Explore the Products
The following materials were created by participants from the October 2020 STEM Futures Workshop. The collection includes a variety of products that illustrate future directions in STEM education: program descriptions, faculty development workshop designs, and more. Each product includes an associated sub-element (e.g. activities, course descriptions, handbooks) to help clarify the direction and substance of the larger product.
Results 1 - 10 of 26 matches
The Ethical Reasoning InstrumentTM (ERI)
Cynthia Bauerle, James Madison University; Laura Bottomley, North Carolina State University; Carrie Hall, University of New Hampshire-Main Campus; Daniel Howard, University of New Hampshire-Main Campus; Lisette Torres-Gerald, Nebraska Wesleyan University
We built a digital resource instrument (a wizard) to assist in the development of life sciences curricula that frame biology competencies in the context of ethical reasoning, since ethical and moral reasoning are important dimensions to college student development (Kohlberg, 1976). Using the "Eight Key Questions" framework developed at James Madison University, we generated a series of questions and examples of how instructors can adapt their syllabi, classroom activities, assessment, and pedagogy to re-center ethical reasoning.
Critical Health Studies Undergraduate Degree Program
Erika Bonadio, Salem College; Spring Duvall, Salem College; Katie Manthey, Salem College; Maria Robinson, Salem College; Jing Ye, Salem College
Critical Health Studies is a transdisciplinary major program of co-taught courses that incorporates STEM subjects (biology, biochemistry, environmental science, psychology, and kinesiology), social sciences (anthropology, sociology, communications, entrepreneurship), and humanities (writing, religion, history, arts), related to health and well-being. Students will proceed through the major in a cohort that is book-ended by project-based learning seminars. A meta focus in action research will lead these cohorts in partnerships with community groups to create meaningful interventions to reduce health inequities. The curriculum will model a decolonized course design to promote fundamental values.
An Interactive Fiction Game for Information Literacy in STEM Courses
Dana Atwood-Blaine, University of Northern Iowa; David Grant, University of Northern Iowa; Anne Marie Gruber, University of Northern Iowa
This is a digital interactive fiction game for undergraduate STEM students to "choose their own adventure" and engage in, practice, and learn information literacy skills. Within a science-fiction scenario with characters crafted to reflect diversity in science, students will evaluate and act upon provided information types and sources to understand a mysterious set of events that unfold on their arrival at an outpost on Saturn's moon, Titan. Gameplay and post-play reflective activities will require critical thinking, problem-solving, and dealing with ambiguity in order to unravel different potential endings about the existence of an extraterrestrial life form. Thus, effective gameplay will require players to draw upon foundational, meta, and humanistic knowledge domains.
A Program Portfolio in Environmental Science as a Way to Integrate Humanistic, Meta-, and Foundational Knowledge and Develop Professional Identity by University of Phoenix
Jacquelyn Kelly, University of Phoenix-Online Campus; Dr. Eve Krahe, University of Phoenix-Phoenix Campus; Mary Elizabeth Smith, University of Phoenix-Phoenix Campus
The program portfolio is a student project that spans across the core coursework in the undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science (BS/EVS). Deliverables from multiple core courses contribute toward portfolio creation. The completed portfolio is assessed in the final portfolio course of the program. Students will be able to use their portfolios to demonstrate career-readiness to potential employers and as a personal model and process for professional growth.
Certificate Program in Ethics in STEAM Research with Indigenous Communities and Lands
Karletta Chief (Diné), The University of Arizona
Dominique David-Chavez, Colorado State University & Native Nations Institute
Ángel A. Garcia Jr., James Madison University
Darryl Reano, Florida International University
Steven Semken, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
This is a certification program introducing ethical frameworks for collaborative STEAM research with Indigenous communities and/or on Indigenous lands. This certificate is designed for academic researchers, student researchers, funding program managers, and similar professionals (referred to here collectively as researchers). The certificate is based on Indigenous governance and rights-based metrics for integrity.
Creation of a revised Biochemistry and Molecular BS degree integrating the humanistic, metacognitive, and foundational knowledge domains
Tammy Clark, Viterbo University; Scott Gabriel, Viterbo University
Viterbo University's revised Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Bachelor of Science Program aims to prepare future students for healthcare and STEM-related careers by integrating foundational, meta, and humanistic knowledge. This holistic approach is critical as the problems in our world continue to increase in complexity and involve an increasing amount of diversity of approaches and viewpoints. This integration is achieved through a curriculum that invites students to use knowledge in applied settings such as course-embedded research, service-learning, and community building both on and off-campus. Students will participate in an annual biochemistry symposium and related seminar course that showcase the complexity of science-related issues within our world.
Translating STEM, Integrating Values
Becky Bates, Minnesota State University-Mankato; Alexandra Bradner, Kenyon College
Translating across disciplines, which are often identified by their different styles of reasoning, is challenging, but responsible citizenship requires the use of multiple perspectives to solve problems. Our translation goal is to value what other disciplines already do and know, and find pathways to incorporate that knowledge both within and outside STEM. This team has considered these translational challenges from both a liberal arts perspective and an engineering/science perspective, and have connected both to the use of narrative and story. We present two credentials in STEM communications and in ethics that help students learn the skills of translation, while practicing integration.
Montana Space Grant Consortium Hands-on STEM Certificate
Angela Des Jardins, Montana State University-Bozeman; Randal Larimer, Montana State University-Bozeman
Many Montana higher education students don't currently have good access to the real-world STEM experience employers desire. This is due to many factors, such as institutional focus on academic learning and relatively low number of local pre-graduation training and research opportunities. Therefore, Montana Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) has created a hands-on STEM certificate that will form a guided path to prepare the participants to start their careers.
The Scientific Process in a Changing World
Jordan Axelson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Michelle Kovarik, Trinity College; Jeff Moore, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
We have designed in detail a single course to serve as the first in an envisioned sequence of courses for a certificate in science literacy. There are two phases to the course. An initial case study will exemplify how the scientific process played out in a historical context. In the second phase, students will produce a final report about a contemporary socioscientific issue, present their results to the class, and generate a "publishable" product.
University of Maryland, Baltimore CURE Scholars Program: A Culminating Design Thinking Capstone Experience
Dr. TaShara Bailey, University of Maryland, Baltimore; Gia McGinnis, University of Maryland-Baltimore; Sequoia Wright
The UMB CURE Scholars Program is a year-round, holistic STEM and healthcare pipeline program for West Baltimore middle and high school youth. Scholars enter the program at 6th grade and continue through the end of high school. CURE provides afterschool and summer programming, and annual STEM exposition fair, as well as social-emotional support and parent and community engagement through its social work program. High school scholars participate in paid summer internships in partnership with Baltimore City's summer employment program. As the oldest scholars are now juniors, we seek to design a culminating project-based capstone experience ending in their 12th grade year that would allow them to synthesize their work from the prior six years of effort through a Design Thinking Framework. Ultimately, we ask the questions, "What does it mean to "graduate" from the CURE Program?" and "What knowledge and skills do they need to demonstrate readiness for STEM/healthcare college and career programs?"