Hack Days as a Method to Increase Interdisciplinary Knowledge and Collaboration Skills of College Students in STEM Fields
Keywords:
active learning, cooperative learning, hackathon, hack, biology, diseases, technology, engineering, drones, interdisciplinaryAbstract
Providing college students with learning experiences that account for the interdisciplinary nature of most STEM professions has proven challenging. STEM educational practices typically follow a more scripted process designed to build important foundational skills. In contrast, most STEM professions are interdisciplinary and collaborative in nature. Thus, a gap in experience is created that needs to be addressed if we desire our students to be successful. One potential solution is to hold extra-curricular events, such as a hack day, to provide students with collaborative interdisciplinary learning experiences. We held two such hack day events and found that these events were a highly effective at increasing both the interest and interdisciplinary knowledge of undergraduates.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Deepa, S., & Seth, M. (2013). Do Soft Skills Matter? - Implications for Educators Based on Recruiters’ Perspective (SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 2256273). Social Science Research Network. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2256273
Fernandes, J. N., Moise, I. K., Maranto, G. L., & Beier, J. C. (2018). Revamping Mosquito-borne Disease Control to Tackle Future Threats. Trends in Parasitology, 34(5), 359–368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2018.01.005
Fifolt, M., & Searby, L. (2010). Mentoring in Cooperative Education and Internships: Preparing Protégés for STEM Professions. Journal of STEM Education: Innovations & Research, 11(1).
Fournier, A. M. V., Holford, A. J., Bond, A. L., & Leighton, M. A. (2019). Unpaid work and access to science professions. PLOS ONE, 14(6), e0217032. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217032
Franklinos, L. H. V., Jones, K. E., Redding, D. W., & Abubakar, I. (2019). The effect of global change on mosquito-borne disease. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 19(9), e302–e312. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(19)30161-6
Gama, K. (2019). Developing Course Projects in a Hack Day: An Experience Report. Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, 388–394. https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319777
Gao, X., Li, P., Shen, J., & Sun, H. (2020). Reviewing assessment of student learning in interdisciplinary STEM education. International Journal of STEM Education, 7(1), 24. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-020-00225-4
Grugulis, I., & Vincent, S. (2009). Whose skill is it anyway? ‘Soft’skills and polarization. Work, Employment and Society, 23(4), 597–615.
Jang, H. (2016). Identifying 21st Century STEM Competencies Using Workplace Data. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 25(2), 284–301. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-015-9593-1
Jones, R., Kulkarni, M. A., Davidson, T. M. V., Team, R.-L. R., & Talbot, B. (2020). Arbovirus vectors of epidemiological concern in the Americas: A scoping review of entomological studies on Zika, dengue and chikungunya virus vectors. PLOS ONE, 15(2), e0220753. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220753
Kniffin, K. M., & Hanks, A. S. (2018). The trade-offs of teamwork among STEM doctoral graduates. American Psychologist, 73(4), 420–432. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000288
Lapp, H., Bala, S., Balhoff, J. P., Bouck, A., Goto, N., Holder, M., Holland, R., Holloway, A., Katayama, T., Lewis, P. O., Mackey, A. J., Osborne, B. I., Piel, W. H., Pond, S. L. K., Poon, A. F. Y., Qiu, W.-G., Stajich, J. E., Stoltzfus, A., Thierer, T., … Vision, T. J. (2007). The 2006 NESCent Phyloinformatics Hackathon: A Field Report. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 3, 117693430700300020. https://doi.org/10.1177/117693430700300016
Marra, R. M., Steege, L., Tsai, C.-L., & Tang, N.-E. (2016). Beyond “group work”: An integrated approach to support collaboration in engineering education. International Journal of STEM Education, 3(1), 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-016-0050-3
Ornes, S. (2016). Science and Culture: The value of a good science hack. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(29), 7928–7929. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607652113
Stokols, D., Hall, K. L., Taylor, B. K., & Moser, R. P. (2008). The Science of Team Science: Overview of the Field and Introduction to the Supplement. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 35(2, Supplement), S77–S89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2008.05.002
Tandon, J., Akhavian, R., Gumina, M., & Pakpour, N. (2017). CSU East Bay Hack Day: A University hackathon to combat malaria and zika with drones. 2017 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 985–989. https://doi.org/10.1109/EDUCON.2017.7942968
Thiry, H., Laursen, S. L., & Hunter, A.-B. (2011). What experiences help students become scientists? A comparative study of research and other sources of personal and professional gains for STEM undergraduates. The Journal of Higher Education, 82(4), 357–388.
