Improving Institutional Quality, Equitable Access, and Affordability; Essential for STEM Transformation

STEM reforms become more feasible when institutions gradually transform themselves in order to improve their quality of learning, equitable access, and affordability ("pursue 3fold gains"). These institutional reforms can ease the way for STEM reforms at scale (and vice versa). A few institutions are already making 3fold gains.

The journeys and achievements of six such institutions have been studied. Each institution pursued 3fold gains in a different way. But there were many similarities across these institutions. (Ehrmann, Pursuing Quality, Access, and Affordability, Stylus 2021).

All six have institutionalized educational strategies to improve both quality and access (e.g., High-Impact Practices; learning pathways; UDL). Such reforms produce much better learning (quality) while also enabling students to close equity gaps and achieve at a high level (access to a degree). It may not be obvious these same reforms also make education a little more affordable for students and the institution by lowering DFW rates, increasing graduation rates, and increasing speed to graduation.

The six realized that educational reform at scale would be difficult unless they realigned elements of their infrastructure and culture (e.g., learning spaces) and certain ways in which they interact with their wider world (how the institution markets itself to potential students).

Goals of this workshop are to help participants: 

1. learn how to assess their own institution's current strengths for pursuing 3fold gains;
2. realize the importance of widening their visions beyond specific STEM reforms.  Cross-silo efforts are essential. 

Workshop schedule:

•  introduce and discuss these findings and concepts (20 minutes); 
• each participant identify some of their institution's assets for pursuing 3fold gains (30 minutes); 
• discuss potential next steps for participants (10 minutes).