Effectuating Evidence-based Transformative Pedagogical Approaches in STEM Foundational Courses—A Pilot Study

Abstract

A critical juncture in the undergraduate STEM education pathway is the first two years of college when the majority of attrition occurs because students experience many academic challenges in gatekeeping courses. Among many factors to this failure, an important one is attributed to the lack of engaging pedagogy inside and outside classrooms. Through this NSF WIDER Program sponsored planning project, a team of faculty and administrators at Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (AAMU) are implementing evidence-based instructional practices in foundation courses in STEM curricula. Recognizing that it is essential to implement effective pedagogy in gateway courses where most attrition occurs, this project has conducted a pilot study, which focuses on: (1) collecting baseline data about the extent to which evidencebased practices are currently being used in STEM gateway courses; (2) redesigning three foundational gateway courses in electrical engineering, computer science and mathematics by applying evidence-based teaching strategies-student-centered problem-based teaching(SC-PBT), example-based teaching, and just-in-time teaching (JITT); (3) incorporating classroom and laboratory activities that require active student engagement, conceptual understanding, critical thinking, and problem-solving; and (4) Employing model students to lead Supplementary Instruction (SI) courses with evidence-based peer-to-peer learning strategies. The student assessment data indicated the effectiveness of the evidence-based instructional practices, the SI peer-to-peer learning strategies, as well as existing engagement challenges. In addition, positive feedback was obtained from the student survey data on the redesigned courses. The broader impact of this project is twofold. First, data generated through assessment and evaluation is expected to support the theoretical rationale that systematic change in STEM education must include a wide spectrum of stakeholders (administrators, faculty, staff, and students). Secondly, dissemination of the results of this work is expected to provide a model for institutional implementation of evidence-based practices at colleges or universities of similar size and/or student body demographics as AAMU, a land-granted minority serving university.

STEM education institutional change projects: examining enacted approaches through the lens of the Four Categories of Change Strategies Model

“…Publications associated with institutional change projects funded by the NSF and aimed at STEM education transformation can provide some insight about institutional-level change processes. Here we find examples of publications that describe particular programmatic approaches (Karlin & James, 2014;Vanasupa et al, 2014), reforms at the course level (Herman et al, 2018;Zhao et al, 2015), change project deliverables (Madsen et al, 2017), research examining teaching practices or faculty perceptions (Lund & Stains, 2015;Nguyen et al, 2017;Sansom et al, 2023;Shadle et al, 2017;Stains et al, 2018;Williams et al, 2015Williams et al, , 2022, and research examining student outcomes (Barthelemy et al, 2015;Mooring et al, 2016;Pond & Chini, 2017). Generally, these studies reflect a relatively narrow scope, which suggests either that the funded efforts focused on a particular aspect of the complex STEM education system (e.g., a particular course or programmatic approach) or that what was shared for publication represents a select portion of a larger, more complex change initiative.…”