Effective Learning Strategies in STEM

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-660-4_3How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Course Structure; STEM; Student Engagement; Student Motivation; Face-To-Face; Hybrid; Pedagogy

Abstract

Effective learning strategies were developed, implemented, and applied at five separate institutions of higher education in the United States, and one in the Middle East. The research has been dedicated to determining effective learning strategies for student learning and success. The research series developed grading rubric for homework and exams, developed a course structure for hybrid and face-to-face courses in STEM, and studied the impact of the syllabus design on student learning and motivation. A pedagogical methodology constituting the designed course structure was utilized to use various activity-based modules. Course lectures were designed to utilize PowerPoint presentations and/or OneNote as learning modules for lecture delivery and solving in-class problems. A video module comprising of MythBusters/YouTube videos was used as a visual learning tool to instill motivation in the students. Exposure to real-world application of engineering concepts was achieved using this module while instilling confidence in the ability to apply numerical solutions to practical problems in team/group-based activities. Instructor feedback was provided while discussing possible solutions. In-class mini lab module was added as an interesting activity to the engineering courses where miniature working models of jet and automotive engines were brought to the class to demonstrate thermodynamic working principles of Brayton and Otto cycles while equipment to simulate tornadoes was used to demonstrate the conservation of angular momentum and vortices in Fluid Mechanics. For science courses, such as Chemistry, where in-class mini labs cannot be incorporated due to safety reasons, a new concept of incorporating Lab TikTok videos was utilized. Student feedback was collected in the last 10 minutes of every class in the form of a one-minute paper. Students were asked to identify the most significant concept and muddiest concept/portion in the class and to write down any questions.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Muzammil Arshad
AU  - Rebecca R. Romatoski
AU  - Mamoona Muzammil
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/02/26
TI  - Effective Learning Strategies in STEM
BT  - Proceedings of the HCT International General Education Conference (HCTIGEC 2024)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 19
EP  - 34
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-660-4_3
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-660-4_3
ID  - Arshad2025
ER  -