Designing a Streamlined Workshop for STEM-H Faculty Engaged in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Jody Zhong; Patricia A Ralston; Teresa Lee Tinnell; Thomas Tretter; Marie Brown

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access
Location: Virtual On line
Publication Date: June 22, 2020
Start Date: June 22, 2020
End Date: June 26, 2021
Conference Session: Faculty Development Evidence-based Practices!
Tagged Division: Faculty Development Division
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 15
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--34403
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/34403
Download Count: 488

Paper Authors

biography

Jody Zhong University of Louisville

visit author page

Ms. Zhong is a fourth-year doctoral student in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Louisville. Ms. Zhong's interests lie in researching identity, diversity, and professional development/thriving within the academy.

visit author page

biography

Patricia A Ralston University of Louisville

visit author page

Dr. Patricia A. S. Ralston is Professor and Chair of the Department of Engineering Fundamentals at the University of Louisville. She received her B.S., MEng, and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Louisville. Dr. Ralston teaches undergraduate engineering mathematics and is currently involved in educational research on the effective use of technology in engineering education, the incorporation of critical thinking in undergraduate engineering education, and retention of engineering students. She leads a research group whose goal is to foster active interdisciplinary research which investigates learning and motivation and whose findings will inform the development of evidence-based interventions to promote retention and student success in engineering. Her fields of technical expertise include process modeling, simulation, and process control.

visit author page

biography

Teresa Lee Tinnell University of Louisville orcid.org/0000-0002-2768-919X

visit author page

Terri Tinnell is a STEM Education Curriculum and Instruction PhD Candidate and Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Louisville.
Research interests include: interdisciplinary faculty development, first-year engineering student retention, STEM teacher education, and collaborative, team-based learning experiences.

visit author page

biography

Thomas Tretter orcid.org/0000-0003-3144-0431

visit author page

Thomas Tretter is professor of science education and director of the Gheens Science Hall & Rauch Planetarium at the University of Louisville. His scholarship includes collaborative efforts with science and engineering faculty targeting retention of STEM majors in entry-level STEM courses.

visit author page

author page

Marie Brown

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

This is an evidence-based practice paper.

On our University campus, there has been an expressed interest among STEM-H faculty to learn more about how to conduct scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) research in a meaningful way within their disciplines so that they can both improve their teaching and disseminate their results to appropriate audiences. In response, a faculty collaboration between the College of Education and the School of Engineering, along with the University’s Center for Teaching and Learning have planned an introductory workshop intended to familiarize STEM-H faculty with basic concepts in education research. While there has been much written about the challenges of teaching educational research methodologies to STEM faculty (Borrego, 2007; Borrego, Streveler, Miller, & Smith, 2008; Streveler, Borrego, & Smith, 2007) and the challenges associated with analyzing the impact of much SoTL work (Newton, Miller-Young, & Sanago, 2019), there is a clear need to assist faculty in being recognized for their efforts to improve their teaching. For all STEM faculty, there is a need for faculty to engage in theoretical research on learning, and there is also a need for faculty to focus on improving educational practice. This workshop is designed to assist faculty in reaching their goals with a clearer understanding of what is necessary to do rigorous work, wherever you fall on the SoTL continuum.

This paper begins with a summary of the literature that supports the need for this type of professional development for STEM-H faculty. Following the framework laid out by Caffarella and Zinn (1999), the workshop will seek to emphasize those factors that support professional development. For example, in keeping with Caffarella and Zinn’s identification of time as a potential impeding factor, we chose a workshop format (four one-hour sessions over one month) to be accessible to as many faculty members as possible. This paper will describe the challenges, trade-offs, and considerations made to share, without trivializing, complex social science research methods within the streamlined workshop format. Workshop planning outcomes, including the key topics, sequencing of those topics,and the intent behind planning decisions will be summarized. From this process, topics in the resultant workshop sessions will include: (1) an orientation to the SoTL continuum, (2) how to develop research questions guided by a conceptual framework, (3) considerations in social science research designs, (4) an overview of analytic strategies required for various designs, and (5) opportunities for cross-discipline sharing throughout the workshop. Select examples from the educational research partners will animate these topics. This workshop as designed represents a centralized and collaborative effort to improve SoTL research and faculty teaching efforts.

We intend for this paper to be presented in a traditional lecture-based format with time for Q&A.

Citation
Format

Zhong, J., & Ralston, P. A., & Tinnell, T. L., & Tretter, T., & Brown, M. (2020, June), Designing a Streamlined Workshop for STEM-H Faculty Engaged in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34403

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This is an evidence-based practice paper.

On our University campus, there has been an expressed interest among STEM-H faculty to learn more about how to conduct scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) research in a meaningful way within their disciplines so that they can both improve their teaching and disseminate their results to appropriate audiences. In response, a faculty collaboration between the College of Education and the School of Engineering, along with the University’s Center for Teaching and Learning have planned an introductory workshop intended to familiarize STEM-H faculty with basic concepts in education research. While there has been much written about the challenges of teaching educational research methodologies to STEM faculty (Borrego, 2007; Borrego, Streveler, Miller, &amp;amp; Smith, 2008; Streveler, Borrego, &amp;amp; Smith, 2007) and the challenges associated with analyzing the impact of much SoTL work (Newton, Miller-Young, &amp;amp; Sanago, 2019), there is a clear need to assist faculty in being recognized for their efforts to improve their teaching. For all STEM faculty, there is a need for faculty to engage in theoretical research on learning, and there is also a need for faculty to focus on improving educational practice. This workshop is designed to assist faculty in reaching their goals with a clearer understanding of what is necessary to do rigorous work, wherever you fall on the SoTL continuum. 

This paper begins with a summary of the literature that supports the need for this type of professional development for STEM-H faculty. Following the framework laid out by Caffarella and Zinn (1999), the workshop will seek to emphasize those factors that support professional development. For example, in keeping with Caffarella and Zinn’s identification of time as a potential impeding factor, we chose a workshop format (four one-hour sessions over one month) to be accessible to as many faculty members as possible. This paper will describe the challenges, trade-offs, and considerations made to share, without trivializing, complex social science research methods within the streamlined workshop format. Workshop planning outcomes, including the key topics, sequencing of those topics,and the intent behind planning decisions will be summarized. From this process, topics in the resultant workshop sessions will include: (1) an orientation to the SoTL continuum, (2) how to develop research questions guided by a conceptual framework, (3) considerations in social science research designs, (4) an overview of analytic strategies required for various designs, and (5) opportunities for cross-discipline sharing throughout the workshop. Select examples from the educational research partners will animate these topics. This workshop as designed represents a centralized and collaborative effort to improve SoTL research and faculty teaching efforts.

We intend for this paper to be presented in a traditional lecture-based format with time for Q&amp;amp;A. 
AU  - Jody Zhong
AU  - Patricia A Ralston
AU  - Teresa Lee Tinnell
AU  - Thomas Tretter
AU  - Marie Brown
CY  - Virtual On line 
DA  - 2020/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Designing a Streamlined Workshop for STEM-H Faculty Engaged in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/34403
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--34403
ER  -