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THE SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS AND ACADEMIC PREPAREDNESS OF STEM STUDENTS IN HUNGARY
73-86Views:269Although the dropout behavior and labor market opportunities of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) students and the masculinization of STEM fields are all well-researched topics in STEM research, there is a very limited body of literature focusing on the social background and academic preparedness of STEM applicants. Thus, in this research, we compared STEM and non-STEM students based on their type of settlement, type of secondary school program, the rate of students coming from a disadvantaged background, extra points given for academic accomplishments, and total application score. To identify variables that significantly predict getting admitted to a STEM field, we conducted binary logistic regression. During our research, we conducted the analysis using the 2017 Hungarian Admission Database. Our sample consisted of those who got admitted to a full-time BA/BSc or undivided course (N = 41324). According to our results, STEM students cannot be identified as a disadvantaged group either in terms of their social background or their lack of academic preparedness. According to the results of the binary logistic regression, the main predictors of getting admitted to a STEM field are gender (male), having a language certificate, and having a vocational training certificate. The main goal of our research was to explore whether the individual characteristics of STEM students can be the reason behind the high attrition rates specific to STEM fields. Since our results did not support this conclusion, we suppose to further investigate the role of institutional variables (such as climate, the selective approach of college teachers, and high academic expectations) in dropouts.
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The Relationship between Spatial Orientation and Mathematical Performance among High School Students
17-26Views:96Research studies indicate that the development of spatial orientation is crucial for understanding science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Based on this, we investigated whether there is a correlation between the mathematics grades of middle school students and their performance on various visual perception tasks. The visual perception tasks we used fell into two categories. In the first, participants had to select the development of 3D shapes from a set of given options. For each 3D shape, we offered 4-4 possible developments. In total, participants had to solve 13 tasks. In the second type of task, they also had to choose a pattern matching the presented stimulus from four possibilities. The patterns were 5x5 squares of increasing complexity, initially consisting of two, then three, and finally four colour combinations. A total of 32 students participated in the survey, comprising 12 boys and 20 girls, all of whom were high school students. The level of correlation between scores on the tasks and grade 9 marks in mathematics was investigated. The results of the statistical analysis revealed no significant difference in performance between boys and girls in each task. The performance in the two different types of functions showed a strong positive correlation (p<.05) with each other, both when the performance of girls was considered and when the performance of all students was compared. Furthermore, there was no strong correlation between the mathematics grade score and the other variables. The probable reason for this is the significantly higher proportion of numeracy tasks and a relatively low proportion of geometry tasks in the mathematics grade. A limitation of the study is the small sample size and the fact that only high school students were examined. Considering the results and limitations of our pilot study, it is promising to extend the survey to a larger sample of mixed-grade students from secondary schools and technical schools, investigating the relationship with additional subjects.