Table 1
Participant Demographics.
| CHARACTERISTIC | REGIONS | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| N. EAST n = 191 | OTHER n = 527 | FULL U.S. n = 718 | |
| Gender | |||
| Male | 73% | 74% | 74% |
| Female | 27% | 26% | 26% |
| Ethnicity | |||
| White | 95% | 88% | 90% |
| Bachelor’s Degree Area | |||
| T&E education | 34% | 26% | 30% |
| A professional engineering field | 9% | 7% | 7% |
| State K-12 T&E teaching certification | 85% | 75% | 78% |
| Grade Level Taught | |||
| 6–8 | 30% | 28% | 29% |
| 9–12 | 51% | 56% | 55% |
| 6–12 | 11% | 12% | 11% |
| Years of P-12 teaching experience | |||
| 0–8 years | 20% | 33% | 30% |
| 9–25 years | 55% | 45% | 48% |
| >26 years | 25% | 22% | 23% |
[i] Note. T&E = technology and engineering education.
Table 2
Accident Occurrences Over a Five-Year Span.
| REGION(S) | n | NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 (%) | 1–5 (%) | 6–10 (%) | 11–15 (%) | >15 (%) | ||
| Northeast | 191 | 11 | 43 | 20 | 17 | 9 |
| Rest of U.S. | 527 | 17 | 51 | 18 | 8 | 7 |
Table 3
Mann-Whitney U tests for Accident Occurrences Over a Five-Year Span.
| REGION (S) | n | Mdn | M RANK | U | z | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast | 191 | 1 | 404.20 | 41790.50 | –3.721 | <0.001* |
| Rest of U.S. | 527 | 1 | 343.30 |
[i] Note. * = p < 0.05.
Table 4
Polychoric Correlations of Risk Factors Associated with Accident Occurrences Over a Five-Year Span in Northeastern U. S. STEM Courses.
| RISK FACTORS | ACCIDENT OCCURRENCES | |
|---|---|---|
| ρ | p | |
| Course Characteristics | ||
| >60% of class time doing hands-on activities^ | 0.32 | *** |
| Course enrollment >24^ | 0.31 | ** |
| Course with increased hazards# | 0.25 | * |
| >15% of students in courses taught have a disability | 0.10 | |
| >3 course preps | 0.02 | |
| Facility Characteristics | ||
| Facility included a lab area | 0.56 | *** |
| Separate finishing room^ | 0.34 | ** |
| Room square footage | 0.29 | ** |
| Sink in lab area^^ | 0.20 | * |
| Lab Practices | ||
| Table saw used in lab | 0.41 | *** |
| Welding activities conducted in lab^ | 0.23 | * |
| Circuit breakers tripped | 0.22 | * |
[i] Note. # = Courses classified with increased hazards Love, Roy, & Sirinides (2023), ^ = Significant factor in this study but not in national study, ^^ = Risk factor in this study but protective factor in national study (Love, Roy, & Sirinides, 2023), *** = p < 0.0001, ** = p < 0.01, * = p < 0.05.
Table 5
Polychoric Correlations of Protective Factors Associated with Accident Occurrences Over a Five-Year Span in Northeastern U. S. STEM Courses.
| PROTECTIVE FACTORS | ACCIDENT OCCURRENCES | |
|---|---|---|
| ρ | P | |
| Coursework/Preparation | ||
| Graduate certificate in an engineering field^ | –0.52 | ~ |
| Graduate certificate in STEM education^ | –0.20 | ~ |
| Graduate certificate in T&E education | –0.15 | |
| Content Included in Safety Training | ||
| First-aid procedures^ | –0.41 | ** |
| Hazard communication plan requirements^ | –0.30 | * |
| Safer classroom management strategies^ | –0.28 | ~ |
| Safety data sheets (SDS) | –0.15 | |
| Reading GHS chemical labels | –0.14 | |
| OSHA requirements | –0.13 | |
| School District Policies and Practices | ||
| District was involved in lab accident litigation within the past five years^ | –0.18 | ~ |
| District restocks first-aid kits in labs each semester | –0.15 | |
| District has a written PPE policy | –0.09 | |
| District conducts annual chemical inventory for labs | –0.07 | |
| District has a written safety policy | –0.04 | |
| Facilities Characteristics | ||
| Phone within 25 feet of lab area | –0.16 | |
| Workspace ≥ 6 sq. ft. per student | –0.12 | |
| Wheelchair accessibility | –0.11 | |
| Lab Practices | ||
| Appropriate welding face protection for all students in the lab area | –0.18 | |
[i] Note. ^ = Significant factor in this study but not in national analyses (Love, Roy, & Sirinides, 2023). ** = p < 0.01, * = p < 0.05, ~ = p < 0.10.
