ERIC Number: EJ1208875
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Mar
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-189X
EISSN: N/A
The Relationship between Advanced Placement Mathematics Courses and Students' STEM Career Interest
Warne, Russell T.; Sonnert, Gerhard; Sadler, Philip M.
Educational Researcher, v48 n2 p101-111 Mar 2019
Increasing the number of students choosing a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) career is a national educational priority. One way thought to increase interest in STEM is with advanced STEM courses in high school, especially Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Using data from 15,847 college undergraduates, we investigated the relationship between participation in AP mathematics courses (AP Calculus and AP Statistics) and student career interest in STEM. After controlling for covariates, the strongest effect (d = 0.13) showed that students who took AP Calculus had a modestly higher career interest in engineering and mathematics/computer science. However, the relationship between most AP mathematics courses and most STEM career outcomes was negligible. Most differences in outcomes between AP and non-AP students are likely due to preexisting differences between the two groups.
Descriptors: Correlation, Mathematics Instruction, STEM Education, Science Careers, Science Interests, Student Interests, Undergraduate Students, College Mathematics, Calculus, Statistics, Science Instruction, Advanced Placement, College Science
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2814
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: 1161052