Engage

to Excel: Se.ng the Context

Susan Elrod, Project Kaleidoscope at AAC&U (and Cal Poly ) April 30, 2012 Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

Engage to Excel: One Million Addi2onal College Graduates with Degrees in STEM (PCAST Report)
Widespread adopEon of empirically validated teaching pracEces. Replace standard laboratory courses with discovery-based research courses. NaEonal experiment in postsecondary mathemaEcs educaEon. Diversity pathways to STEM careers.

Engage to Excel: One Million Addi2onal College Graduates with Degrees in STEM (PCAST Report)
From 300,000 annually to 400,000 (~33% increase) Increased demand for STEM-capable workforce (e.g., health care, manufacturing) Focus on creaEng more engaging, intenEonal & supporEve learning environments

The STEM Pipeline

h"p://www.heri.ucla.edu/nih/HERI_ResearchBrief_OL_2010_STEM.pdf

Higher'Educa-on'Research'Ins-tute'(HERI)''STEM'Study

The STEM Pipeline

h"p://www.heri.ucla.edu/nih/HERI_ResearchBrief_OL_2010_STEM.pdf

Higher'Educa-on'Research'Ins-tute'(HERI)''STEM'Study

A"New"Biology"for"the"21st"Century:" Interdisciplinarity"

h1p://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12764

Vision and Change in Biology EducaEon

RecommendaEons for change
Learning outcomes Research-based teaching/ learning AuthenEc assessment

MCAT, AP

h_p://visionandchange.org

The largest gain in learning producEvity in STEM will come from convincing the large majority of STEM faculty that currently teaches by lecturing to use any form of acEve or collaboraEve instrucEon.
-- James Fairweather (2009) Report to the Na2onal Academies Board on Science Educa2on

30%

Hoellwarth and Moelter, American Journal of Physics (2011)

Impact of Participation in High-Impact Practices on Percentage of Senior NSSE Respondents Graduating on Time, by Racial and Ethnic Background
80.0% Percentage GraduaDng "On Time" (i.e., in 2006-07)
65% 73%

None

1 HIP

2 HIPs
68%

3 or more HIPs

70.0%

69%

63%

60.0%

54%

50.0%

48%

40.0%

38%

30.0%

20.0%

V = .255 (.007)]

V = .109 (.094)]

LaEna/o Respondents

Other Respondents

Source: Does Par2cipa2on in Mul2ple High Impact Prac2ces Aect Student Success at Cal State Northridge? by Bekna Huber (unpublished paper, 2010).

What is stopping us? What can we do?

Barriers to change Ac2ons to induce change
Create vision Communicate vision & progress Create community for transformaEon Generate belief Remove barriers Reward change Checklists to measure progress Use diverse, concerted drivers to generate a Epping point

Lack of faculty knowledge Lack of rewards MulE-faceted approach required Limited resources Grading & workload InsEtuEonal isolaEon Challenge of change Student resistance

On Leadership, Management and Change

Strong leadership can help create the vision, set the tone of the climate, emphasize the values that are most criEcal, and build trust among people. Strong management ensures that the appropriate execuEon of funcEons and follow-through are enabled through assessment. However, changing the culture is the engine that drives transformaDon.
Source: FREEMAN A. HRABOWSKI III, JACK SUESS, AND JOHN FRITZ Assessment and Analy2cs in Ins2tu2onal Transforma2on EDUCAUSE Review Magazine, Volume 46, Number 5, September/October 2011

Process for Building and InsEtuEonalizing Interdisciplinary Programs

This overall process takes 5-10 years.

h_p://www.aacu.org/pkal/interdisciplinarylearning/index.cfm

Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL)

NaEonal organizaEon dedicated to advancing what works in undergraduate STEM educaEon Cross disciplinary community of nearly 7,000 people at over 1,000 colleges, universiEes, and organizaEons AssociaEon of American Colleges & UniversiEes (AAC&U) aliaEon

h_p://www.aacu.org/pkal