Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Engineering Education

Participation in Informal STEM education (ISE) programs is becoming increasingly common among pre-college students. These programs often state improving broadening participation in STEM as part of their mission. ISE programs are known to foster heightened student engagement due to flattened student-teacher hierarchy, free choice, self-directed learning experiences, and hands-on pedagogies. ISE is known to foster STEM career interest among racially underrepresented youth. Further, ISE has been shown to be effective in preparing K12 STEM teachers by fostering STEM teaching identity. The COVID-19 pandemic forced most ISE programs to move their activities to virtual formats. This was a major adjustment for facilitators and participants. The move to virtual platforms forced changes in ISE programming that could have lasting impact on the way that ISEs provide learning experiences for their participants. One of the major benefits of ISE's transition to online learning was that ISE experiences were made more accessible to students who may not have had access to them before due to proximity or cost. If ISE stakeholders wish to utilize the lessons learned from moving to online learning and direct their investment of resources and time in informal STEM programs toward preparing a well-prepared, racially diverse STEM workforce, it is vital that they understand what is learned in these environments and how it is learned. The goal of this dissertation study was to examine teaching and learning in informal STEM settings. It explored the ways in which the concepts of smartness and intelligence have been used as gatekeepers in engineering education specifically and as exclusionary forces in educational contexts in general. It proposed a model for readers to reflect on their own beliefs about intelligence and smartness and explored research that demonstrates the danger of operating on normative beliefs about intelligence and smartness, which can be exclusionary to (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ann Christy (Advisor); James Moore III (Committee Member); Noah Finkelstein (Committee Member); Winston Thompson (Committee Member); Deborah Grzybowski (Committee Member); Ann O'Connell (Committee Member) Subjects: Education