Presenter Biography
Kaisa Holt is a MPH Health Promotion student who researches belonging in STEM education, experential learing in STEM fields for underserved students and persisting challenges to DEI in organizations.
Program/Major
Health Promotion
Student Level
Masters
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
4-10-2025 1:30 PM
End Date
4-10-2025 2:45 PM
Creative Commons License or Rights Statement
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/43471
Subjects
Belonging in STEM, STEM Education
Abstract
Efforts to enhance belonging in undergraduate STEM classrooms are believed pivotal for student success. However, we must not only promote belonging interventions but also understand STEM students and faculty perceptions of their value and utility. We gathered perspectives of faculty and undergraduates regarding the implementation and efficacy of a belonging exercise (Our Lives Lived, OLL) used in multiple STEM classes at one university over two years. We hypothesized that students would see more value in the exercise than faculty. We sent a survey instrument with an OLL summary and a series of open-ended responses to faculty. We recruited for focus groups with undergraduate STEM students at the same university. Results of the STEM faculty perspectives survey (n=92) were iteratively coded by two researchers using content analysis. 92% of respondents indicated they believed that there was potential value in the exercise. Only 30% explicitly mentioned benefits for both students and instructors and 76% of faculty saw a potential application of similar belonging exercises in their own classrooms. Three focus groups (n=17) with STEM undergraduates were conducted by two researchers, recorded, transcribed and deidentified. Focus group questions probed perceptions of: campus belonging, the faculty responses to OLL, and their own perceptions of OLL. Transcripts are currently being inductively coded by two researchers. This study will result in novel data on parallel perceptions of faculty and students value of classroom belonging exercises. These data will inform how we can better message and implement such interventions in the future.
Included in
Health Policy Commons, Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Commons, Public Health Commons
Differences Between Stem Students and Faculty on Seeing Value in a Classroom Belonging Exercise
Efforts to enhance belonging in undergraduate STEM classrooms are believed pivotal for student success. However, we must not only promote belonging interventions but also understand STEM students and faculty perceptions of their value and utility. We gathered perspectives of faculty and undergraduates regarding the implementation and efficacy of a belonging exercise (Our Lives Lived, OLL) used in multiple STEM classes at one university over two years. We hypothesized that students would see more value in the exercise than faculty. We sent a survey instrument with an OLL summary and a series of open-ended responses to faculty. We recruited for focus groups with undergraduate STEM students at the same university. Results of the STEM faculty perspectives survey (n=92) were iteratively coded by two researchers using content analysis. 92% of respondents indicated they believed that there was potential value in the exercise. Only 30% explicitly mentioned benefits for both students and instructors and 76% of faculty saw a potential application of similar belonging exercises in their own classrooms. Three focus groups (n=17) with STEM undergraduates were conducted by two researchers, recorded, transcribed and deidentified. Focus group questions probed perceptions of: campus belonging, the faculty responses to OLL, and their own perceptions of OLL. Transcripts are currently being inductively coded by two researchers. This study will result in novel data on parallel perceptions of faculty and students value of classroom belonging exercises. These data will inform how we can better message and implement such interventions in the future.
