WIDER: EAGER: GVSU Inventory of Instructional Practices

Grand Valley State University, Allendale MI

Investigators

Abstract

Grand Valley State University (GVSU), a comprehensive master's university, is conducting an internal inventory of the current awareness and use of evidence-based instructional practices. The project includes three primary activities: 1) an extensive faculty survey, 2) targeted faculty interviews and 3) pilot programs to increase adoption of evidence-based practices. The faculty survey is informed by similar efforts reported in engineering, physics and geosciences undergraduate education. Questions are assessing faculty awareness of specific practices and how they learn about new teaching strategies. Demographic data are being collected to identify potential correlations: discipline, faculty rank, gender and part-time status. Face-to-face interviews include administrators, tenure-track faculty and part-time instructors that teach key STEM gateway courses. Targeting part-time instructors is a key component of the project because they may be less aware of evidence-based practices compared to their tenure-track colleagues. Student engagement pedagogies have been shown effective at improving retention of all undergraduates but especially women and first-generation college students. Increasing the awareness and adoption of these practices by university instructors could have a significant effect on STEM education. This project is providing important results about a growing population of part-time and adjunct faculty members, and applying the findings to implement programs to increase the use of evidence-based practices in undergraduate STEM education.