A LASER Focus on Understanding and Improving STEM Education

Wednesday, August 11, 2021; 1:00pm–4:00pm

Overview

This workshop will introduce participants to the Learning Analytics (LA), an emerging research and teaching field sitting at the intersection of Learning (e.g. educational technology, learning and assessment sciences), Analytics (e.g. visualization, computer/data sciences), and Human-Centered Design (e.g. usability, participatory design). LA is proving to be a powerful approach for understanding and improving the digital learning contexts highlighted in the national STEM education plan, while also examining persistent problems in STEM education from new angles.

The instructors will provide a brief overview of LA methodologies, literature, applications, and ethical issues as they relate to STEM education, with an emphasis on digital learning environments and broadening participation in STEM programs. Participants will be introduced to open-access curriculum materials developed as part of the Learning Analytics in STEM Education Research (LASER) Institute to gain hands-on experience with computational analysis techniques (e.g. network analysis, text mining, machine learning) using R and RStudio.

Presenters

• Shaun B. Kellogg, North Carolina State University​

• ​Rob Moore, University of Florida 

• Shiyan Jiang, North Carolina State University

• Joshua M. Rosenberg, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

• Jennifer Houchins, North Carolina State University

Schedule

1:00-1:30. Introduction to the Learning Analytics in STEM Ed Research (LASER)

• Introduction to the LASER Institute consists of a presentation designed to provide an overview of the Learning Analytics in STEM Ed Research (LASER) Institute, introduce the field of Learning Analytics, and prepare participants to use RStudio Cloud to access the presentations and demos located on our AERA-ICPSR LASER Workshop workspace. For a more in-depth answer to the burning question, "What is Learning Analytics?" we highly recommend this LASER Institute Summer Workshop Keynote by Alyssa Wise.

1:30-1:40. RStudio Cloud Setup/Break

1:40-2:20. Intro to Text Mining (TM) in STEM

• Introduction to Text Mining includes a short presentation and demonstration designed to illustrate how text mining can be applied in STEM education research and to provide workshop participants hands-on experience with popular techniques for collecting, processing, and analyzing text-based data. Content for this workshop is drawn from from TM Module 1: Public Sentiment and the State Standards taught at the LASER Institute Summer Workshop.

2:20-2:30. Q&A/Break

2:30-3:10. Intro to Machine Learning (ML) in STEM

• Introduction to Machine Learning includes a short presentation and demonstration designed to illustrate how machine learning can be applied in STEM education research and to provide workshop participants hands-on experience with the process of building a machine learning model. Content for this workshop is drawn from from ML Module 1: Predicting STEM and Non-STEM College Major Enrollment taught at the LASER Institute Summer Workshop.

3:10-3:20. Q&A/Break

3:20-4:00. Intro to Social Network Analysis (SNA) in STEM

• Introduction to Social Network Analysis includes a short presentation and demonstration designed to illustrate how SNA can be applied in STEM education research and to provide workshop participants hands-on experience with popular techniques for collecting, processing, and analyzing relational data. Content for this workshop is drawn from from SNA Module 1: The Social Network Perspective and MOOC-Eds taught at the LASER Institute Summer Workshop.

Acknowledgements

This workshop is part of the AERA-ICPSR Partnership for Expanding Education Research in STEM (PEERS) Data Hub announces the PEERS Research Methods Series a webinar series of research capacity-building workshops that focus on research methods used in STEM education research. 

The PEERS Research Methods Series consists of workshops presented in collaboration with the 11 Institutes in Research Methods funded by the National Science Foundation  directed to NSF's Building Capacity for STEM Education Research (BCSER) program. Aimed at early- and mid-career researchers and scholars, the capacity-building webinar series features projects that seek to promote research expertise in applications of computational, quantitative, qualitative, and evaluative research methods useful to STEM education researchers and broaden the STEM professional workforce.

The LASER Team

Shaun Kellogg is Senior Director of the Friday Institute's Program Evaluation and Education Research (PEER) Group and Teaching Assistant Professor in the College of Education at North Carolina State. Dr. Shaun Kellogg has over 20 years of experience in education as both a public school teacher and educational researcher. Since 2011, Dr. Kellogg has led comprehensive research, evaluation, and capacity-building projects centered on the use of technology to make learning more equitable, engaging, and effective for students and educators. He recently developed the Online Graduate Certificate in Learning Analytics in partnership with the College of Education and serves as the Principal Investigator on the NSF-funded Learning Analytics in STEM Education Research (LASER) Institute.

