Integration of Strategies that Support Undergraduate Education in STEM (ISSUES)

Mathematical Association Of America, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This workshop project is bringing together professionals directly responsible for undergraduate education initiatives at approximately fifteen disciplinary societies in STEM fields. The workshop's intellectual merit lies in its fostering of communication and collaboration among society representatives for the purpose of sharing existing knowledge of Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER) and practice across disciplines. Furthermore this effort is highlighting the latest insights into effective translation of theoretical knowledge into actual practice and propagation of evidence-based instructional strategies and programs. Workshop outcomes include: 1) publishing a joint document clarifying the support of the disciplinary societies for the adoption of discipline-based education research (DBER) and detailing the strategies employed by the societies to promote active learning across the STEM disciplines; 2) identifying exemplars of successful strategies for fostering adoption of evidence-based active learning strategies from the participating professional societies and documenting them on a public website; and 3) determining whether or not a longer-term initiative designed to instigate wide-scale, long-term improvement in undergraduate teaching practices is feasible and what such an initiative would entail. The broader impacts of the workshop are felt through its engagement of major STEM disciplinary professional societies that collectively represent the full range of the STEM disciplines: physical sciences (including chemistry, physics, and geoscience), biological sciences, engineering, and the mathematical and statistical sciences. These disciplinary societies play a critical role in disseminating information about DBER through their publications and online resources. Individually, they have already established a number of different models for faculty development and created a variety of mechanisms to support continuing faculty growth, and the cooperation and collaboration fostered through this workshop multiplies that influence.