Retaining Students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Majors

by: Jessica Watkins and Eric Mazur

This article presents results relating undergraduate student retention in STEM majors to the use of Peer Instruction (PI) in an introductory physics course at a highly selective research institution. The authors compare the percentages of students who switch out of a STEM major after taking a physics course taught using traditional lectures only or one taught using PI, finding that nearly twice the percentage of students switch after the lecture-based course.

Details

Type Journal ArticlePub Date 5/1/2013Stock # jcst13_042_05_36Volume 042Issue 05

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Keeping Students im STEM

Resistance to change teaching methodology often cites a lack of data showing effectiveness. Here Eric Mazur, provides data strongly supporting the use of peer instruction as a way to retain ... See More

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