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1. Impact of a Femalized Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Kinesthetic Learning Model on the AEC Career Knowledge, Self-efficacy, and Outcome Expectations of African American Middle School Girls

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--49441  

   Fash, Mercy; Ofori-Boadu, Andrea (October 2024, ASEE Conferences)

   Bandyopadhyay, A; Anderson, E (Ed.)

   Engaging African American middle school girls in out-of-school-time (OST) Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) programs can significantly boost their knowledge and awareness of these traditionally male-dominated fields. This study adopts Lent’s Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) and Bandura’s self-efficacy theory to assess the impact of a femalized AEC kinesthetic learning model (fAEC-KLM) on the AEC career knowledge, selfefficacy, and outcome expectations (KSO) of African American middle school girls. Fourteen (14) African American middle school girls from Guilford County, NC, participated in pre- and post-intervention interviews, evaluating how the fAEC-KLM model influenced their AEC career knowledge, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations. Inductive thematic analysis of transcribed interviews using NVIVO qualitative software revealed key components of the fAEC-KLM that impacted KSO. Components such as lectures, peer interactions, and kinesthetic/experiential learning interacted with participants’ learning experiences (prior OST educational programs, familial social support, deficient/adequate mathematical pedagogy, and pre-collegiate engineering education). These factors collectively enhanced participants’ AEC career knowledge, bolstered their self-efficacy, and shaped their outcome expectations. The findings highlight the efficacy of targeted AEC activities within the fAEC-KLM in boosting career knowledge, selfefficacy, and outcome expectations, offering critical insights for developing OST programs that encourage African American middle school girls to pursue careers in AEC fields. These results emphasize the need for such initiatives to reduce the gender gap in STEM and AEC professions, contributing to broader efforts to diversify these vital sectors. 

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2. What Drives Student Engagement and Learning in Video Lectures? An Investigation of Instructor Visibility, Playback Speed, and Student Preferences

   https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.70026  

   Ahn, Dahwi; Chan, Jason_C K (March 2025, Applied Cognitive Psychology)

   COVID‐19 greatly increased the online delivery of higher education. But one limitation of online learning is that students often struggle to stay engaged while watching online lectures. We examined whether including an instructor's face in lecture videos (instructor visibility) enhances student engagement or learning. In two preregistered experiments, we found that instructor visibility in lecture videos did not affect either engagement or learning overall. However, participants reported higher engagement when they watched a video that aligned with their preference for instructor visibility. For example, participants who favored videos with the instructor visible reported greater engagement with such videos compared to those without the instructor, and vice versa. Additionally, we examined the effects of playback speed on engagement and learning. Our results suggest that speeded playing did not impact engagement but resulted in better learning efficiency. Lastly, using GPT, we explored participants' open‐ended responses to understand their preference for video lectures. 

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3. Intersectional Engineers: The Diversity of Gender and Race Microaggressions and Their Effects in Engineering Education

   https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000889  

   True-Funk, A.; Poleacovschi, C.; Jones-Johnson, G.; Feinstein, S.; Smith, K.; Luster-Teasley, S. (January 2020, Journal of management in engineering)

   Abstract: Underrepresented minorities in engineering regularly experience subtle behaviors or statements that denigrate them on account of their race, ethnicity, gender, or other identity. Engineering students cite these behaviors, known as microaggressions, as reasons for having considered changing majors or leaving college altogether. Despite the recent research trend to foster a more racially, ethnically, and genderinclusive engineering education and profession, previous research does not examine microaggressions in engineering using an intersectional lens. Without an intersectional perspective, intragroup diversity is overlooked, increasing the potential to reinforce broad racial and gender stereotypes. To measure the effects of microaggressions among engineering undergraduate students, the current study used an intersectional approach and collected data from a predominantly white institution (PWI) and from a historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The authors conducted individual semistructured interviews to examine the effects of microaggressions among 42 engineering undergraduate students, who can be categorized into seven intersectional identities—White women, African American men, African American women, Asian men, Asian women, Latino men, and Latina women. Results showed five macroeffects and two microeffects—(1) reduced self-belief (reduced self-efficacy and reduced self-esteem), (2) otherness, (3) racial/gender isolation, (4) stereotype threat, and (5) and empowered sense of self. Also, in this work, we make comparisons across intersectional identities. The data provide support for further study of microaggressions and their effects on intersectional identities. This research extends the intersectional approach to focus on engineering departments and colleges and provides information to engineering departments and university administrators concerning the experiences of minority undergraduates and offers academic leaders further information regarding issues surrounding minority student retention and persistence. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000889. © 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers. 

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4. Investigating the intensity and integration of active learning and lecture.

   https://doi.org/10.1037/mac0000160  

   Martella, Amedee Marchand; Schneider, Darryl W; O'Day, Garrett M; Karpicke, Jeffrey D (February 2024, Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition)

   Given that the active learning literature lacks systematic investigations on how the intensity and integration of lecture and active learning affects learning, we conducted two experiments to examine the impact of these variables. The first experiment involved 146 participants who learned about biological taxonomies through pure lecture or pure active learning. Participants in the pure lecture condition scored significantly higher on a posttest than those in the pure active learning condition. The second experiment involved 219 participants who learned about biological taxonomies through pure lecture, a lecture and active learning activity that were interspersed, or a lecture and active learning activity that were blocked. Participants in the interspersed condition scored significantly higher than participants in the blocked and pure lecture conditions (which did not significantly differ). Based on these experiments, it may not be a question of either/or but rather a question of how to integrate lecture and active learning. 

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5. How children’s media and teachers communicate exclusive and essentialist views of science and scientists.

   https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001364  

   Wang, Michelle M; Cardarelli, Amanda; Leslie, Sarah-Jane; Rhodes, Marjorie (August 2022, Developmental Psychology)

   Language that uses noun labels and generic descriptions to discuss people who do science (e.g., “Let’s be scientists! Scientists discover new things”) signals to children that “scientists” is a distinctive category. This identity-focused language promotes essentialist beliefs and leads to disengagement from science among young children in experimental contexts. The extent to which these cues shape the development of children’s beliefs and behaviors in daily life, however, depends on (a) the availability of identity-focused language in children’s environments and (b) the power of these cues to shape beliefs over time, even in the noisier, more variable contexts in which children are exposed to them. Documenting the availability of this language, linguistic coding of children’s media (Study 1) and prekindergarten teachers’ language from one science lesson (Study 2; n = 103; 98 female, one male, four unknown; 66% White, 8% African American, 6% Asian/Asian American, 3% mixed/biracial; 21% of the sample, of any race, identified as Hispanic/Latinx) confirmed that identity-focused language was the most common form of science language in these two samples. Further, children (Study 3; n = 83; Mage = 4.36 years; 43 female, 40 male; 64% White, 12% Asian/Asian American, 24% mixed/biracial; 36% of the sample, of any race, identified as Hispanic/Latinx) who were exposed to lower proportions of identity-focused language from their teachers developed increasingly inclusive science beliefs and greater science engagement over time. These findings suggest that linguistic input is an important mechanism through which exclusive beliefs about science are conveyed to children in daily life. 

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