An evaluation of the differential effects of the prerequisite pathways on student performance in an introductory biology course
Amy Kulesza, Ohio State University-Main Campus; Jerome D'Agostino, Ohio State University-Main Campus; Judith Ridgway, Ohio State University-Main Campus
For almost a century, researchers and educators have been asking the question, does a prerequisite science course achieve its goal of preparing students for a subsequent course? Although early studies have shown ...

Navigating the bridge between theory and action: Validating the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education (PULSE) Theory of Change
Heather Seitz, Johnson County Community College; Erika Offerdahl, Washington State University- Pullman; Carol Colbeck, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
The Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education (PULSE), a non-profit organization, provides life sciences departments at all types of US higher education institutions with training and resources to ...

From Lecture to Studio: The Story of MSU's Department of Physics and Astronomy
Marcos D. Caballero, Michigan State University; Paul W. Irving, Michigan State University; Daryl McPadden, Michigan State University; Vashti Sawtelle, Michigan State University; Cori Fata-Hartley, Michigan State University
Michigan State University's Department of Physics and Astronomy is engaged in a major transformation of its introductory courses for both physical science and engineering majors as well as life science majors. ...

Mentoring Faculty Course Reform Teams to Disseminate Evidence-based Reforms and Engage Departments
Andrew Feig, Wayne State University; Sara Kacin, Wayne State University
One of the greatest challenges with implementing evidence-based reforms of STEM teaching is engaging research-focused tenure-track faculty. In many cases, these faculty need the right mix of incentives and ...

Using Data-Driven Faculty Professional Development To Promote Change In Undergraduate Education
Gili Marbach-Ad, University of Maryland-College Park; Carly Hunt, University of Maryland-College Park; Patrick Sheehan, University of Maryland-College Park; Kaci Thompson, University of Maryland-College Park
Employers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields report that recent graduates are deficient in important workplace skills (e.g., collaboration, professional writing). This has motivated ...

The Sky is the Limit: A Learning Community for Undeclared Students--A Sustainable Investment in Student Success and Retention
Stacey Barnes, Iowa State University; Jenifer N. Saldanha, Michigan State University; MaKayla B. Schroeder, Minnesota State University Moorhead; Andrew J. Sage, Lawrence University; Jo Anne Powell-Coffman, Iowa State University; Craig Ogilvie, Iowa State University; Clark Coffman, Iowa State University
Student learning communities have proven to be a consistently powerful strategy for promoting student success. At Iowa State University, approximately 78% of freshmen belong to learning communities, and this ...

Measuring Systemic Change in Introductory Science Courses
Cori Fata-Hartley, Michigan State University
Michigan State University has adopted a transformation approach for introductory science courses based on the vision for science teaching and learning described in the NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education. This ...

Pursuing systemic change in undergraduate STEM education through Departmental and Leadership Teams for Action (DeLTA)
Tessa Andrews, University of Georgia; Sarah Covert, University of Georgia; Erin Dolan, University of Georgia; Paula Lemons, University of Georgia
The DeLTA project aims to promote comprehensive change in thinking and culture related to undergraduate STEM education at the University of Georgia. Our approach is multi-level; we are convening and supporting the ...

Putting the Teaching Quality Framework Initiative into action: A case-study comparison of three departments engaged in transforming teaching evaluation
Sarah Andrews, University of Colorado at Boulder; Jessica Keating, University of Colorado at Boulder; Joel Corbo, University of Colorado at Boulder; Mark Gammon, University of Colorado at Boulder; Daniel Reinholz, San Diego State University; Noah Finkelstein, University of Colorado at Boulder
The Teaching Quality Framework (TQF) Initiative seeks to create a process and tools for systemic transformation of departmental evaluation of teaching. As part of the Bay View Alliance and NSF funded TTEVAL ...

How to be a great embedded expert! Catalyzing change in your department from the inside.
Stephanie Chasteen, University of Colorado at Boulder; Sarah Bean Sherman, University of British Columbia
In this presentation we will share our recommendations for embedded experts; faculty and postdocs with education expertise, embedded within departments. We will share lessons-learned in partnering effectively with ...

Spreading teaching-reform efforts at the University of Arizona
Lisa Elfring, The University of Arizona; Jonathan Cox, The University of Arizona
It can be difficult for individuals within higher-education institutions to move their work in reformed, evidence-based instruction from the individual to an institutional-adoption level (Foote, Knaub, Henderson, ...

Fostering interdisciplinary, cross-institutional collaboration to provide undergraduate STEM students with authentic learning experiences
Kelly McDonald, California State University-Sacramento; Thomas E. Landerholm, California State University-Sacramento
The Sustainable Interdisciplinary Research to Inspire Undergraduate Success (SIRIUS) Project is broadening participation and institutional capacity for STEM learning at Sacramento State by integrating research ...

