (Sect. 7). Section 8 reviews the development of books in light of these issues and challenges. The last section (Sect. 9) summarizes conclusions.

Learning hand in hand: Engaging in research-practice partnerships to advance developmental science

Developmental science research often involves research questions developed by academic teams, which are tested within community or educational settings. In this piece, we outline the importance of research-practice partnerships, which involve both research and practice-based partners collaborating at each stage of the research process. We articulate challenges and benefits of these partnerships for developmental science research, identify relevant research frameworks that may inform these partnerships, and provide an example of an ongoing research-practice partnership.

Teacher-Student Interaction and Chinese Students' Mathematics Learning Outcomes: The Mediation of Mathematics Achievement Emotions

This study aimed to investigate secondary students’ mathematics achievement emotions and their mediating effects on the relationships between classroom environmental characteristics, namely, teacher–student interactional styles (i.e., teacher leadership and student freedom styles), and students’ mathematics learning outcomes in mainland China. A sample of 1423 Grade 7 to 9 junior secondary students responded to a questionnaire that comprised three sets of scales for assessing students’ perceived teacher–student interactional styles, mathematics achievement emotions, and cognitive and affective learning outcomes. The results indicated that students’ mathematics learning outcomes were positively associated with both teacher leadership and student freedom styles. Moreover, students’ mathematics achievement emotions mediated the relationships between these two interactional styles and their mathematics learning outcomes. These results highlight the importance of mathematics achievement emotions in student learning, and provide implications for the improvement of mathematics classroom environments.

Stokes' mathematical education

George Gabriel Stokes won the coveted title of Senior Wrangler in 1841, a year in which the examination papers for the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos were notoriously difficult. Coming top in the Mathematical Tripos was a notable achievement, but for Stokes it was a prize hard won after several years of preparation, and not only years spent at Cambridge. When Stokes arrived at Pembroke College, he had spent the previous two years at Bristol College, a school which prided itself on its success in preparing students for Oxford and Cambridge. This article follows Stokes' path to the senior wranglership, tracing his mathematical journey from his arrival in Bristol to the end of his final year of undergraduate study at Cambridge. This article is part of the theme issue 'Stokes at 200 (Part 1)'.

Outperforming yet undervalued: Undergraduate women in STEM

In spite of efforts to increase gender diversity across many science fields, women continue to encounter beliefs that they lack ability and talent. Undergraduate education is a critical time when peer influence may alter choice of majors and careers for women interested in science. Even in life science courses, in which women outnumber men, gender biases that emerge in peer-to-peer interactions during coursework may detract from women's interest and progress. This is the first study of which we are aware to document that women are outperforming men in both physical and life science undergraduate courses at the same institution, while simultaneously continuing to be perceived as less-able students. This is problematic because undergraduate women may not be able to escape gender-ability stereotypes even when they are outperforming men, which has important implications for 1) the recognition of women's achievements among their peers in undergraduate education and 2) retention of women in STEM disciplines and careers.

Teaching students with ASD to solve fraction computations using a video modeling instructional package

BACKGROUND

With the surge of intervention research examining ways of supporting students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in inclusive settings, there remains a need to examine how technology supports could enhance students' learning by offering one size fits one instruction. Furthermore, intervention studies focused on teaching students with ASD how to solve fractions are scarce.

AIMS

The purpose of this research study was to examine the effects of providing instruction via video modeling (VM), concrete manipulatives, a self-monitoring checklist, and practice for comprehension check on the accuracy of fraction problem solving of three middle school students with ASD.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

Through the use of single-case multiple probe across students experimental design, we examined whether a functional relation existed between the intervention and students' improved accuracy of solving simple proper fraction problems.

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

All three students improved the accuracy of solving simple proper fraction problems from baseline to intervention sessions and two students generalized the skill to solving whole proper fraction problems.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The intervention consisting of VM and concrete manipulatives along with additional behavioral strategies offers an option for teachers to accommodate diverse learning needs of students with ASD in a variety of settings.

