Board 22: Systemic Transformation of Evidence-based Education Reform (STEER)
- Conference
- Location
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Tampa, Florida
- Publication Date
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June 15, 2019
- Start Date
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June 15, 2019
- End Date
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June 19, 2019
- Conference Session
- Tagged Topic
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NSF Grantees Poster Session
- Page Count
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13
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--32300
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/32300
- Download Count
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388
Paper Authors
Scott W. Campbell University of South Florida
Dr. Scott Campbell has been on the faculty of the Department of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering at the University of South Florida since 1986. He currently serves as the department undergraduate advisor. Scott was a co-PI on an NSF STEP grant for the reform of the Engineering Calculus sequence at USF. This grant required him to build relationships with engineering faculty of other departments and also faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences. Over the course of this grant, he advised over 500 individual calculus students on their course projects. He was given an Outstanding Advising Award by USF and has been the recipient of numerous teaching awards at the department, college, university (Jerome Krivanek Distinguished Teaching Award) and state (TIP award) levels. Scott is also a co-PI of a Helios-funded Middle School Residency Program for Science and Math (for which he teaches the capstone course) and is on the leadership committee for an NSF IUSE grant to transform STEM Education at USF. His research is in the areas of solution thermodynamics and environmental monitoring and modeling.
James Franklin Wysong Jr. Hillsborough Community College
Dr. James Wysong has served as the Dean of Associate of Arts (Mathematics and Sciences Division) at the Dale Mabry Campus of Hillsborough Community College since August 2013. The division encompasses the biological and physical sciences, college-level mathematics, and developmental mathematics programs. In addition, Dr. Wysong is Co-P.I. on the NSF - STEER Grant in partnership with the University of South Florida, and has oversight of the Title III HSI STEM grant – Math Success, a $5.9 million, 5 year award. Dr. Wysong is also a Co-P.I. on the NSF - LSAMP grant - "Tampa Bay Bridge to Baccalaureate."
Dr. Wysong’s academic background is in the Geosciences. He earned his undergraduate and Master’s degrees from the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. He also holds an Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership from the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky. His dissertation topic was: Developmental Mathematics Education Reform Initiatives in Florida: Impacts, Consequences, and Changes at a Large Metropolitan Community College.
Peter Stiling University of South Florida
Dr. Stiling is currently Assistant Vice provost for Strategic Initiatives at the University of South Florida and leads the University STEM Collaborative. He is also Director of the USF in London Summer Programs and Director of the USF Office of Sustainability. Dr. Stiling is an ecologist by training and was formerly Chair of the Department of Integrative Biology.
Gerry G. Meisels University of South Florida
Dr. Gerry Meisels is a native of Vienna, Austria. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Notre Dame and worked for Gulf Oil and Union Carbide before joining the faculty at the University of Houston in 1965. He became department chair in 1972, and moved to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1975, where he became Dean of Arts and Sciences in 1983. He joined the University of South Florida as Provost in 1988, a position he held until 1995 when he established the Coalition for Science Literacy. He continues to serve as its Director. He has worked on strengthening Science education in both the K-12 and post-secondary environments, and has led the development of the project “Systemic Transformation of Education Through Evidence-based Reforms”, which he submitted to NSF; it was approved by NSF in 2015 (NSF-DUE 1525574). He now serves as PI of this 5-year, $3,000,000 IUSE project that seeks to get faculty in a research intensive university to adopt evidence-based teaching practices, and to change the system to one that values and rewards both teaching and research, with an end result of increasing graduation rates and numbers in the STEM disciplines
Robert L. Potter University of South Florida
Robert Potter is Senior Associate Dean for Academics and Professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Florida (USF). He has been actively involved in promoting more effective STEM instruction K-16 for over 20 years. As such he led or co-led multiple collaborative National Science Foundation and Department of Education funded projects to improve student outcomes in STEM. The most recent being the NSF funded “STEER” project (Systemic Transformation of Education Through Evidence-based Reforms) DUE 1525574 , a partnership between USF and Hillsborough Community College aimed at changing the culture of STEM teaching in a research intensive institution to achieve improved student success.
Abstract
We describe the implementation of an NSF-IUSE project to improve STEM education at a large research intensive public institution. The specific goals of the project are (1) to change the culture within STEM departments of a large research institution so as to value a balance between teaching and research and (2) to increase student learning and retention by incentivizing faculty and graduate students to apply evidenced-based teaching (EBT) methods in their teaching. Synergistic thrusts have been developed to meet these goals and include:
(1) Expediting adoption of EBT methods. Graduate students assigned to laboratory classes are provided training in EBT strategies. Faculty are selected to participate in a peer observation program so that they may observe the use of EBT by their colleagues. Faculty are provided funds to travel to education-related conferences to learn about EBT. Selected faculty receive support that provides the time and guidance to modify their courses by increasing use of EBT. Awards are given yearly to several faculty who have demonstrated excellence in applying EBT in their courses.
(2) Bridges to our feeder institution and support for transfer students. Students who have transferred to the university from a large feeder community college may serve as peer advisors – who mentor and guide new transfer students through the process of becoming a member of the university community. Faculty from the university and community college meet to align STEM courses that are offered at both institutions.
(3) Interdisciplinary and departmental retreats. Departmental retreats help departments examine and update their curricula and introduce faculty to EBT methods. Interdisciplinary retreats bring together faculty from different departments (and even different colleges and institutions) to examine how their courses can support each other.
(4) Institutional policies and facilities. Project personnel (a) advocate to university administration for classrooms that support EBT, (b) report existing policies that hinder student success and propose new policies that will enhance student success to appropriate university councils, and (c) are members of a newly formed university council charged with updating the assessment of teaching.
(5) Building momentum for change. A seminar series sponsored by the project features speakers who disseminate current knowledge to STEM faculty, college and department advisors, graduate students, and university administrators. Topics focus on institutional change, EBT methods, and best practices in STEM education. A member of the project leadership team, supported by other project personnel, leads a series of provost-instituted workshops/summits on STEM education.
This presentation provides details about these thrusts, including number of faculty and students impacted and feedback received from participants. In addition, we discuss challenges and lessons learned and how they have guided changes made to the program.
Campbell, S. W., & Wysong, J. F., & Stiling, P., & Meisels, G. G., & Potter, R. L. (2019, June), Board 22: Systemic Transformation of Evidence-based Education Reform (STEER) Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--32300
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