PRINCIPLES OF GOOD PRACTICE IN INTRODUCTORY STEM COURSES: LISTENING TO THE VOICES OF FACULTY AND STUDENTS

Gina A. GarciaJosephine Gasiewski

Sylvia Hurtado

Association for the Study of Higher EducationCharlotte, North CarolinaNovember 17, 2011

Background

Focus on introductory STEM courses since the mid-1990’s (National Research Council 1996, 1999; National Science Foundation, 1996; Seymour & Hewitt, 1997; Tobias, 1990) Large class sizes Lecture-based courses that encourage passive learning Lack of engaging pedagogy

Numerous teaching and learning techniques employed, often by research scientists teaching introductory courses Student Response Systems (“clickers”) Just in Time Teaching (JiTT) Web-based pedagogy Peer-based learning (PBL)

Background

Criticism of curriculum continues in 2000’s (Alberts, 2005; DeHaan, 2005; Handelsman et al., 2004; McWilliam et al., 2008) Lacks exploration of the real world of science Lacks ways for students to learn about the

discovery of science Lacks creativity and innovation

Promising Practices in Undergraduate STEM Education (NRC, 2011) Goals and purposes of STEM teaching and learning

innovations have varied tremendously Large scale assessment of in class techniques is

lacking Froyd (2008) promising practices in STEM

undergraduate education

Purpose of Study

Highlight the ways in which undergraduate students and university professors at eight institutions make meaning of good teaching practices in introductory STEM courses

Provide practical suggestions for improving teaching and learning in introductory STEM courses using empirical data

Methods

Sample 8 Institutions (diverse by type, size, and control) 41 Student Focus Groups (n = 239) 25 STEM Faculty Interviews

Data Collection 60-90 min in-depth interviews/focus groups 9 main student questions centering on motivation,

STEM course structure, learning, instruction, and assessment

7 main faculty questions centering on course goals and objectives, pedagogical approaches, STEM course structure, forms of assessment, and institutional support for teaching

Analysis

Interviews digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim NVivo 8 qualitative software Six researchers open coded raw data for salient

themes using constant comparative method Developed first-order categories Intercoder reliability 80-85% (Kappa coefficient) Re-validated and developed additional categories

Developed second-order themes within individual institutions Compared student and faculty data, looking for similarities

and differences Compared across institutional types, looking for broad

themes

Three Main Themes:1. In-class techniques2. Out-of-class techniques3. Context for learning

FINDINGS

Southwestern Private Research University

Competitive classroom environment Predominance of pre-health majors Early warning system Student centered focus

Formal classroom techniques Real world application Working problems on board Skeleton notes Class discussions Groups projects ELMO

Out of class techniques Online homework Study groups Formal & informal SI Office hours Blackboard Student Success Center

Students Faculty

Context for Learning

Formal classroom techniques Real world application Clickers

Out of class techniques Online homework Study groups Formal & informal SI

Predominance of Pre-Health Students

I think in a lot of my like introductory, or at least the pre-med courses, there was like a tendency of, well, you can fail ‘cuz that means that my shot is better. It’s way more, I think, cutthroat. I mean, you still help each other, but it’s definitely like – Yeah, it’s definitely competitive like, you’re like, I’m going to be at every class. It’s, and I think that kind of helps foster education because it, you know, it’s like these are, you know, med school is competitive to get into, so it’s like, you know, you need to be going to every single class, being able to easily do the information, but I would definitely agree. It’s definitely, it’s pretty hard. (Brendan)

Real World Examples

I’ve had chemistry professors and calculus professors, like classes that were really dry and potentially really boring were made a lot more interesting simply because the professor absolutely loved their subject and would relate it to all sorts of things going on in the news and just, you know, relate it to all sorts of practical things that wouldn’t come up in the curriculum. (Karl)

Midwestern Public Research University

Formal classroom techniques Real world application Clickers

Out of class techniques Grad student led discussion

groups Instructor led review sessions Undergrad led study groups

Formal classroom techniques Real world application Clickers Traditional lecture Pair work YouTube clips

Out of class techniques Grad student led discussion

groups Course websites Online quizzes Discussion boards Podcasts

Students Faculty

Context for Learning

Challenges of large class sizes Highly motivated students Collaborative culture

Lecture + Other Resources

The approach that Midwestern Public Research University has taken regarding lecture—you know, lots of schools have been working ways to improve lecture. We know that lecture is good for some learning goals; it’s not so good for all sorts of other learning goals. Midwestern Public Research University’s approach has been to figure out what lecture is good for, what does the research say lecture is good for, and do that, and do that as well as we can and then add other resources to the course, to try get at some of those other learning goals. (Professor Eko)

