The presentation of economics in introductory courses has been highlighted as potentially exacerbating the underrepresentation of women in economics. The authors study the impact of a gender-neutral change in content and instruction in introductory economics courses intended to increase student engagement. By implementing meaningful applied…

We add to a growing literature suggesting that demographic grade gaps should be attributed to biases embedded in the courses themselves. Changes in the structure of two different introductory physics classes were made while leaving the topics covered and the level of coverage unchanged. First, a class where conceptual issues were studied before…

Peer evaluations for nearly 1,650 students in three different team-based learning economics courses are analyzed for evidence of gender differences in ratings given and received. The analysis controls for general academic skills and economics-specific skills as well as other individual and team characteristics. Females earn higher evaluations than…

We explored the impacts of a mathematics prerequisite on student success in Introductory Biology, focusing on students historically underserved in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Specifically, we studied Introductory Biology student outcomes 5 years before and 6 years after adding the prerequisite. Students who had not…

Everyday, technology in our life changes quickly. Every development made by humans in the field of technology affects the way of our life, and education is not an exception. We now have a variety of learning methods in addition to conventional, in-person instruction. This research was carried out in the "Computer for Low" (ITEC190) and…

Globally, schooling continues to be a precarious space for gender and sexuality diverse (GSD) youth, where students are more likely to experience transphobic and homophobic violence at school than at home or in the general community. While there have been moves to provide learning about GSD in preservice teacher education, limited attention has…

The COVID-19 pandemic and shift to remote instruction disrupted students' learning and well-being. This study explored undergraduates' incoming course concerns and later perceived challenges in an introductory statistics course. We explored how the frequency of concerns changed with the onset of COVID-19 (N=1417) and, during COVID-19, how incoming…

Economics does not attract as broad or diverse a pool of talent as it could. For example, women comprise less than one-third of economics bachelor's degree recipients, significantly lower than in math or statistics. The authors present a case study of a new introductory economics course that enrolled 400 students, achieved nearly 50-50 gender…

The purpose of this study was to investigate 69 college students' attitudes toward the Recap app as part of their online language learning process. The Recap app is a free language learning application that uses student-created videos to facilitate language practice and interaction among students. Using a 13-item attitude survey to measure…

Problem Roulette (PR), an online study service at the University of Michigan, offers points-free formative practice to students preparing for examinations in introductory science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses. Using four years of PR data involving millions of problem attempts by thousands of students, we quantify the benefits…

The purpose of this study was to find out whether the previously identified gender gap in public speaking anxiety and self-perceived communication competence was also evident in student speaking performances. This study also examined whether students developed equally strong presentations in public speaking versus hybrid introductory communication…

We investigated students' physics motivational beliefs including their physics self-efficacy, interest, perceived recognition, and identity in a traditionally taught two-semester college calculus-based introductory physics sequence (referred to as physics 1 and physics 2). We studied whether and how these motivational beliefs evolve in this course…

Students want to learn computer science due to its usefulness for future careers, however they often meet challenges in introductory courses. In the increasingly digital world, it is important to understand some important psychological consequences of such challenges: perceived costs of pursuing computer science. This study thus investigated…

The science laboratory learning environment has been a distinctive area in science education since the 19th century. Unfortunately, students are generally not aware of what science instructors expect from laboratory experiences, and far too often, the undergraduate science laboratory curriculum lacks explicit, well-defined goals. Science…

Using a large survey of undergraduate business students, we identify common stereotypes, analyze gender differences in stereotypic thinking, and examine how stereotypes impact a student's choice of major. We document gender differences in stereotypic thinking and find that stereotypes can introduce biases on students' attitudes toward our study's…