Shiyan Jiang received her Ph.D. in technology-enhanced STEM education from the University of Miami in 2018. She was a postdoc at Carnegie Mellon University and worked in designing an innovative writing feedback system. Currently, she is an assistant professor of Learning Design and Technology at North Carolina State University. She designs and studies technology-enhanced learning environments to facilitate the development of STEM identities.

Rob Moore is an Assistant Professor of Educational Technology in the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida. His research analyzes online learning environments, focusing on massive open online courses (MOOCs), to identify ways to improve student learning in those contexts. He is particularly interested in leveraging learning analytics to ensure that online learning environments offer similar critical thinking and engagement levels as in face-to-face instruction.

Joshua M. Rosenberg is an assistant professor of STEM education and faculty fellow at the Center for Enhancing Education in Mathematics and Sciences at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His research focuses on how learners think of and with data, particularly in science education settings. Professor Rosenberg tries to understand how practices such as creating, representing, and modeling data create new opportunities for learning how to use data to pose and answer questions about scientific phenomena. Professor Rosenberg has been awarded more than three million dollars in federal grants as principal investigator (PI) or co-PI and has published in outlets such as Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Computers & Education, and Teaching and Teacher Education.

Hollylynne Lee has been at NC State since 2000. Her research interests include teaching and learning of probability, statistics, and data science, especially incorporating technology use and designing technology environments that facilitate students' learning. She situates her work in educational design in order to provide the best learning opportunities for students in K-12, her university students, and educators around the world that engage with her in online professional development.

Jennifer Houchins has a combined 15 years of professional experience as both an informal STEM educator and a developer of educational technology software. As the director of technology programs, Houchins contributes to research, development and outreach efforts of emerging technologies and their use in K-12 and higher education settings. She is also responsible for the overall management of the Friday Institute's IT services and resources and provides leadership in IT operations, project IT support and furthering the overall mission of the Friday Institute.

The 2021 LASER Scholars

• Mete Akcaoglu, Associate Professor, Georgia Southern University

• Zina Alaswad, Assistant Professor of Interior Design, School of Family and Consumer Sciences, Texas State University 

• Tawannah G. Allen, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership, Stout School of Education, High Point University

• Rebecca Y. Bayeck, CLIR Postdoctoral Fellow, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

• Laurie O. Campbell, Associate Professor, University of Central Florida

• Jacqueline G. Cavazos, Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California Irvine

• Shonn Sheng-Lun Cheng, Assistant Professor, Sam Houston State University

• MeganClaire Cogliano, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

• Yvonne Earnshaw, Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator of Instructional Design and Development, University of Alabama at Birmingham

• Carlton J. Fong, Assistant Professor, Texas State University

• Hoda Harti, Instructor, Educational Technology, Northern Arizona University

• Yu-Ping Hsu, Assistant Professor, Western Illinois University

• Diane Igoche, Associate Professor, Robert Morris University

• Carrie Jones, Science Teacher, Wake County Schools

• Yeo-eun Kim, Postdoctoral Fellow, Washington University in St. Louis

• TK Kuykendall, Adjunct/Coordinator of Data, Cleveland State University/Lakewood City Schools

• Yanju Li, Data Administrator Lead, Georgia State University

• Lin Lin, Professor, University of North Texas

• Peggy Lisenbee, Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education, College of Professional Education, Texas Woman's University

• Nikki G. Lobczowski, Postdoctoral Associate, University of Pittsburgh

• Chrishele Marshall, Program Associate I, Implementation and Training (Assessment), Detroit Public Schools Community District

• Tara Mason, Assistant Professor of Inclusive Education, Western Colorado University

• Becky Matz, Research Scientist, Center for Academic Innovation, University of Michigan

• T.J. McKenna, Lecturer, Boston University

• Vida Mingo, Senior Lecturer, Columbia College (SC)

• Angela Murillo, Assistant Professor, School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

• Jeffrey T. Olimpo, Assistant Professor in Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso

• Patricia Ortega-Chasi, Associate Professor, Universidad del Azuay

• Mihwa Park, Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University

• Kim Pinckney-Lewis, HR Strategist, National Security Agency

• Tiffany Roman, Assistant Professor of Instructional Technology, School of Instructional Technology and Innovation, Kennesaw State University

• Teomara (Teya) Rutherford, Assistant Professor, Learning Sciences, University of Delaware

• Jaime Sabel, Assistant Professor, University of Memphis

• Samar Swaid, Professor of Computer Science, Philander Smith College

• Justice T. Walker, Assistant Professor of STEM Education, The University of Texas at El Paso