Building Capacity: Collaboration for Inclusive and Engaging Curriculum, Instruction, and Achievement

California State University-Stanislaus, Turlock CA

Investigators

Abstract

The Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (HSI Program) aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge about how to achieve these aims. This project at the California State University-Stanislaus (Stanislaus State), will advance the aims of the HSI Program by improving STEM student retention, graduation, and success by developing a STEM faculty culture of evidence-based teaching and student-centered learning environments. Over a four-year period, cohorts of faculty will attend summer teaching institutes, academic year workshops, and peer support groups. It is predicted that this faculty-led professional development program will transform teaching and improve student success across all STEM disciplines at Stanislaus State. If successful, this project could serve as a model for institutional change efforts to improve STEM education at other universities. The overall goal of this project is to transform the culture of STEM teaching and learning at Stanislaus State by increasing the use of evidence-based and culturally-engaging teaching practices. The project aims to generate new knowledge about: (1) the effectiveness of a faculty-driven professional development program to broadly influence STEM teaching practices; (2) whether implementation of the Culturally Engaging Campus Environments Model among faculty results in measurable improvements in psychosocial indicators of student success at an HSI; and (3) the ways that sustained and collegial professional development activities can produce meaningful changes in the teaching culture of college faculty. Both qualitative and quantitative data will be collected and analyzed. Project impact will be evaluated by measuring the benefits realized by the students it serves. The project will also assess faculty, and will track the processes used to develop, implement, and sustain project activities, to facilitate the adoption of similar programs at other institutions. Through a holistic professional development program that produces widespread changes in the culture of teaching and learning at Stanislaus State, this project plans to double the use of evidence-based teaching practices and decrease the non-pass rate in all STEM gateway courses. In turn, these improvements are expected to support increased performance of students in STEM courses, and increased sense of belonging and higher retention rates among STEM majors. 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.