Engaging Critical Advisors to Formulate a New Framework for Change: Expansion of "Toward a National Endeavor to Marshal Postsecondary STEM Educ Resources to Meet Global Challenges"

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

Assessment / Research (91) Social Sciences - Other (89) Interdisciplinary (99) The immediate goal of this project is to articulate explicit and new theory by which to leverage change in institutions of higher education such that they take up and use existing evidence-based knowledge and resources for STEM education. A companion NSF project at the National Research Council (DUE-0745112) is providing the bulk of the evidence-based knowledge, which includes curricula relevant to current global challenges, pedagogical and assessment approaches that promote effective engagement and learning among all students, and strategies for the professional development of both faculty and graduate students. A longer term goal is to translate new theory for leveraging change in higher education into strategies for action that will mobilize and coordinate the efforts of STEM researchers, educators, and organizations already seeking to improve quality and access in postsecondary STEM education; and also enable and sustain the collaborative contributions of this STEM education reform community. An ancillary goal is to successfully encourage institutions of higher education and STEM departments to rebalance their values and reward systems to more readily recognize and enable teaching as a valued professional role for current and future STEM faculty, as a form of scholarship, and as a respected career path at the K-12 level for STEM undergraduates. This project is employing search strategies in order to identify and invite critical advisors (CAs) to two separate workshops and two additional meetings. CAs are individuals with expertise pertinent to the project goals. After they are successfully recruited, their subsequent analyses, creative thinking, and recommendations will be synthesized and distributed to the STEM higher education community. The scope of work entails: (1) participation in two workshops planned and executed by the National Research Council, described in a companion grant proposal; (2) preparation for and participation in two CA meetings as part of this project; (3) synthesis of ideas and recommendations offered at the two CA meetings; and (4) preparation, presentation, and distribution of a final National Endeavor Team report that integrates the synthesis of the CA meetings with the outcomes from the NRC workshops.