Development of an integrative, student-centered program to improve student progression and retention.
Jennifer Louten, Kennesaw State University
Student retention and progression are critical issues for academic institutions. Student attrition directly translates into a loss of tuition income, fees, and alumni contributions (Stillman 2009). Moreover, it ...

Leveraging Course-Based Communities of Transformation to Effect Change in STEM Education
Jill Nelson, George Mason University; Stephanie Foster, George Mason University; Carrie Klein, George Mason University; Jaime Lester, George Mason University; Laura Poms, George Mason University; Jessica Rosenberg, George Mason University; Robert Sachs, George Mason University
Studies across the STEM disciplines have shown that student engagement in active learning improves student attitudes toward STEM, retention in STEM majors, and understanding of key concepts, with greater impact on ...

Improving opportunities for student learning in large enrollment undergraduate STEM courses through the development of instructional team members that focus independently on classroom management and student thinking
Jonathan Cox, The University of Arizona
While overwhelming evidence in support of active learning has propelled many undergraduate courses toward transformation, instructors often encounter implementation challenges in large enrollment introductory STEM ...

A Simple Stochastic Model for Conceptualizing Organizational Change Initiatives
Lorne Whitehead, University of British Columbia; Scott Simkins, North Carolina A & T State University
Complex systems cannot be modeled exactly. However, simple approximate mathematical models can illustrate important factors, provide memorable terminology, offer plausible and memorable insights, and suggest new ...

Reforming core education in the Clark Honors College: Scaffolding liberal arts understanding in freshman and sophomore honors students
Samantha Hopkins, University of Oregon; Rebecca Lindner, University of Oregon; David Frank, University of Oregon; Daphne Gallagher, University of Oregon; Melissa Graboyes, University of Oregon; Gabriel Paquette, University of Oregon; Carol Paty, University of Oregon
The Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon teaches a liberal arts curriculum within the broader research university. During our external review, we realized that our core education curriculum needed ...

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 ...

Assessing the Diffusion of Guided-Inquiry Physical Chemistry Laboratory Experiments Through Faculty Workshops
Dilhara Liyanage, Virginia Commonwealth University
The POGIL-PCL Project has implemented the principles of Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) to improve student learning in the physical chemistry laboratory (PCL) course. Inquiry-driven physical ...

Facilitating Departmental, Programmatic, and Curricular Change through Traveling Workshops
Mitchell Bender-Awalt, Carleton College; David Blockstein, Bard College; Diane Doser, University of Texas at El Paso; Anne Egger, Central Washington University; Heather Macdonald, College of William and Mary; Cathy Manduca, Carleton College; Dallas Rhodes, Humboldt State University; Catherine Riihimaki, 2NDNATURE Software
Academic departments and programs in higher education face challenges in adapting to shifting institutional priorities, fluctuating budgets, evolving research landscapes, and changing employment prospects for ...

Transforming the Educational Experience with High Impact Practices
Jaclyn Rivard, University of Southern Mississippi; sarah cox, Western Michigan University;
High Impact Practices (HIPs) are widely tested and have demonstrated impact for students from a wide range of backgrounds (Kuh, 2008), including as an effective way to increase student retention among ...

QUBES: An education gateway for professional development, OER sharing, and project support
Sam Donovan, BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium; Kristin Jenkins, BioQUEST; Jeremy Wojdak, Radford University
The Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education & Synthesis (QUBES; qubeshub.org) project has adopted a "scientific gateways" model to accelerate undergraduate biology education reform. As such, ...