Blog
Change Topics (Working Groups)
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Non-tenure Track Faculty
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Target AudienceJoin an ASCN working group!
Posted: Feb 19 2020 by
Target Audience: Post-doctoral Fellows, Institution Administration, Teaching/Learning Assistants, Pre-Service K12 Teachers, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, In-Service K12 Teachers, College/University Staff, Non-tenure Track Faculty
Program Components: Professional Development:Leadership, Institutional Systems:Physical Infrastructure, Professional Development:Diversity/Inclusion, Institutional Systems:Evaluating Promotion and Tenure, Incentive/Reward Systems
Have you been considering joining one of our working groups, but aren't sure where to start? Here you'll find updates on what each of our groups is working on and more information on how to get involved in 2020. You can join any of our working groups by filling out this short form. Keep reading to learn more about how we're exploring theories of change; the costs, benefits, and impact of change; change leadership; equity and inclusion in systemic change; aligning faculty work with change; and learning spaces. More
Understanding how instructional change works
Posted: Jan 22 2020 by
Program Components: Professional Development:Pedagogical Training
Recommended article: "It's Personal: Biology Instructors Prioritize Personal Evidence over Empirical Evidence in Teaching Decisions," by Tessa Andrews and Paula Lemons, CBE-Life Sciences Education, 14 (2015).
I am involved in several projects which aim to help faculty learn about and implement effective teaching practices. To design or evaluate such programs, it's useful to have a model of how faculty take up new teaching practices. I want to highlight an article by Andrews and Lemons which recently influenced my thinking. (Note that Tessa Andrews co-leads ASCN Change Theories working group). One model that is often used in faculty change projects is the Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations model, which suggests that in order to adopt a new idea a person must become aware of it, be persuaded that it is useful, decide to use it, implement it, and then decide to continue to use it More
Inclusive Approaches to Reviewing Scholarship: A New Guide
Posted: May 29 2019 by
Kathy Quardokus Fisher (Florida International University)
Brian A. Burt (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Target Audience: Graduate Students, Post-doctoral Fellows, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Non-tenure Track Faculty, Institution Administration
Program Components: Professional Development:Diversity/Inclusion
The ASCN Guiding Theories Working Group is working on answering the question "How might we better support people's use of theories, models, and scholarship in their planned systemic change efforts?" The Breaking Down Silos working meeting (previously discussed on the ASCN blog) brought together scholars to discuss and organize existing theories and models of change from scholarship related to change in undergraduate STEM education. One of the discussions focused on representation, which in turn led to the development of the Guide to Inclusion Awareness in the Organization of Knowledge (Acrobat (PDF) 216kB May28 19), which is the subject of this post.
At Breaking Down Silos, the question of inclusion and exclusion arose. That is, what literature was included in the body of work considered to be relevant, and what was left out? Who was represented at the meeting (and in the working group), and who was not? Why? What are the resulting implications of these boundaries for our work? These questions are relevant across many contexts, and our discussions over the working meeting and beyond led to the creation of the Guide to Inclusion Awareness in the Organization of Knowledge (Acrobat (PDF) 216kB May28 19) document. It is a set of guiding questions to support inclusion and transparency in the creation of scholarly work. In this blog, we highlight and discuss some of the concerns about developing typographies or literature reviews that led to the development of this guide. More
Building on the BOSE Report of Indicators for STEM Education
Posted: Mar 23 2018 by
Target Audience: Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Institution Administration, Non-tenure Track Faculty, College/University Staff
Program Components: Supporting Students:Professional Preparation, Academic Support, Professional Development:Diversity/Inclusion
As everyone probably knows by now, the National Academies have released their Indicators for Monitoring Undergraduate STEM Education.
There clearly is much overlap with the charge to the Working Group on Demonstrating Change. We would appreciate informal discussion around two questions:- Is there anything left for us to do?
- Assuming the answer to #1 is "yes," how can we shape our work so as to build on this report? More
Academic Advising: Leverage Point for Systemic Change Initiatives?
Posted: Nov 29 2017 by
Target Audience: Institution Administration, Non-tenure Track Faculty, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, College/University Staff
Program Components: Supporting Students:Academic Support, Professional Development:Advising and Mentoring, Supporting Students:Professional Preparation
I am beginning my sixteenth year as an academic adviser; I have worked at large research universities, a small state college, and a small private college. My experiences and scholarly work have taught me that the day-to-day decisions academic advisers make can have a significant impact on how the university functions. Academic advising is structurally designed to include one on one conversations with students regarding the direction of their education, what their current challenges are, what they have learned, and what they want to learn in the future. As a result of this structure, advisers are uniquely positioned to have in-depth conversations about the university's mission, and why the curriculum is structured the way it is; this unique position can also allow advisers to function as a leverage point for change initiatives. More
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