I feel like in lecture you don't really learn that much. Maybe I've learned like 10% of everything that I've learned in lecture. Everything else I get from attending like, the student led study groups, and like, on my own or with friends. (Dylan)

Student Study Groups

I think that for me, I really like the study groups, but my study group leader I don't think is very good. The benefit to me is that there's other students there that are taking the class, and so, I'll go over the problems with them, not the study group leader. And so, just sort of having a forced, I guess, way that you have to meet with people two hours every week, is really beneficial to me. (Timmy)

Southeastern Public Master’s College

Formal classroom techniques Tablet PC’s DYNO Clickers

Out of class techniques Online homework Textbook websites

Formal classroom techniques Tablet PC’s DYNO Real world application Team teaching In-class problem solving Visuals Think/Pair/Share Animations Action research

Out of class techniques Online homework Virtual labs Formal & informal SI

Students Faculty

Context for Learning

Lack of student engagement Lack of student preparation

In-class Technology

Well, my class, we had clickers and the tablet and I don’t think it was, I think it – if the professor took a different approach when he used them it could have been successful, but at the time I don’t think it was, really they made too much of a difference. And as far as the tablets go, I think that’s kind of the same. I don’t really like, I would have preferred the board, the regular white board over my teacher actually doing it on a tablet. It was, it was, I don’t see, I don’t see the benefit of it. (Franny)

Lack of Preparation

I find that many of the students just don’t have the preparation. They don’t have the language and so they find it difficult to cope. You can present it, PowerPoint presentation, one-on-one discussion and so on, but if you don’t know the language, it becomes difficult to operate. It means you have to go back and start from scratch. (Professor Norris)

Northeastern Private Master’s College

Formal classroom techniques Workshops Clickers

Out of class techniques Online homework SI sessions

Formal classroom techniques Workshops Clickers Peer instructional model Visuals Real world application Group projects

Out of class techniques Online homework SI sessions

Students Faculty

Context for Learning

Special interest housing Cohort centered course content Teaching focused Collaborative culture

Emphasis on Experiential Learning As I said, we are a place that has a deep

tradition of experiential learning, deep tradition of quality teaching and most of us have the mindset that we’re teachers. The growth for us or the growing pains is to have a culture which is more blended, which is more the inclusion of the scholarship and the scholarship expectations. (Professor Langner)

Workshops

But the workshop’s really helpful ‘cuz we’re, I was in a group with four people, and we were given like 20 problems, and we’d have to finish 15 in the hour. So we kind of split up and did them, and then at the end we’d kind of look through and see which ones we had trouble with, and we’d help each other out…and then, like, everyone would look through it to make sure they had a basic understanding of how everything worked. (Irving)

Comparison of Institutions

Theme Institutions

Strong emphasis on teaching

Southeastern Private Master’s College; Northeastern Private Master’s College; Western Private Master’s College

Strong emphasis on research

Western Public Research University

Large classes Midwestern Pubic Research University; Southwestern Public Research University

Small classes Southeastern Private Master’s College, Northeastern Private Master’s College

Extremely competitive

Southwestern Private Research University; Southeastern Private Master’s College; Western Public Research University

Extremely collaborative

Midwestern Pubic Research University; Northeastern Private Master’s College; Western Private Master’s College

SI/study groups part of culture

Midwestern Pubic Research University; Northeastern Private Master’s College; Western Private Master’s College

Discussion

Students and faculty have varying opinions about the use of innovation and technology There is no universal technique for all

students/faculty Techniques should include multiple modalities

Professors describe more innovation and use of active learning strategies than students describe experiencing Innovation is not standard practice Innovation relies upon efforts of individuals Innovation is not institutionalized

Discussion

Strategies should emphasize: Student interaction and collaboration Increased time on task outside of the classroom Real world application for research and practice

Strategies for improving the experience of introductory STEM courses must consider differences in the context for learning Competitive vs. collaborative environment Size of classroom Student characteristics Institutional support Institutional focus-research vs. teaching

Contact Info

Acknowledgments: This study was made possible by the support of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 through the National Institute of

General Medical Sciences, NIH Grant 1RC1GM090776-01. This independent research and the views expressed here do not indicate endorsement by the

sponsors.

Papers and reports are available for download from project website:

http://heri.ucla.edu/nihProject e-mail: herinih@ucla.edu

Faculty/Co-PIs:Sylvia HurtadoMitchell Chang

Tanya FigueroaGina GarciaFelisha Herrera

Postdoctoral Scholars:Kevin EaganJosephine Gasiewski

Administrative Staff:Dominique Harrison

Graduate Research Assistants:

Bryce HughesCindy

MosquedaJuan Garibay