In this paper we discuss the types of knowledge used by six middle school students as they engaged with a debugging task designed to integrate ideas from computer science, mathematics and science. Our findings show that the computational thinking practice of debugging is a rich source of opportunities to integrate these different disciplines. The…

The National Science Foundation's (NSF) decades-long investment in science and engineering (S&E) research helped build the backbone of the U.S. scientific enterprise and transformed universities and colleges into centers of scientific innovation, creativity, knowledge and discovery. It also brought about the benefits of scientific…

The Catalyst Scholarship Program at Hunter College of The City University of New York (CUNY) was established with a four-year award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund scholarships to 40 academically talented but financially disadvantaged students majoring in four disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics…

The report provides a portrait of science and engineering (S&E) higher education in the United States, including trends over time and comparisons with other nations. S&E fields, as defined in this report, include astronomy, chemistry, physics, atmospheric sciences, earth sciences, ocean sciences, mathematics and statistics, computer…

Issues surrounding gender discrimination have been addressed over the past 40 years with various pieces of legislation and federal policies that have made such discrimination illegal. The number of women in higher education as students and faculty has steadily increased since the 1950s, though only in certain disciplines and in the lower faculty…

Physics and geoscience consistently rank near the bottom among all disciplines in their ability to attract and retain African American students. Before delving into these trends, it is important to establish a context for discussing the data and their implications. African Americans comprise 12.4% of the U.S. population, but their representation…

This report provides statistical information about the participation of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering education and employment. Its primary purpose is to serve as an information source. It offers no endorsement of or recommendations about policies or programs. National Science Foundation reporting on…