Changing Department Culture to Achieve Inclusive Excellence in 2-year STEM Education

Front Range Community College, Westminster CO

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by developing a model to transform science department practices at a two-year college to embrace the expectation that all students are capable of succeeding. This project investigates the effectiveness of a department-wide faculty professional development program to improve student learning and the student experience. Institutional transformation is a community effort: fostering robust faculty collaboration ensures better utilization of innovative teaching practices and more intentional and supportive classroom norms, resulting in fundamental changes in the way students learn science. During the training program, faculty will be supported as they redesign their teaching to incorporate proven learning practices. Collaborative, systematic improvement in science education creates educational spaces that welcome students into the scientific community. These changes have the potential to improve student confidence, support student success, and encourage students to pursue science careers. Significantly, two-year colleges serve a broad range of students, and up to half of eventual STEM college graduates take classes at these institutions. Incorporating innovative teaching strategies into foundational courses is therefore essential to building a robust STEM workforce. This project intends to support systemic change in the interdisciplinary science department of Front Range Community College, with a scope of eleven science disciplines and approximately 50 full- and part-time faculty. The goals of this project are to improve student learning and success and increase student retention and persistence in STEM. Department transformation will occur through collaborative professional development programs at three levels: (1) training faculty through a two-year program focused on active learning and innovative pedagogies, (2) departmental retreats and reflective practice groups to define and discuss common goals, and (3) welcoming and mentoring new faculty. This project plans to study the effectiveness of this shift in instructional practices using classroom observation tools, student success metrics, and measures of faculty engagement. This framework can be used to support innovation and evidence-based practices and to inform institutional transformation efforts in other science departments. The findings from this project will contribute to understanding the efficacy of evidence-based pedagogical practices implemented across a two-year college STEM program. The NSF program description on Advancing Innovation and Impact in Undergraduate STEM Education at Two-year Institutions of Higher Education supports projects that advance STEM education initiatives at two-year colleges. The program description promotes innovative and evidence-based practices in undergraduate STEM education at two-year colleges. 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.