Lack of STEM-related self-efficacy has impeded the growth of women in STEM fields. Out of school (OST) robotics programs and other STEM-related OST programs provide secondary students with opportunities to work in groups, brainstorm, and formulate ideas that require communication and teamwork. The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental…

Research in this study investigated the effectiveness of robotics in promoting the critical thinking skills of middle school students in a public school classroom setting. The research began with an analysis of the effect of educational robotics in improving the critical thinking skills of middle school students. The researcher then sought to…

This study was a comparative study that applied the quantitative methodology of an independent sample t-test. The purpose was to study the perceptions of K-12 regular and special education teachers related to socially assistive robots. The study consisted of teachers from elementary, middle and high schools in suburban areas of the mid-Atlantic…

Crowdsourcing is an emerging research area that has experienced rapid growth in the past few years. Although crowdsourcing has demonstrated its potential in numerous domains, several key challenges continue to hinder its application. One of the major challenges is quality control. How can crowdsourcing requesters effectively control the quality…

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education curriculum is designed to strengthen students' science and math achievement through project based learning activities. As part of a STEM initiative, SeaPerch was developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. SeaPerch is an innovative underwater robotics program that instructs…

Inspiring and motivating students to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education continues to be an important educational focus in the United States. Robotics programs are one strategy developed to accomplish this goal. This causal comparative study focused on investigating whether a causal relationship exists between…

Spatial ability is important to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) success, but spatial talents are rarely developed in schools. Likewise, the gifted may become STEM innovators, but they are rarely provided with pedagogy appropriate to develop their abilities in schools. A stratified random sample of volunteer participants (n = 75)…

This research study aimed to identify any correlation between participation in afterschool robotics at the high school level and academic performance. Through a sample of N = 121 students, the researcher examined the grades and attendance of students who participated in a robotics program in the 2011-2012 school year. The academic record of these…

The research described in this dissertation explores the impact of utilizing a LEGO-robotics integrated engineering and mathematics program to support fifth grade students' learning of ratios and proportion in an extracurricular program. The research questions guiding this research study were (1) how do students' test results compare for students…