Assessing the Effectiveness of a New Course in Math and Science Education in Recruiting Math and Science Majors into Education
3. Design, Data & Analysis
The research project took the form of a two-part study of students who had taken the Changing Pedagogies (henceforth abbreviated as CP) course, which involved both a web-based survey and a follow-up phone interview. There were two versions of the web-based survey: one for those students who were still undergraduates (three) and one for those who had graduated (38). All those students for whom we had contact information (38 out of the 41) were contacted by email and invited to take the web-based survey. Out of the 38 alumnae, 35 were contacted and 17 completed the web-based survey. Out of the three undergraduates, two completed the survey.
Those students who had graduated were asked at the end of the web-based survey if they were interested in participating in a follow-up phone interview, in which case they would be contacted by email with more information. If a subject agreed to participate further and the subject's responses to the survey indicated that since graduation he/she had had further involvement with math, science or education, then the subject would be eligible for the phone interview. Whether all such eligible candidates would be contacted, or only a subset of them, was going to be decided by the researchers based on the size of this eligible group.
Out of the 17 alumnae who completed the web-based survey, 14 indicated a willingness to be contacted via email about a follow-up phone interview. It is notable that all 14 respondents had some involvement in math, science or education post graduation. Thus, all of these respondents met the criteria to be eligible to participate in the follow-up phone interview. Since the size of this group was small, the researchers decided to invite, via email, all members of this group to participate in phone interviews. Nine out of 14 took part in the phone interviews.
The assessment tools were designed by the research team through a series of discussions, which included consideration of course objectives and the variety of career paths students may have taken during college and post graduation.
The web-based survey asked respondents about experiences in math or science education that they had had after taking the CP course, either as an undergraduate or since graduation. For example, respondents were asked if, while still undergraduates, they had:
As a follow up, they were asked the extent to which the CP course influenced their participation in these activities.
Post-graduation activities about which respondents were questioned included:
There are weaknesses in our research design due to the fact that we decided to undertake this research study in 2007 after the course had been offered three times, and we thus interpret the data from this study with caution. For example, it would have been useful to have administered a pre-course survey to determine the students' initial interest in and plans for careers in math and science education. This would have provided a check on their later responses about the impact the CP course had had on their subsequent activities. We will undertake this pre-survey in future offerings of the course.
We will ask workshop session participants for their suggestions on how to strengthen studies such as ours in the case that (a) the study is undertaken after the course has been taught and (b) the study is developed before the course is taught.
Those students who had graduated were asked at the end of the web-based survey if they were interested in participating in a follow-up phone interview, in which case they would be contacted by email with more information. If a subject agreed to participate further and the subject's responses to the survey indicated that since graduation he/she had had further involvement with math, science or education, then the subject would be eligible for the phone interview. Whether all such eligible candidates would be contacted, or only a subset of them, was going to be decided by the researchers based on the size of this eligible group.
Out of the 17 alumnae who completed the web-based survey, 14 indicated a willingness to be contacted via email about a follow-up phone interview. It is notable that all 14 respondents had some involvement in math, science or education post graduation. Thus, all of these respondents met the criteria to be eligible to participate in the follow-up phone interview. Since the size of this group was small, the researchers decided to invite, via email, all members of this group to participate in phone interviews. Nine out of 14 took part in the phone interviews.
The assessment tools were designed by the research team through a series of discussions, which included consideration of course objectives and the variety of career paths students may have taken during college and post graduation.
The web-based survey asked respondents about experiences in math or science education that they had had after taking the CP course, either as an undergraduate or since graduation. For example, respondents were asked if, while still undergraduates, they had:
- certified in education;
- minored in education;
- taken additional education courses or non-education courses that had an education focus: and
- completed an internship, an independent study course or engaged in research related to math or science education.
As a follow up, they were asked the extent to which the CP course influenced their participation in these activities.
Post-graduation activities about which respondents were questioned included:
- teaching in a public, private or parochial school;
- working in an education-related job (e.g., curriculum design, after-school program, science museum, etc.);
- taking graduate courses in education;
- enrolling in and/or completing an education certification program.
There are weaknesses in our research design due to the fact that we decided to undertake this research study in 2007 after the course had been offered three times, and we thus interpret the data from this study with caution. For example, it would have been useful to have administered a pre-course survey to determine the students' initial interest in and plans for careers in math and science education. This would have provided a check on their later responses about the impact the CP course had had on their subsequent activities. We will undertake this pre-survey in future offerings of the course.
We will ask workshop session participants for their suggestions on how to strengthen studies such as ours in the case that (a) the study is undertaken after the course has been taught and (b) the study is developed before the course is taught.