Table 6
No Accident Occurrences Over a Five-Year Span According to Safety Training Experiences Completed.
| REGION(S) | n | SAFETY TRAINING | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UG (%) | G (%) | DI (%) | UD (%) | UO (%) | COMP (%) | ||
| Northeast | 191 | 7 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 5 | 15 |
| Rest of U.S. | 527 | 15 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 14 | 21 |
[i] Note. UG = undergraduate course(s), G = graduate course(s), DI = school district initial safety training, UD = Update training(s) from school district, UO = Update training(s) from outside source, Comp = comprehensive safety training as defined by Love, Roy, and Sirinides (2023).
Table 7
Z tests for Two Independent Proportions Regarding Forms of Safety Training Completed.
| TRAINING SOURCE | NORTHEAST | REST OF U.S. | z | P | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | |||
| Undergraduate Safety Training | 151 | 79 | 331 | 63 | –4.096 | <0.001* |
| Graduate Safety Training | 70 | 37 | 187 | 36 | –0.288 | 0.773 |
| District Initial Safety Training | 27 | 14 | 203 | 39 | 6.187 | <0.001* |
| Safety Updates from School District within 5 years | 80 | 42 | 319 | 61 | 4.443 | <0.001* |
| Safety Updates from Outside Source within 5 years | 40 | 21 | 92 | 18 | –1.065 | 0.287 |
| Comprehensive Safety Training | 26 | 14 | 148 | 28 | 3.999 | <0.001* |
[i] Note. Northeast n = 191, Rest of U.S. n = 527, * = p < 0.05.
Table 8
Multiple Logistic Regression Results.
| MODEL I | MODEL II | MODEL III | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| χ2 | p | χ2 | p | χ2 | p | |
| Hosmer-Lemeshow | 8.879 | 0.353 | 4.594 | 0.800 | 6.577 | 0.583 |
| Model Coefficient | 20.983 | 0.007** | 22.270 | 0.008** | 31.330 | <0.001*** |
| Area under ROC curve | 0.784 | 0.791 | 0.821 | |||
| Nagelkerke R2 | 0.208 | 0.220 | 0.303 | |||
| Safety Factors | β | p | β | p | β | p |
| Course with increased hazards | 1.286 | * | 1.263 | * | 1.504 | * |
| Lab in/connected to facility# | 1.660 | ** | 1.638 | ** | 1.386 | * |
| >3 course preps | 0.579 | 0.650 | 0.628 | |||
| >60% of class time doing hands-on activities | 0.092 | 0.070 | 0.226 | |||
| >1 Students With Disabilities | –0.055 | –0.023 | 0.036 | |||
| Student workspace | –0.475 | –0.345 | –0.142 | |||
| District-wide Personal Protective Equipment policy | –0.515 | –0.574 | –0.772 | |||
| Occupancy load >24 | 0.657 | 0.575 | ||||
| Training Factors | ||||||
| Graduate Cert. (T&E Ed, STEM Ed, or Engrg. Field) | –0.957 | –1.062 | –1.098 | |||
| Safety training in undergrad coursework | –1.746 | ** | ||||
| School district training on safer classroom Mgmt. | –0.673 | |||||
[i] Note. Statistical associations calculated as logistic regressions in full analytic sample (n = 191). *** = p < .0001, ** = p < 0.01, * = p < 0.05. # = Type of facility with some form of lab/makerspace area; T&E = Technology and engineering.