Park Lora E, Ward Deborah E, Moore-Russo Deborah, Rickard Brian, Vessels Valerie, Hundley Joseph
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, NY, USA.
Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2024 Jul 30:1461672241265954. doi: 10.1177/01461672241265954.
Although many college students intend to major in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), dropout from these fields is high, especially among members of historically underrepresented groups, such as women and racial-ethnic minorities. We propose a minimal, yet potentially powerful intervention to broaden participation in STEM: giving positive feedback to students in STEM. Studies 1 and 2 found that giving positive feedback is less normative in math (vs. English) courses, and instructors' feedback-giving practices and students' experiences mirror these norms. However, students who received positive (vs. only objective) feedback on introductory-level college calculus exams showed greater belonging and self-efficacy in math, which predicted better STEM outcomes (i.e., increased interest in STEM and higher final math course grades, respectively, Study 3). These findings were especially strong for racial-ethnic minority students. Giving positive (vs. only objective) feedback is thus a potentially transformative tool that boosts student outcomes, especially for underrepresented groups.
尽管许多大学生打算主修科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域，但这些领域的辍学率很高，尤其是在历史上代表性不足的群体成员中，如女性和少数族裔。我们提出了一种简单但可能有效的干预措施，以扩大STEM领域的参与度：对STEM领域的学生给予积极反馈。研究1和研究2发现，在数学（与英语相比）课程中给予积极反馈不太常见，教师的反馈给予行为和学生的体验反映了这些规范。然而，在大学入门级微积分考试中收到积极（与仅客观）反馈的学生在数学方面表现出更强的归属感和自我效能感，这预示着更好的STEM成绩（即分别对STEM的兴趣增加和最终数学课程成绩更高，研究3）。这些发现对少数族裔学生尤为明显。因此，给予积极（与仅客观）反馈是一种潜在的变革性工具，可以提高学生成绩，尤其是对代表性不足的群体。
