STEM Education Innovation Programs
Submit a Program Description » The goal of this database is to serve as a searchable collection of effective practices and programs that support improving undergraduate STEM education. Use the text search and the boxes at the right to narrow the collection based on particular aspects that you are interested in.
You can add your own program to the database by completing the database submission form.
Activity Types
Program Components
Target Audience
- College/University Staff 11 matches
- English Language Learners 4 matches
- First Generation College Students 18 matches
- First-year College Students 17 matches
- Graduate Students 10 matches
- In-Service K12 Teachers 5 matches
- Institution Administration 15 matches
- K12 Students 6 matches
- Non-tenure Track Faculty 16 matches
- Post-doctoral Fellows 4 matches
- Pre-Service K12 Teachers 5 matches
- Teaching/Learning Assistants 6 matches
- Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty 23 matches
- Transfer Students 9 matches
- Undergraduate Majors 24 matches
- Undergraduate Non-Majors 15 matches
- Underrepresented Minority Students 20 matches
Point of Intervention
Results 1 - 10 of 42 matches
InSciTE
Wiline Pangle, Central Michigan University
Our mission is to create an equitable student-driven environment for undergraduate students to develop skills on interdisciplinary communication, collaboration and real-world problem solving to become culturally competent and effective leaders.
Program Components: Professional Development:Advising and Mentoring, Accessibility, Diversity/Inclusion, Pedagogical Training, Curriculum Development, Student Assessment, Course Evaluation, Cultural Competency, Institutional Systems:Interdepartmental Collaboration, Supporting Students:Mentoring Program, Student Engagement, Learning Communities, Undergraduate Research, Quantitative Skills, Academic Support, Scholarships, Grants, Workstudy, Professional Preparation, Cohort Program, Clubs/Social Activities, Outreach:Presentations/Talks, Student Recruiting
Target Audience: Underrepresented Minority Students, English Language Learners, College/University Staff, Non-tenure Track Faculty, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Institution Administration, First-year College Students, Undergraduate Majors, Transfer Students, First Generation College Students
Point of Intervention: College/School
Institution Type: Doctorate-granting Universities:Moderate Research Activity
CCHF Chemistry Summer Undergraduate Research Program (CSURP)
Travis York, APLU
CSURP is a program for undergraduate students, majoring in chemistry or chemical engineering, interested in conducting supervised summer research. The program is supported by the Center for Selective C-H Functionalization (CCHF), which is a network of 23 academic and industrial research laboratories at 15 partner institutions throughout the country. The CCHF is one of eight National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Centers for Chemical Innovation.
Target Audience: Underrepresented Minority Students, Undergraduate Majors, First Generation College Students
Point of Intervention: Major/Department
Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA)
Travis York, APLU
The Health Sciences & Technology Academy increases the number of African American and other underrepresented students in West Virginia who pursue degrees in health sciences and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors, thereby increasing the number of health practitioners and advocates in the medically undeserved communities of West Virginia. HSTA helps West Virginia high school students succeed in health care and other STEM-based undergraduate and graduate degree programs. We marshal the efforts of hundreds of mentors―teachers, community members, and higher-education faculty, staff, and students―to create a framework that supports children facing social and financial challenges in obtaining a diploma and furthering their education.
Program Components: Professional Development:Pedagogical Training, Supporting Students:Mentoring Program, Bootcamp, Student Engagement, Internships, Professional Preparation
Target Audience: K12 Students
NM EPSCoR Early Career Leadership Workshop
Travis York, APLU
The New Mexico EPSCoR Post Doc Leadership Workshop is an innovative 3-day intensive, residential program designed to enhance the professional skills of post-doctoral scholars in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The workshop uses interactive approaches to develop leadership skills that contribute to post doc career development and success.
Program Components: Professional Development:Advising and Mentoring, Diversity/Inclusion, Supporting Students:Mentoring Program, Professional Preparation
Target Audience: Non-tenure Track Faculty, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Graduate Students, Post-doctoral Fellows
Point of Intervention: Institution
Institutional Impact of Scaling-up Course-Embedded Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs)
Judy Awong-Taylor, Georgia Gwinnett College
Georgia Gwinnett College was established in 2006 as a public liberal arts institution with a mission to provide open access to all high school graduates regardless of SAT scores. In 2011, The School of Science and Technology (SST) implemented a program for enhancing student engagement and learning in all STEM disciplines. GGC's Four-year Undergraduate Research and Creative Experience (4YrURCE) program is based upon a discipline-specific course-embedded research model which scaffolds multiple research and creative experiences for all STEM majors during all four years of matriculation. To date, 54 courses have been re-designed as CUREs and over 3,000 students (unduplicated count) are impacted annually. Longitudinal program-level assessment data includes student performance, student attitudinal, and faculty attitudinal data gathered over the past five years of the initiative.