Language-specific numerical estimation in bilingual children

We tested 5- to 7-year-old bilingual learners of French and English (N = 91) to investigate how language-specific knowledge of verbal numerals affects numerical estimation. Participants made verbal estimates for rapidly presented random dot arrays in each of their two languages. Estimation accuracy differed across children's two languages, an effect that remained when controlling for children's familiarity with number words across their two languages. In addition, children's estimates were equivalently well ordered in their two languages, suggesting that differences in accuracy were due to how children represented the relative distance between number words in each language. Overall, these results suggest that bilingual children have different mappings between their verbal and nonverbal counting systems across their two languages and that those differences in mappings are likely driven by an asymmetry in their knowledge of the structure of the count list across their languages. Implications for bilingual math education are discussed.

Paying Our Dues: The Role of Professional Societies in the Evolution of Mathematical Biology Education

Mathematical biology education provides key foundational underpinnings for the scholarly work of mathematical biology. Professional societies support such education efforts via funding, public speaking opportunities, Web presence, publishing, workshops, prizes, opportunities to discuss curriculum design, and support of mentorship and other means of sustained communication among communities of scholars. Such programs have been critical to the broad expansion of the range and visibility of research and educational activities in mathematical biology. We review these efforts, past and present, across multiple societies-the Society for Mathematical Biology (SMB), the Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research (BEER), the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). We then proceed to suggest ways that professional societies can serve as advocates and community builders for mathematical biologists at all levels, noting that education continues throughout a career and also emphasizing the value of educating new generations of students. Our suggestions include collecting and disseminating data related to biomath education; developing and maintaining mentoring systems and research communities; and providing incentives and visibility for educational efforts within mathematical biology.

Ten simple rules for running a successful women-in-STEM organization on an academic campus

The current academic culture facing women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields in the United States has sparked the formation of grassroots advocacy groups to empower female scientists in training. However, the impact of these initiatives often goes unmeasured and underappreciated. Our Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) organization serves postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and research technicians (trainees) at a private research institute for biological sciences. Here we propose the following guidelines for cultivating a successful women-in-STEM-focused group based upon survey results from our own scientific community as well as the experience of our WiSE group leaders. We hope these recommendations can provide guidance to advocacy groups at other research and academic organizations that wish to strengthen their efforts. Whereas our own group specifically focuses on the underrepresented state of women in science, we hope these guidelines may be adapted and applied to groups that advocate for any minority group within the greater scientific community (i.e., those of gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation, etc.).

Women are underrepresented in leadership positions in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) despite obtaining undergraduate and graduate-level degrees at roughly the same rate as men. To take advantage of this resource of highly trained women in STEM fields, there needs to be better career support for female scientists in training. The authors report on their experience running a women-in-STEM-focused group to foster a more supportive, collaborative, and egalitarian scientific community. In particular, the authors use data-driven metrics to evaluate the success of their group in meeting the needs of their community. The results of this evaluation are presented as a set of 10 guidelines for establishing and maintaining advocacy groups that support the careers of women in science.

An accessible, open-source mobile application for macromolecular visualization using augmented reality

Understanding macromolecular structures is essential for biology education. Augmented reality (AR) applications have shown promise in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, but are not widely used for protein visualization. While there are some tools for AR protein visualization, none of them are accessible to the layperson who possesses neither specialized AR hardware nor the technical skill to comfortably navigate three-dimensional (3D) rendering and file conversions. Here, we describe Palantir, an open source mobile Android application easily installable on compatible devices from the Google Play Store. Palantir does not require specialized hardware, printed image, manual 3D rendering, or file format conversion. Palantir makes AR macromolecular visualization accessible to anyone with a compatible mobile device, and we hope it finds widespread application in STEM education.

