Antiracist Writing Across the Curriculum in STEM at a Developing Polytechnic Hispanic-serving Institution

Cal Poly Humboldt Sponsored Programs Foundation, Arcata CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving university-level STEM instruction through antiracist pedagogical approaches for writing instruction and assessment. The project, based at Cal Poly Humboldt, a Hispanic-Serving Institution, will provide professional development opportunities to STEM instructors in antiracist approaches to teaching and assessment of writing. Twelve School of Engineering instructors will participate in a faculty learning community over the one-year project period, and approximately 100 STEM faculty will participate in a writing workshop series. Antiracist approaches to writing instruction in this project are defined as inclusive frameworks for language and writing development, antiracist writing assessment theories, and pedagogies that sustain students’ cultural and linguistic knowledge. This project will support the teaching and assessment of writing in STEM for a racially and linguistically diverse student population. While many inclusive pedagogical practices in the teaching of STEM have gained momentum over the previous decade, antiracist writing theories and pedagogies have remained largely absent in STEM instructional designs. This early-stage project will develop, support and measure STEM instructor understanding and application of antiracist approaches to writing pedagogy and assessment in STEM disciplines. The one-year project activities include a twelve-week faculty learning community (FLC) for instructors in the School of Engineering and a six week Writing Workshop series available to all STEM faculty at Cal Poly Humboldt. The FLC will allow School of Engineering faculty to engage in sustained study, collaborative discussion, and applications of theories that inform antiracist, culturally sustaining frameworks for writing instruction. The Writing Workshop Series will present actionable, straightforward models for antiracist, equity-minded writing assignment and assessment designs that can be immediately implemented. The project will use instructor-facing rubrics and survey instruments to study, apply, and test the effectiveness of the professional development design in regard to antiracist instructional transformation. The project’s evaluative tools are designed to allow the project team to study instructor and instructional design changes over the project period in response to the professional development content and goals. Measurement will primarily examine the types and degree of instructional changes (practices and beliefs) for FLC and Workshop participants over the one-year period of the project. Across the California State University system and the national network of post-secondary Hispanic-Serving Institutions, the project has potential to help to spearhead knowledge about the impact of professional development in antiracist writing instruction for STEM faculty and specific to STEM instruction, for which there is no known existing models or research. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. 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.