Date of Award

Summer 2026

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Studies

First Advisor

Christine Lotter

Abstract

There is a growing need to address the projected shortage of STEM professionals, with estimates anticipating a gap of 1.1 million jobs by 2031. This workforce demand is further complicated by persistent attrition in higher education, with only about 40% of students completing their STEM degree. Addressing both workforce demands and student attrition requires higher education institutions to meet students where they are and adopt innovative instructional practices that foster persistence in STEM classrooms. This study conducted a convergent mixed method, quasi-experimental design to investigate the impact of an I-STEAM design-based approach on content knowledge and STEM identity in an Introductory Biology course at a Midwestern community college during a cellular respiration unit. This unit has historically been associated with the lowest examination scores of the semester and aligns with the withdrawal deadline in which persistence drops to 60%. Despite small and unequal sample sizes, quantitative results of pre- and post- assessment Wilcoxon test revealed significant gains in content knowledge across the intervention and non-intervention groups (W= 0.000, z = −4.015, p < .001), with Mann Whitney-U indicating no significant difference between groups or by baseline level. Pre- and post-STEM identity survey results revealed positive median gains across overall STEM identity and its constructs in the intervention group (Mdn = 6.000, IQR = 10.500), with the non-intervention group revealing negative gains and greater variability (Mdn = –2.500, IQR = 20.250). Content knowledge and STEM identity constructs were a priori coded, with qualitative journal and interview responses and provided context for quantitative findings. Responses suggested that participation within the design project gradually supported both content knowledge and STEM identity development. Emergent themes indicated that peer interactions influenced belonging and recognition more so than the design project. They further revealed that the design project most strongly influenced content knowledge and feelings of competence and performance, with interest demonstrating a moderate impact. The results presented within this dissertation may be informative for STEM and higher education practitioners that seek to examine instructional practices to support content knowledge, STEM identity development, and foster persistence amongst their students.

Rights

©2026, Amanda Mayes

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