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.

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Current Search Limits:
Institutional Systems
College/University Staff

Results 1 - 6 of 6 matches

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.

Activity Types: Teaching Circles/Learning Communities
Program Components: Professional Development:Pedagogical Training, Curriculum Development, Institutional Systems:Strategic Planning, Supporting Students:Undergraduate Research, Student Engagement, Institutional Systems:Interdepartmental Collaboration
Target Audience: Non-tenure Track Faculty, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Undergraduate Majors, Institution Administration, College/University Staff
Point of Intervention: College/School
Institution Type: Doctorate-granting Universities:Highest Research Activity

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.

Activity Types: Workshops
Program Components: Institutional Systems:Personnel/Hiring
Target Audience: Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Institution Administration, College/University Staff
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.

Activity Types: Teaching Circles/Learning Communities
Program Components: Professional Development:Course Evaluation, Student Assessment, Institutional Systems:Evaluating Teaching, Personnel/Hiring, Incentive/Reward Systems, Evaluating Promotion and Tenure
Target Audience: Non-tenure Track Faculty, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Institution Administration, College/University Staff
Point of Intervention: Institution
Institution Type: Doctorate-granting Universities:Highest Research Activity

UA-AAU STEM Collaborative Learning Spaces Project
Lisa Elfring, The University of Arizona
The Collaborative Learning Spaces Project (CLSP), an extension of the UA AAU Undergraduate STEM Education Project, is a university-wide collaborative effort at the University of Arizona to develop classroom environments that are more suitable for active learning pedagogies than traditional lecture halls. Instructors and their teaching teams who are using these rooms receive training and participate in faculty learning communities (FLCs) to explore best practices and innovative ideas for use of these spaces.

Activity Types: Teaching Circles/Learning Communities, Workshops
Program Components: Professional Development:Diversity/Inclusion, Accessibility, Pedagogical Training, Institutional Systems:Evaluating Teaching, Supporting Students:Student Engagement, Institutional Systems:Physical Infrastructure, Interdepartmental Collaboration, Professional Development:Student Assessment, Course Evaluation
Target Audience: Institution Administration, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Non-tenure Track Faculty, College/University Staff, First-year College Students, Undergraduate Majors, First Generation College Students, Graduate Students, Teaching/Learning Assistants, Transfer Students, Undergraduate Non-Majors, Pre-Service K12 Teachers, English Language Learners, Underrepresented Minority Students
Point of Intervention: Institution
Institution Type: Doctorate-granting Universities:Highest Research Activity

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.

Activity Types: Conferences, Workshops
Program Components: Professional Development:Course Evaluation, Student Assessment, Pedagogical Training, Diversity/Inclusion, Curriculum Development, Institutional Systems:Incentive/Reward Systems, Supporting Students:Undergraduate Research, Student Engagement, Tutoring, Institutional Systems:Evaluating Teaching, Interdepartmental Collaboration
Target Audience: Underrepresented Minority Students, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Non-tenure Track Faculty, Institution Administration, College/University Staff, Undergraduate Non-Majors, First-year College Students, First Generation College Students, Undergraduate Majors
Point of Intervention: College/School
Institution Type: Baccalaureate Colleges

Systemic Transformation of Education through Evidence-based Reform (STEER)
Gerry Meisels, University of South Florida
STEER seeks to create a culture that reflects a strong balance between teaching and research, and values both. STEER promotes the adoption of evidence-based teaching practices in all science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses, especially in the large-enrollment gateway courses. To facilitate systemic change, the University of South Florida (USF) and Hillsborough Community College (HCC) are partnering to offer professional development for faculty and strengthening coordinated student advising, because the number of STEM community college students transferring to USF exceeds the number who began their studies at USF. STEER's comprehensive approach also addresses other factors that may influence students' academic experiences, such as graduate teaching assistant (GTA) training, student advising, course alignment, institutional policies related to teaching, and physical infrastructure such as classroom configuration. This effort is supported in part by the National Science Foundation, grant number DUE1525574.

Activity Types: Teaching Circles/Learning Communities, Workshops
Program Components: Outreach:Inter-Institutional Collaboration, Policy Change, Professional Development:Cultural Competency, Institutional Systems:Incentive/Reward Systems, Professional Development:Curriculum Development, Pedagogical Training, Advising and Mentoring, Diversity/Inclusion, Outreach:Presentations/Talks, Institutional Systems:Evaluating Promotion and Tenure, Supporting Students:Mentoring Program, Student Engagement, Institutional Systems:Evaluating Teaching, Physical Infrastructure, Interdepartmental Collaboration, Strategic Planning
Target Audience: Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Non-tenure Track Faculty, College/University Staff, Underrepresented Minority Students, Institution Administration, First-year College Students, Teaching/Learning Assistants, Transfer Students
Point of Intervention: Multiple Institutions
Institution Type: Doctorate-granting Universities:Highest Research Activity