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Online courses were a common and growing format for higher education even before the COVID-19 pandemic, but selection effects made it difficult to understand and generalize about low-income transfer engineering students’ perceptions regarding online course experiences. However, the forced transition from face-to-face courses to online courses as a result of COVID-19 provided researchers and educators the opportunity to examine low-income transfer engineering students’ online learning experiences without selection effects. Using a naturalistic method, the present study examined low-income transfer engineering students’ (N = 7) communicated perceived benefits and costs of online learning during the pandemic. Analysis using inductive coding found three overarching themes of benefits and costs:benefits and costs related to the learning environment,benefits and costs related to the format of instruction, andbenefits and costs related to external factors. Students named studying at their own pace as the most frequently occurring benefit of online learning. On the other hand, difficulty self-regulating was the most frequently named cost of online learning. Implications for theory, practice, and future work are discussed. 

Abstract Are motivated students less likely to express negative achievement emotions in math, and how do teachers impact such academic beliefs? Guided by the situated expectancy-value theory and the control-value theory, this study is interested in how teacher support influences students’ negative affect in math through students’ perception of teacher support and students’ interest value (teacher-to-student transmission between and within classes). Thus, associations were modeled at the individual and classroom levels to investigate cross-level interactions. Using data from 1,429 students in grades 7–12 (49% males, 67% Hispanic Americans, 15% Asian Americans, 18% other racial/ethnic groups), cross-level indirect effects suggested an association of teacher-reported support for collaboration and cognitive support with decreasing negative affect through students’ perception of teacher support and students’ interest value. These associations were supported within but not between classes. 

Though adults tend to endorse the stereotype that boys are better than girls in math, children tend to favor their own gender or be gender egalitarian. When do individuals start endorsing the traditional stereotype that boys are better? Using two longitudinal U.S. datasets that span 1993 to 2011, we examined three questions: (1) What are the developmental changes in adolescents’ gender stereotypes about math abilities from early to late adolescence? (2) Do the developmental changes vary based on gender and race/ethnicity? (3) Are adolescents’ stereotypes related to their math motivational beliefs? Finally, (4) do these patterns replicate across two datasets that vary in historical time? Adolescents in grades 8/9 and 11 were asked whether girls or boys are better at math (n’s = 1186 and 23,340, 49–53% girls, 30–54% White, 13–60% Black, 1–22% Latinx, and 2% to 4% Asian). Early adolescents were more likely to be gender egalitarian or favor their own gender. By late adolescence, adolescents’ stereotypes typically shifted towards the traditional stereotype that boys are better. In terms of race/ethnicity, White and Asian adolescents significantly favored boys, whereas Black and Latinx adolescents were more likely to endorse gender egalitarian beliefs. Adolescents’ stereotypes were significantly related to their expectancy beliefs, negatively for girls and positively for boys. 

Tele-operated social robots (telerobots) offer an innovative means of allowing children who are medically restricted to their homes (MRH) to return to their local schools and physical communities. Most commercially available telerobots have three foundational features that facilitate child–robot interaction: remote mobility, synchronous two-way vision capabilities, and synchronous two-way audio capabilities. We conducted a comparative analysis between the Toyota Human Support Robot (HSR) and commercially available telerobots, focusing on these foundational features. Children who used these robots and these features on a daily basis to attend school were asked to pilot the HSR in a simulated classroom for learning activities. As the HSR has three additional features that are not available on commercial telerobots: (1) pan-tilt camera, (2) mapping and autonomous navigation, and (3) robot arm and gripper for children to “reach” into remote environments, participants were also asked to evaluate the use of these features for learning experiences. To expand on earlier work on the use of telerobots by remote children, this study provides novel empirical findings on (1) the capabilities of the Toyota HSR for robot-mediated learning similar to commercially available telerobots and (2) the efficacy of novel HSR features (i.e., pan-tilt camera, autonomous navigation, robot arm/hand hardware) for future learning experiences. We found that among our participants, autonomous navigation and arm/gripper hardware were rated as highly valuable for social and learning activities. 

Abstract BackgroundA perceived fit between personal values and what a career offers is critical for college students pursuing and persisting in that career. Purpose/Hypothesis(es)We, therefore, investigated the career values of engineering undergraduates through language in two different studies. Study 1 (N = 35) examined students' written postgraduation plans for agentic and communal career value themes. Drawing on Study 1 themes, Study 2 (N = 918) examined the association of achievement‐related and interpersonal word categories in written narratives to surveyed career values. Design/MethodIn Study 1, inductive and deductive approaches were used to identify agentic and communal career values. In Study 2, regressions were conducted using achievement‐related and interpersonal words as outcomes. ResultsStudy 1 found agentic and communal value themes. Agentic value themes included career, personal development, and financial gains. Communal value themes included helping others and being family‐oriented. Results from Study 2 showed that students' language use in the discussion of their careers was associated with surveyed career values. ConclusionAlthough engineering students hold more agentic than communal values, they hold both career values, which may have implications for supporting students from diverse backgrounds. 

Abstract The saying-is-believing effect is an important step for changing students’ attitudes and beliefs in a wise intervention. However, most studies have not closely examined the process of the saying-is-believing effect when individuals are engaged in the activity. Using a qualitative approach, the present study uses an engagement framework to investigate (a) components of engagement in the saying-is-believing effect; and (b) how differently students may engage in a saying-is-believing exercise. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 undergraduates in a scholarship program for low-income transfer students from community college. Analysis using inductive and deductive approaches found that students varied on the extent to which they experienced the effectiveness of the saying-is-believing effect through affective, cognitive, and behavioral experiences. The study offers examples of how people can indeed differ in the extent to which they experience the saying-is-believing effect, and the implications for designing more effective interventions. Specifically, students’ positive affective experiences from seeing the larger goal of creating videos may be important components for the saying-is-believing effect to work. Behavioral experiences, such as learning soft skills, academic skills learned indirectly from the intervention, and academic skills learned directly from the intervention were accompanied by both positive affective and cognitive experiences. Findings show the importance of students’ differential engagement in saying-is-believing exercises both for building more effective wise interventions and interpreting heterogeneity in intervention effectiveness.