Shima Salehi

All Publications

• Demographic gaps or preparation gaps?: The large impact of incoming preparation on performance of students in introductory physics PHYSICAL REVIEW PHYSICS EDUCATION RESEARCH Salehi, S., Burkholder, E., Lepage, G., Pollock, S., Wieman, C. 2019; 15 (2)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.15.020114

  View details for Web of Science ID 000476696500001

• Exploring bias in mechanical engineering students' perceptions of classmates. PloS one Salehi, S., Holmes, N. G., Wieman, C. 2019; 14 (3): e0212477

  Abstract

  Gender disparity in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields is an on-going challenge. Gender bias is one of the possible mechanisms leading to such disparities and has been extensively studied. Previous work showed that there was a gender bias in how students perceived the competence of their peers in undergraduate biology courses. We examined whether there was a similar gender bias in a mechanical engineering course. We conducted the study in two offerings of the course, which used different instructional practices. We found no gender bias in peer perceptions of competence in either of the offerings. However, we did see that the offerings' different instructional practices affected aspects of classroom climate, including: the number of peers who were perceived to be particularly knowledgeable, the richness of the associated network of connections between students, students' familiarity with each other, and their perceptions about the course environment. These results suggest that negative bias against female students in peer perception is not universal, either across institutions or across STEM fields, and that instructional methods may have an impact on classroom climate.

  View details for PubMedID 30845229

• Tools for Science Inquiry Learning: Tool Affordances, Experimentation Strategies, and Conceptual Understanding JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY Bumbacher, E., Salehi, S., Wieman, C., Blikstein, P. 2018; 27 (3): 215–35

  View details for DOI 10.1007/s10956-017-9719-8

  View details for Web of Science ID 000429670400002

• Enhancing Diversity in Undergraduate Science: Self-Efficacy Drives Performance Gains with Active Learning CBE-LIFE SCIENCES EDUCATION Ballen, C. J., Wieman, C., Salehi, S., Searle, J. B., Zamudio, K. R. 2017; 16 (4)

  View details for DOI 10.1187/cbe.16-12-0344

  View details for Web of Science ID 000416928400003

• Exams disadvantage women in introductory biology PLOS ONE Ballen, C. J., Salehi, S., Cotner, S. 2017; 12 (10): e0186419

  Abstract

  The gender gap in STEM fields has prompted a great deal of discussion, but what factors underlie performance deficits remain poorly understood. We show that female students underperformed on exams compared to their male counterparts across ten large introductory biology course sections in fall 2016 (N > 1500 students). Females also reported higher levels of test anxiety and course-relevant science interest. Results from mediation analyses revealed an intriguing pattern: for female students only, and regardless of their academic standing, test anxiety negatively impacted exam performance, while interest in the course-specific science topics increased exam performance. Thus, instructors seeking equitable classrooms can aim to decrease test anxiety and increase student interest in science course content. We provide strategies for mitigating test anxiety and suggestions for alignment of course content with student interest, with the hope of successfully reimagining the STEM pathway as one that is equally accessible to all.

  View details for PubMedID 29049334

• Enhancing Diversity in Undergraduate Science: Self-Efficacy Drives Performance Gains with Active Learning. CBE life sciences education Ballen, C. J., Wieman, C., Salehi, S., Searle, J. B., Zamudio, K. R. 2017; 16 (4)

  Abstract

  Efforts to retain underrepresented minority (URM) students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have shown only limited success in higher education, due in part to a persistent achievement gap between students from historically underrepresented and well-represented backgrounds. To test the hypothesis that active learning disproportionately benefits URM students, we quantified the effects of traditional versus active learning on student academic performance, science self-efficacy, and sense of social belonging in a large (more than 250 students) introductory STEM course. A transition to active learning closed the gap in learning gains between non-URM and URM students and led to an increase in science self-efficacy for all students. Sense of social belonging also increased significantly with active learning, but only for non-URM students. Through structural equation modeling, we demonstrate that, for URM students, the increase in self-efficacy mediated the positive effect of active-learning pedagogy on two metrics of student performance. Our results add to a growing body of research that supports varied and inclusive teaching as one pathway to a diversified STEM workforce.

  View details for PubMedID 29054921

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC5749958

• Using the Bifocal Modeling Framework to Resolve "Discrepant Events" Between Physical Experiments and Virtual Models in Biology JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY Blikstein, P., Fuhrmann, T., Salehi, S. 2016; 25 (4): 513-526

  View details for DOI 10.1007/s10956-016-9623-7

  View details for Web of Science ID 000379698000001

• Bifocal Modeling: Mixing Real and Virtual Labs for Advanced Science Learning 11th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC) Blikstein, P., Fuhrmann, T., Greene, D., Salehi, S. ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY. 2012: 296–299

  View details for Web of Science ID 000323222100051