Change theory and theory of change: what's the difference anyway?
Daniel L. Reinholz; and Tessa C. Andrews
This essay describes the connections between a theory of change and change theory and provides examples of how change theory can inform a project's theory of change.

Active learning narrows achievement gaps for underrepresented students in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math
Elli J. Theobald; Mariah J. Hill; Elisa Tran; Sweta Agrawal; E. Nicole Arroyo; Shawn Behling; Nyasha Chambwe; Dianne Laboy Cintrón; Jacob D. Cooper; Gideon Dunster; Jared A. Grummer; Kelly Hennessey; Jennifer Hsiao; Nicole Iranon; Leonard Jones II; Hannah Jordt; Marlowe Keller; Melissa E. Lacey; Caitlin E. Littlefield; Alexander Lowe; Shannon Newman; Vera Okolo; Savannah Olroyd; Brandon R. Peecook; Sarah B. Pickett; David L. Slager; Itzue W. Caviedes-Solis; Kathryn E. Stanchak; Vasudha Sundaravardan; Camila Valdebenito; Claire R. Williams; Kaitlin Zinsli; and Scott Freeman
This study is a comprehensive meta-analysis of research on the influence of active and traditional learning approaches on STEM course outcomes (exam scores and course failure rates) for underrepresented students. Time-intensive active learning experiences contributed to reduced achievement gaps in exam scores and pass rates. Researchers concluded that deliberate active-learning course designs and inclusive teaching contribute to increasing equity in STEM. Although this study does not discuss cost-benefits, it affirms the value of investing in pedagogical enhancements to increase student retention and success. In this case, the benefits are continuous tuition revenue through student retention and the moral imperative of reducing equity gaps.

Four frames for systemic change in STEM departments
× Four frames for systemic change in STEM departments Aimed specifically at change agents operating at the department level, this short article outlines four areas that change agents should focus on -- ...

Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics
Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics Scott Freeman, Sarah L. Eddy, Miles McDonough, Michelle K. Smith, Nnadozie Okoroafor, Hannah Jordt, and Mary Pat Wenderoth ...

Aligning Practice to Policies: Changing the Culture to Recognize and Reward Teaching at Research Universities
This is an article about how to align University practices with policies. It offers three examples of how institutions have begun projects to achieve this. It overlaps with the TEval resources, as two of the examples are TEval participants.Abstract: "Recent calls for improvement in undergraduate education within STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines are hampered by the methods used to evaluate teaching effectiveness. Faculty members at research universities are commonly assessed and promoted mainly on the basis of research success. To improve the quality of undergraduate teaching across all disciplines, not only STEM fields, requires creating an environment wherein continuous improvement of teaching is valued, assessed, and rewarded at various stages of a faculty member's career. This requires consistent application of policies that reflect well-established best practices for evaluating teaching at the department, college, and university levels. Evidence shows most teaching evaluation practices do not reflect stated policies, even when the policies specifically espouse teaching as a value. Thus, alignment of practice to policy is a major barrier to establishing a culture in which teaching is valued. Situated in the context of current national efforts to improve undergraduate STEM education, including the Association of American Universities Undergraduate STEM Education Initiative, this essay discusses four guiding principles for aligning practice with stated priorities in formal policies: 1) enhancing the role of deans and chairs; 2) effectively using the hiring process; 3) improving communication; and 4) improving the understanding of teaching as a scholarly activity. In addition, three specific examples of efforts to improve the practice of evaluating teaching are presented as examples: 1) Three Bucket Model of merit review at the University of California, Irvine; (2) Evaluation of Teaching Rubric, University of Kansas; and (3) Teaching Quality Framework, University of Colorado, Boulder. These examples provide flexible criteria to holistically evaluate and improve the quality of teaching across the diverse institutions comprising modern higher education."

Evaluating Discipline-Based Education Research for Promotion and Tenure
Evaluating Discipline-Based Education Research for Promotion and Tenure As the number of DBER faculty members in STEM departments grows, the purpose of this essay is to facilitate the evaluation of scholarly ...

A Better Way to Evaluate Undergraduate Teaching
A Better Way to Evaluate Undergraduate Teaching In this article, the author considers current methods of evaluating teaching at research universities and proposes a new method for evaluation based on teaching ...

Work organization and ergonomics
Work organization and ergonomics Carayon & Smith. Paper from field of systems engineering and ergonomics that describes theory of Work Systems and applied methods for understanding socio-technical aspects of ...

Navigating the problem space of academic work
Navigating the problem space of academic work Hora. Study of how faculty plan their courses in real world setting, using the idea of a 'problem space' to examine how faculty construct mental ...

Implicit social cognition: from measures to mechanisms
Describes current trends in attending to, and measuring, implicit processes such as social perception, judgement and action.