A mixture model for responses and response times with a higher-order ability structure to detect rapid guessing behaviour

Many educational and psychological assessments focus on multidimensional latent traits that often have a hierarchical structure to provide both overall-level information and fine-grained diagnostic information. A test will usually have either separate time limits for each subtest or an overall time limit for administrative convenience and test fairness. In order to complete the items within the allocated time, examinees frequently adopt different test-taking behaviours during the test, such as solution behaviour and rapid guessing behaviour. In this paper we propose a new mixture model for responses and response times with a hierarchical ability structure, which incorporates auxiliary information from other subtests and the correlation structure of the abilities to detect rapid guessing behaviour. A Markov chain Monte Carlo method is proposed for model estimation. Simulation studies reveal that all model parameters could be recovered well, and the parameter estimates had smaller absolute bias and mean squared error than the mixture unidimensional item response theory (UIRT) model. Moreover, the true positive rate of detecting rapid guessing behaviour is also higher than when using the mixture UIRT model separately for each subscale, whereas the false detection rate is much lower than the mixture UIRT model. The deviance information criterion and the logarithm of the pseudo-marginal likelihood are employed to evaluate the model fit. Finally, a real data analysis is presented to demonstrate the practical value of the proposed model.

An educational intervention to improve women's academic STEM outcomes: Divergent effects on well-represented vs. underrepresented minority women

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this field experiment was to test the effect of a social psychological intervention on an ethnically diverse sample of first-year college women majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). We hypothesized that grade point averages in STEM courses would be higher in the intervention condition relative to the control condition. Furthermore, we tested competing hypotheses about the moderating role of belonging to either a well-represented (WR) or underrepresented minority (URM) ethnic group in STEM.

METHOD

The sample (N = 199) included 115 women from WR ethnic groups and 84 women from URM ethnic groups who were randomly assigned to condition. Women in the intervention were educated about the harmful impact of gender stereotypes in STEM and provided with effective strategies for coping with stereotype threat. At the end of their first year, we obtained participants' academic transcripts.

RESULTS

At the end of their first year in college, URM women in the intervention condition had higher grade point averages in their STEM courses than URM women in the control condition. The intervention had no effect on WR women.

CONCLUSIONS

The present research demonstrates the importance of intersectional approaches to studying the experiences of women in STEM. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Academic Outcomes of School-Aged Children Born Preterm: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

IMPORTANCE

Children born preterm are at an elevated risk of academic underachievement. However, the extent to which performance across domain-specific subskills in reading and mathematics is associated with preterm birth remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE

To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of academic outcomes of school-aged children born preterm, compared with children born at term, appraising evidence for higher- and lower-order subskills in reading and mathematics.

DATA SOURCES

PubMed/MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature electronic databases from January 1, 1980, to July 30, 2018, were searched for population, exposure, and outcome terms such as child (population), preterm birth (exposure), and education* (outcome).

STUDY SELECTION

Peer-reviewed English-language publications that included preterm-born children and a comparison group of term-born children aged 5 to 18 years and born during or after 1980 and that reported outcomes on standardized assessments from cohort or cross-sectional studies were screened. Of the 9833 articles screened, 33 unique studies met the inclusion criteria.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Data were analyzed from August 1 to September 29, 2018. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Two reviewers independently screened the databases and extracted sample characteristics and outcomes scores. Pooled mean differences (MDs) were analyzed using random-effects models.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Performance on standardized assessment of higher-order subskills of reading comprehension and applied mathematics problems; lower-order reading subskills of decoding, pseudoword decoding, and word identification; and lower-order mathematics subskills of knowledge, calculation, and fluency.

RESULTS

Outcomes data were extracted for 4006 preterm and 3317 term-born children, totaling 7323 participants from 33 unique studies. Relative to children born at term, children born preterm scored significantly lower in reading comprehension (mean difference [MD], -7.96; 95% CI, -12.15 to -3.76; I2 = 81%) and applied mathematical problems (MD, -11.41; 95% CI, -17.57 to -5.26; I2 = 91%) assessments. Across the assessments of lower-order skills, children born preterm scored significantly lower than their term-born peers in calculation (MD, -10.57; 95% CI, -15.62 to -5.52; I2 = 92%), decoding (MD, -10.18; 95% CI, -16.83 to -3.53; I2 = 71%), mathematical knowledge (MD, -9.88; 95% CI, -11.68 to -8.08; I2 = 62%), word identification (MD, -7.44; 95% CI, -9.08 to -5.80; I2 = 69%), and mathematical fluency (MD, -6.89; 95% CI, -13.54 to -0.23; I2 = 72%). The associations remained unchanged after sensitivity analyses for reducing heterogeneity.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

These findings provide evidence that preterm birth is associated with academic underperformance in aggregate measures of reading and mathematics, as well as a variety of related subskills.