Trainer, E. H., Kalyanasundaram, A., Chaihirunkarn, C., & Herbsleb, J. D. (2016). How to Hackathon: Socio-technical Tradeoffs in Brief, Intensive Collocation. Proceedings of the 19th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing, 1118–1130. https://doi.org/10.1145/2818048.2819946
Trapani, J., & Hale, K. (2019). Higher Education in Science and Engineering. Science & Engineering Indicators 2020. NSB-2019-7. In National Science Foundation. National Science Foundation. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED599398
Tsui, L. (2009). Recruiting Females into Male Dominated Programs: Effective Strategies and Approaches. Journal of College Admission. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ838697
Wang, M.-T., & Degol, J. L. (2017). Gender Gap in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): Current Knowledge, Implications for Practice, Policy, and Future Directions. Educational Psychology Review, 29(1), 119–140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9355-x
Fernandes, J. N., Moise, I. K., Maranto, G. L., & Beier, J. C. (2018). Revamping Mosquito-borne Disease Control to Tackle Future Threats. Trends in Parasitology, 34(5), 359–368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2018.01.005
Fifolt, M., & Searby, L. (2010). Mentoring in Cooperative Education and Internships: Preparing Protégés for STEM Professions. Journal of STEM Education: Innovations & Research, 11(1).
Fournier, A. M. V., Holford, A. J., Bond, A. L., & Leighton, M. A. (2019). Unpaid work and access to science professions. PLOS ONE, 14(6), e0217032. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217032
Franklinos, L. H. V., Jones, K. E., Redding, D. W., & Abubakar, I. (2019). The effect of global change on mosquito-borne disease. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 19(9), e302–e312. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(19)30161-6
Gama, K. (2019). Developing Course Projects in a Hack Day: An Experience Report. Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, 388–394. https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319777
Gao, X., Li, P., Shen, J., & Sun, H. (2020). Reviewing assessment of student learning in interdisciplinary STEM education. International Journal of STEM Education, 7(1), 24. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-020-00225-4
Grugulis, I., & Vincent, S. (2009). Whose skill is it anyway? ‘Soft’skills and polarization. Work, Employment and Society, 23(4), 597–615.
Jang, H. (2016). Identifying 21st Century STEM Competencies Using Workplace Data. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 25(2), 284–301. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-015-9593-1
Jones, R., Kulkarni, M. A., Davidson, T. M. V., Team, R.-L. R., & Talbot, B. (2020). Arbovirus vectors of epidemiological concern in the Americas: A scoping review of entomological studies on Zika, dengue and chikungunya virus vectors. PLOS ONE, 15(2), e0220753. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220753
Kniffin, K. M., & Hanks, A. S. (2018). The trade-offs of teamwork among STEM doctoral graduates. American Psychologist, 73(4), 420–432. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000288
Lapp, H., Bala, S., Balhoff, J. P., Bouck, A., Goto, N., Holder, M., Holland, R., Holloway, A., Katayama, T., Lewis, P. O., Mackey, A. J., Osborne, B. I., Piel, W. H., Pond, S. L. K., Poon, A. F. Y., Qiu, W.-G., Stajich, J. E., Stoltzfus, A., Thierer, T., … Vision, T. J. (2007). The 2006 NESCent Phyloinformatics Hackathon: A Field Report. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 3, 117693430700300020. https://doi.org/10.1177/117693430700300016
Marra, R. M., Steege, L., Tsai, C.-L., & Tang, N.-E. (2016). Beyond “group work”: An integrated approach to support collaboration in engineering education. International Journal of STEM Education, 3(1), 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-016-0050-3
Ornes, S. (2016). Science and Culture: The value of a good science hack. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(29), 7928–7929. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607652113
Stokols, D., Hall, K. L., Taylor, B. K., & Moser, R. P. (2008). The Science of Team Science: Overview of the Field and Introduction to the Supplement. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 35(2, Supplement), S77–S89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2008.05.002
Tandon, J., Akhavian, R., Gumina, M., & Pakpour, N. (2017). CSU East Bay Hack Day: A University hackathon to combat malaria and zika with drones. 2017 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 985–989. https://doi.org/10.1109/EDUCON.2017.7942968
Thiry, H., Laursen, S. L., & Hunter, A.-B. (2011). What experiences help students become scientists? A comparative study of research and other sources of personal and professional gains for STEM undergraduates. The Journal of Higher Education, 82(4), 357–388.
Trainer, E. H., Kalyanasundaram, A., Chaihirunkarn, C., & Herbsleb, J. D. (2016). How to Hackathon: Socio-technical Tradeoffs in Brief, Intensive Collocation. Proceedings of the 19th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing, 1118–1130. https://doi.org/10.1145/2818048.2819946
Trapani, J., & Hale, K. (2019). Higher Education in Science and Engineering. Science & Engineering Indicators 2020. NSB-2019-7. In National Science Foundation. National Science Foundation. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED599398
Tsui, L. (2009). Recruiting Females into Male Dominated Programs: Effective Strategies and Approaches. Journal of College Admission. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ838697
Wang, M.-T., & Degol, J. L. (2017). Gender Gap in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): Current Knowledge, Implications for Practice, Policy, and Future Directions. Educational Psychology Review, 29(1), 119–140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9355-x
Additional Files
Published
2021-09-08
Issue
Section
Articles
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
Hack Days as a Method to Increase Interdisciplinary Knowledge and Collaboration Skills of College Students in STEM Fields. (2021). Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education, 10(2), 81-92. https://ojed.org/jise/article/view/2814
