NSF IUSE Institutional and Community Transformation Level II: Upholding Active Learning Reform in STEM

University Of Arkansas Little Rock, Little Rock AR

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by implementing evidence-based teaching practices in a wide-range of STEM courses. Recognizing the power of evidence-based instructional practices (EBIPs) to enhance teaching and learning, the project is designed to create institution-wide change in the teaching culture of undergraduate STEM education. Based on the successful instantiations of active learning / EBIPs in STEM, the project is designed to promote and propagate EBIPs through faculty development and implementation of several key activities: a week-long mobile summer institute; faculty communities of practice and transformation; the addition of learning assistants in selected courses; and the use of social network analysis and interviews to track growth of faculty interest and participation in synergistic activities. The mixed methods research study is designed to answer questions about the efficacy of project activities and the association of activities with expected outcomes (e.g., mobile summer institute; faculty peer support; learning assistants; implementation and sustainability of EBIPs; student performance, and changes in the valuing of teaching). This projects’ main goal is to shift faculty culture from “sort and select” to “success for all students” in order to reduce the equity gap between students who are members of historically underserved groups and students who are not. Grounded in expectancy-value theory and the 4I (Intuiting, Interpreting, Integrating, and Institutionalizing) theory of institutional change, a tri-support model that includes faculty peer support, student support, and administrative support will be developed and investigated to understand what guides the reform of undergraduate STEM education. To support the propagation of EBIPs and institutional change, the research will use Social Network Analysis (SNA) to examine the growth of teaching networks, including how they form, grow, and change over time. Based on the idea that the social capital of faculty members is a significant factor in determining whether faculty members feel confident in adopting EBIPs, the project examines the idea that changes in social capital are associated with participation in faculty development activities. Classroom observations and semi-structured interviews will be used to investigate the implementation and spread of teaching innovations and educational reform over time. Classroom observations; assessments of student success and faculty knowledge; institutional data; data from semi-structure interviews with students, faculty, and administrators; and document analyses of syllabi, teaching artifacts, and policy documents will be used to elaborate upon patterns derived from SNA. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities 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.