Characterizing departmental culture and assessing change with the DELTA survey
Courtney Ngai, Colorado State University; Daniel Reinholz, San Diego State University
There have been many change initiatives to improve undergraduate education, but despite investment of significant resources, implemented changes do not always last. Researchers in organizational change suggest that ...

Partnering with Peer Leaders to create inclusive academic support environments
Jennifer Lundmark, California State University-Sacramento; Enid Gonzalez-Orta, California State University-Sacramento; Kelly McDonald, California State University-Sacramento
The Science and Math Success Center at Sacramento State houses a number of peer support p performance and retention. The Success Center's three main programs, Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL), Science Educational ...

Student-driven approaches to adding discussions of race and racism to STEM courses
Monica Linden, Brown University; Bjorn Sandstede, Brown University
This presentation focuses on two new courses on race and gender in STEM at Brown University that were initiated by students. The first course on race and gender in the scientific community was run for a semester as ...

Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate STEM Education: CAUSE for Transformation to Evidence-based Teaching Practices
Mary Pat Wenderoth, University of Washington-Tacoma Campus; Jennifer Doherty, University of Washington-Tacoma Campus; Deborah Wiegand, University of Washington-Tacoma Campus
We have created the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate STEM Education (CAUSE) to implement evidence-based teaching in STEM departments at Univeristy of Washington. The goal of CAUSE is to transform the ...

Guided by Evidence: Changing the Disciplinary Culture of Teaching and Learning
Kaci Thompson, University of Maryland-College Park; Michelle Bertke, University of Maryland-College Park; Todd Cooke, University of Maryland-College Park; Joelle Presson, University of Maryland-College Park; Francisca Saavedra, University of Maryland-College Park; Patrick Sheehan, University of Maryland-College Park; Gili Marbach-Ad, University of Maryland-College Park
Students learn better when they are actively engaged in constructing knowledge, but teaching approaches that foster student engagement are far from widespread in undergraduate STEM classrooms. To remedy this, the ...

Five-years of undergraduate STEM Education Reform at Western Washington University, Whatcom Community College, and Skagit Valley College: Progress, Challenges, and Next Steps
Ed Geary, Western Washington University; Shannon Warren, Western Washington University
Change at the Core (C-Core) is a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary, undergraduate STEM Education reform project at Western Washington University (WWU), Whatcom Community College (WCC), and Skagit Valley ...

Transforming STEM gateway courses: or How we learned to stop worrying about just one approach and love the different pathways
Shanna Shaked, University of California-Los Angeles
One of the main goals of UCLA's Center for Education Innovation and Learning in the Sciences is to broaden student success in STEM. Working with institutional research folks, we identified the persistence ...

A Framework for Integrated Competency-Based Education
Lisa Bosman, Purdue University-Main Campus; Prof. Abrar Hammoud, Purdue University-Main Campus
Over the past several years, competency-based education has been championed and implemented in vocational education, which prepares individuals for work in a variety of fields such as specialized trades, crafts, ...

Transforming STEM Education through Scaffolded Curricula
Mitchell Malachowski, University of San Diego; Jeffrey Osborn, The College of New Jersey
The involvement of undergraduate students in collaborative research with faculty is a proven and powerful pedagogy in view of the many educational benefits gained by students related to their cognitive, ...

Internships Across Disciplines
Jennifer Menon Parker, Johnson County Community College
The original vision of this project was to research how to help a dysfunctional biotechnology internship. In trying to discover a better methodology for one program, a conversation evolved regarding the need to ...

On the RISE: Institutional transformation by harnessing synergies
Gita Bangera, Bellevue Community College
Transforming the culture of the third largest institution of higher education in the State of Washington is no small task; especially when that goal is to bring transformative learning including High Impact ...

The Biology Teaching Assistant Project: Theory of Change for a Network
Elisabeth Schussler, The University of Tennessee; Grant Gardner, Middle Tennessee State University; Gili Marbach-Ad, University of Maryland-College Park; Kristen Miller, University of Georgia; Judith Ridgway, Ohio State University-Main Campus
The Biology Teaching Assistant Project (BioTAP) is an NSF-funded research coordination network with a goal to support evidence-based institutional change in biology graduate teaching assistant (GTA) teaching ...

Bringing social network analysis to higher education: How do peer interactions inform teaching decisions?
A. Kelly Lane, University of Nebraska at Lincoln; Marilyne Stains, University of Virginia
Despite the repeated calls for the widespread use of evidence-based instructional practices (EBIPs), faculty cite various barriers to adoption of these practices. Many instructional change initiatives have ...