Having seen the benefits of authentic scientific practices for students in STEM laboratory courses and undergraduate research experiences, the researchers aimed to study the effect of those same practices in introductory STEM lecture courses. Research has shown that engagement in scientific practices leads to improved STEM identity and motivation. STEM identity in turn is connected to persistence in the field and intent to pursue a STEM career, while motivation has been found to predict achievement. Authentic science experiences have been shown to improve the retention of women and underrepresented groups. Incorporating science practices in the classroom also provides opportunities for students to receive recognition as a scientist from their instructors and peers, which is important in the development of science identity. The researchers predicted that the incorporation of science practices and opportunities for recognition would contribute to an improved classroom climate. Classroom climate has been linked to fostering a sense of belonging, increased motivation, and science identity.

The Study

A population of 1079 undergraduate students (64% Women; 37.6% Asian, 30.2% White, 25.1% Latinx) reported on the performance of science practices in their introductory biology courses. The researchers looked at changes in STEM motivation, identity, and students’ course grades. They found that incorporating science practices into large lecture courses provided opportunities

for students to receive recognition as scientists, from the instructor, TAs, and peers, which lead to positive outcomes in motivation, identity, achievement, and classroom climate. The connections determined in this study were that the experiences with science practices lead to recognition and improved classroom climate which in turn lead to an increase in STEM motivation, identity, and career aspirations. Felt recognition and classroom climate were found to be especially important for underrepresented minority students.

This study shows us the impact of performing science practices can be replicated even in large STEM lecture courses. The results here show that engagement in these practices have a broad impact on our students from motivation, achievement, and identity to classroom climate. If our aim is to improve any of these outcomes in our large enrollment introductory courses then we must consider how we can incorporate science practices into those courses. In an example of a course where students reported high levels of performing science practices the instructor built the course around the practice of generating scientific explanations. A complete redesign of a course is not the only way to incorporate scientific practices, it is possible to make smaller changes while still seeing a positive impact. This study pushes us to consider even small ways that we can incorporate science practices into our large lecture courses because the impact on our students can be substantial.

Full Paper: Starr, C. R., Hunter, L., Dunkin, R., Honig, S., Palomino, R., & Leaper, C. (2020). Engaging in science practices in classrooms predicts increases in undergraduates' STEM motivation, identity, and achievement: A short-term longitudinal study. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 57(7), 1093-1118.

Tables: Two sections of the assessment used in this study are shown, STEM Identity and STEM Motivation. The rest of the assessment can be found in the supplemental materials.