Program Components: Professional Development:Diversity/Inclusion, Pedagogical Training, Curriculum Development, Student Assessment, Course Evaluation, Institutional Systems:Incentive/Reward Systems, Evaluating Teaching, Interdepartmental Collaboration, Supporting Students:Tutoring, Student Engagement, Undergraduate Research
Target Audience: Underrepresented Minority Students, College/University Staff, Non-tenure Track Faculty, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Institution Administration, First-year College Students, Undergraduate Non-Majors, Undergraduate Majors, First Generation College Students
Point of Intervention: College/School
Institution Type: Baccalaureate Colleges
LAUNCH: Learning Communities
Travis York, APLU
Learning communities (LCs) are opportunities for students to actively participate in their education. Learning communities connect students with others of similar interests or backgrounds, enrich the learning process and promote greater student success. Creating a rich learning environment, learning communities emphasize relationships and community building among students, faculty and staff. LCs usually feature small group interaction, common intellectual experiences, and mentorship from peers and/or faculty. Students gain insight into the context for course material, develop a social network and support, are exposed to new experiences and develop their critical thinking skills.
Program Components: Supporting Students:Mentoring Program, Learning Communities, Academic Support
Target Audience: Underrepresented Minority Students, First-year College Students, Undergraduate Non-Majors, Undergraduate Majors, First Generation College Students
Point of Intervention: Institution
Unconscious Bias Faculty Training
Travis York, APLU
The Office of Faculty Development and Diversity and The Cornell Interactive Theatre Ensemble (CITE) offer a workshop focused on establishing an effective search and addressing issues such as unconscious bias in active recruitment.
Program Components: Institutional Systems:Personnel/Hiring
Target Audience: College/University Staff, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Institution Administration
Point of Intervention: Institution
Teaching Quality Framework Initiative
Noah Finkelstein, University of Colorado at Boulder
This effort provides framework for supporting and assessing teaching quality across all departments on a campus (i.e. a Teaching Quality Framework, or TQF). The TQF has two essential elements: (1) categories that define teaching as a scholarly activity, and (2) a change process for implementation. To assess teaching quality, we draw on three perspectives--faculty members, their students, and their peers--as sources of data. The TQF scholarly categories are held constant across departments, but each department contextualizes them according to the specifics of their discipline. The implementation strategy is grounded in theories of organizational change and is designed to lead to campus-wide adoption. This strategy is not a top-down mandate; it focuses on bringing together key faculty leaders and departments and providing them with a structure to co-create, test, and evaluate an assessment system in the context that makes the most sense to them.
Program Components: Professional Development:Student Assessment, Course Evaluation, Institutional Systems:Personnel/Hiring, Incentive/Reward Systems, Evaluating Promotion and Tenure, Evaluating Teaching
Target Audience: College/University Staff, Non-tenure Track Faculty, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Institution Administration
Point of Intervention: Institution
Institution Type: Doctorate-granting Universities:Highest Research Activity
Pre-Calculus and Calculus 1 Readiness Workshops
Tom Cheatham, Middle Tennessee State University
Students with gaps in their mathematics background are at risk of not succeeding in their upcoming math class. We have begun to do 3-day intensive math workshops the week before the students starts the class to help students fill some of the gaps that may prevent them from succeeding in the course. These workshops have proven to be an inexpensive way to help at-risk students succeed. Students who have previously taken the course, those with poor math ACT scores, students who have not taken math in several years, and others are invited to participate for free. They get to know other students who are in the same boat as they are in and a professor (6 hours per day for 3 days). They fill some gaps and learn that you can study math for a long period of time without dying. Data from the first few semesters is promising.
Program Components: Supporting Students:Bridge Program, Bootcamp, Student Engagement, Academic Support
Target Audience: Underrepresented Minority Students, English Language Learners, Undergraduate Non-Majors, Undergraduate Majors, First Generation College Students
Point of Intervention: Major/Department
Institution Type: Doctorate-granting Universities:Moderate Research Activity
Communities of practice for engaging faculty in STEM course reform
Laura Hahn, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
At large research-intensive universities, teaching STEM at scale has posed instructional challenges to faculty who are unaccustomed to addressing pedagogy in a collective, sustainable manner. At our institution, through strategic implementation of communities of practice, we are beginning to integrate the qualities of a strong, collaborative research culture into the context of teaching.
Program Components: Professional Development:Pedagogical Training, Curriculum Development, Institutional Systems:Strategic Planning, Interdepartmental Collaboration, Supporting Students:Student Engagement, Undergraduate Research
Target Audience: College/University Staff, Non-tenure Track Faculty, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Institution Administration, Undergraduate Majors
Point of Intervention: College/School
Institution Type: Doctorate-granting Universities:Highest Research Activity

