The Center for STEM Education at Bradley University, Peoria, IL

Sherri J Morris, Center for STEM Education, Bradley University

The Center for STEM Education at Bradley University was created as a platform to facilitate the interaction and collaboration among faculty in STEM disciplines and education. Hence, the Center was established to increase communication across disciplinary boundaries and among colleges within the university.

The mission of the Center for STEM Education at Bradley University is to increase STEM literacy and improve STEM education and career opportunities for all citizens. The mission is achieved through the development of programs that challenge and advance the scholarship on the practice of learning and teaching in STEM fields, and that provide educational opportunities and training for the next generation of STEM educators, STEM professionals, and STEM-literate citizens.

The Center for STEM Education serves a number of audiences. The center works with P-12 Educators, community partners, civic entities and faculty and students at Bradley University. Many of our activities have been developed as outreach with the intention of impacting P-12 participants, however, we also deliver course work on campus for undergraduates, graduates, and our retiree community.

The objectives of the Center for STEM Education are:
To design, seek resources for, and deliver programming to
- enhance the preparation of P-20 STEM educators and administrators;
- address the shortage of qualified educators in the STEM areas which threatens U.S. competitiveness in the global economy;
- increase recruitment and retention and the preparation of students entering STEM fields;
- increase recruitment and participation of groups historically under-represented in STEM areas, including women and minorities;
- increase the scientific literacy of all Bradley students;
- provide science education opportunities for all citizens.
To add to the knowledge base by disseminating research findings from projects in the Center regarding effective and best practices for the education and professional development of STEM educators and STEM practitioners.
To serve as an incubator and foster collaboration among scholars in all areas of STEM education research.
To provide opportunities to explore pedagogical approaches related to transdisciplinary, inquiry-based education using both on-site and distance delivery of instruction.

As described earlier the Center was established to ensure communication among faculty with shared interest in STEM education efforts and science literacy. As such the Center has been successful in bringing together a group that has fostered a number of far reaching programs and opportunities. Faculty are invited to join as recognized Faculty of the Center for STEM Education. Activities are then shared among this group. We also communicate through our external board, with the local Regional Office of Education (ROE), external partners such as University of Illinois Extension, Riverfront Museum, etc. Our success is very much dependent on bringing together stakeholders and engaging the university and our local community in conversation.