Development of the BioCalculus Assessment (BCA)

We describe the development and initial validity assessment of the 20-item BioCalculus Assessment (BCA), with the objective of comparing undergraduate life science students' understanding of calculus concepts in different courses with alternative emphases (with and without focus on biological applications). The development process of the BCA included obtaining input from a large network of scientists and educators as well as students in calculus and biocalculus courses to accumulate evidential support of the instrument's content validity and response processes of test takers. We used the Rasch model to examine the internal structure of scores from students who have experienced calculus instruction in the two methods. The analysis involved three populations (Calculus 1, Calculus 2, and Biocalculus) for which the Calc 1 and Calc 2 students were not exposed to calculus concepts in a life science setting, while the Biocalculus students were presented concepts explicitly with a life science emphasis. Overall, our findings indicate that the BCA has reasonable validity properties, providing a diagnostic tool to assess the relative learning success and calculus comprehension of undergraduate biology majors from alternative methods of instruction that do or do not emphasize life science examples.

Using Video-Based Instruction via Augmented Reality to Teach Mathematics to Middle School Students With Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of video-based mathematics instruction for seven middle school students with specific learning disability (SLD), using an augmented reality-based training package. The dependent variable was the percentage of steps students performed correctly to solve each type of mathematics problem. The independent variable was the augmented reality video-based intervention, which used video to model the individual steps for solving four types of multistep mathematics problems: (a) addition and subtraction of integers, (b) multiplication and division of integers, (c) using ratio reasoning to convert measurement units, and (d) using multiplication and division to calculate rate of change. Results indicated a functional relation between the video-based mathematics intervention and the percentage of steps completed correctly for each type of problem. All seven participants showed significant gains immediately after receiving the intervention and maintained improved problem-solving skills in at least three out of the four problem categories.

Community College Instructors' Perceptions of Constraints and Affordances Related to Teaching Quantitative Biology Skills and Concepts

Quantitative skills are an important competency for undergraduate biology students and should be incorporated early and frequently in an undergraduate's career. Community colleges (CCs) are responsible for teaching introductory biology to a large proportion of biology and prehealth students, and quantitative skills are critical for their careers. However, we know little about the challenges and affordances that CC instructors encounter when incorporating quantitative skills into their courses. To explore this, we interviewed CC biology instructors (n = 20) about incorporating quantitative biology (QB) instruction into their classes. We used a purposeful sampling approach to recruit instructors who were likely to have tried evidence-based pedagogies and were likely aware of the importance of QB instruction. We used open coding to identify themes related to the affordances to and constraints on teaching QB. Overall, our study participants met with challenges typical of incorporating new material or techniques into any college-level class, including perceptions of student deficits, tension between time to teach quantitative skills and cover biology content, and gaps in teacher professional knowledge (e.g., content and pedagogical content knowledge). We analyze these challenges and offer potential solutions and recommendations for professional development to support QB instruction at CCs.

STEM Is Not a Monolith: A Preliminary Analysis of Variations in STEM Disciplinary Cultures and Implications for Change

Research suggests that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) departments are a productive unit of focus for systemic change efforts. In particular, they are relatively coherent units of culture, and cultural changes are critical to creating sustainable improvements. However, the STEM disciplines are often treated as a monolith in change literature, and unique aspects of these different disciplinary cultures-and consequences for change efforts-remain somewhat underdeveloped. This exploratory study focuses on similarities and differences among STEM disciplinary cultures, drawing on data gathered from scholars in discipline-based education research who attended two sessions at the 2017 Transforming Research in Undergraduate STEM Education conference. Our analyses of these data help begin to characterize disciplinary cultures using the theoretical lens of four frames: structures, symbols, power, and people. We find preliminary evidence for both similarities and differences among the cultures of STEM disciplines. Implications for change efforts and future directions for research are discussed.