RCN UBE Incubator: Failure as part of Learning, A Mindset Education Network (FLAMEnet)

Emory University, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

Failure as a part of Learning, A Mindset Education Network (FLAMEnet) comprises educators and researchers, who together will address how instructors in biology and other STEM disciplines can help students learn to cope, persevere and then succeed when confronted with failure during their learning efforts. FLAMEnet will create resources to encourage undergraduate students in biology and related science fields to learn and grow from failure experiences. These resources will be easy to implement by instructors and will be broadly distributed to the public via networking and social media. The overarching impact of the proposed activities is to support the preparation of a diverse workforce that is ready to tackle the large, pressing scientific challenges of tomorrow. FLAMEnet will bring together a diverse group of science and engineering faculty, psychology researchers, and educational researchers to create, implement and disseminate educational interventions that can be employed by instructors in biology and other STEM fields to help students overcome obstacles and failures as they learn the field. These interventions will be grounded in the psychological frameworks of mindset, goal orientation, fear of failure, and coping, and will focus on the role of these elements in undergraduate biology education. The specific aims of the proposal include: (1) develop resources and instructional materials; (2) implement resources across different disciplines and institutional types; (3) expand the network through workshop activities. The inclusion of psychology and educational researchers will ensure that the resources developed are solidly grounded in current theoretical frameworks, and participation of STEM instructors will secure acceptance from the STEM community and ensure that resources are useful and accessible to the communities they will serve. Together, these activities will advance our understanding of the interplay of these psychological frameworks, and will provide instructors in the biological sciences and related STEM disciplines with practical resources for building resilience in college students. This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange/finalreport/). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.