St Strategie ies from Bio iolo logy to Tr Transform Undergraduate ST STEM Teachin ing and Le Learning Krystle Cobian, Sylvia Hurtado, Kevin Eagan, Liz Roth-Johnson University of California, Los Angeles SABER West January 2018 HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT UCLA HOME OF THE COOPERATIVE INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAM
Who we a are, w why we’re h here To Topics we will cover today: Na National col ollege trends in Biol olog ogy Institutional transformation In Wh What you can do (strategies) HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT UCLA HOME OF THE COOPERATIVE INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAM
A L Look a at N National Data: Trends in B Biological S Sciences HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT UCLA HOME OF THE COOPERATIVE INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAM
Trends in student interest in the Biological Sciences reported at the beginning of their freshman year 14.0% 14. 0% 12.0% 12. 0% 10. 10.0% 0% 8. 8.0% 0% UR URM White/Asian Wh 6.0% 6. 0% To Total 4. 4.0% 0% 2.0% 2. 0% 0.0% 0. 0%
Of students who aspired to major in the biological sciences in the beginning of their freshman year, what is their final major? Other major, Ot , 11. 11.8 Education, Ed , 2. 2.5 Health Pre- He professional, pr , 4. 4.4 Biological Science, Bi Other STEM , Ot , 5. 5.0 42. 42.7 Business, Bu , 5. 5.5 Agriculture, Ag , 6. 6.0 Social Sc So Sciences, , 6. 6.8 Psychology, Ps , 7. 7.3 Arts & Humanities, Ar , 8. 8.0
Biomedical Science Completion versus Completion in Another Field of Study 6 th year (30, 614 biology aspirants, 296 colleges) Pr Prior Pr Preparation Average high school GPA + Student-centered pedagogy factor + SAT composite score (100) + Years of HS study: Mathematics or Biological science + Entering Aspirations and Expectations Communicate regularly with professors + TFS Academic Self-Concept + Ph.D./Ed.D. degree aspiration + Medical degree aspiration + Grading on a curve - Figueroa, T., Hurtado, S., Eagan, K. (2013). Ma Making it!...or Not: Institutional Contexts and Bi Biomedical Degree Attainment
Cu Cultivating STEM M Talent HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT UCLA HOME OF THE COOPERATIVE INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAM
How T Talent is C Cultivated Some faculty actively thought about how their teaching practices contribute to the academic success of students The first and most important lesson I’ve learned is to ap appreciat ate the difficulty that some stude di dents have with the material and d to make sure th that t th they don’t t feel judged for th the difficulty ty that they’re having, to express the idea that some of this material is challenging, it is different from anything that they’ve had before. Some of it is not intuitive, and that’s okay. It’s okay to struggle with it, and many people do. They won’t be judged harshly for not getting it right away. ─ Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Introductory Classroom Data Figueroa, T., & Hurtado, S., Cobian, K., Wilkins, A., & White-Lewis, D. (2016). Cu Cultivating STEM talent: Lessons from STEM pi pioneers and d exempl plar institutions. Paper presented at the annual meeting for the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Columbus, OH.
In Institutional Resources or Policies that Support Faculty in Cu Cultivating Talent Change efforts must be multi-level and multi-strategy One of the things that I pushed throughout [my career] was that we have to get this from many different levels. We have to train junior faculty. We have to try to implicate senior faculty. We have to train the next generation of post-docs and graduate students. We have to provide grant incentives. We have to provide awards. We have to provide negative reinforcement for the other ways [that reduce STEM success]. Just in every angle, I see different ways of either rewarding or discouraging the behaviors we either want or don't want respectively. – Biology Professor , Pioneer Data Figueroa, T., & Hurtado, S., Cobian, K., Wilkins, A., & White-Lewis, D. (2016). Cu Cultivating STEM talent: Lessons from STEM pi pioneers and d exempl plar institutions. Paper presented at the annual meeting for the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Columbus, OH.
Structure in Place: Still Requires Change in Leadership There was a lot of opposition from other units who thought that these active learning classrooms were a fad, a waste of time, and didn’t believe the data that showed that it was very effective for student learning. That’s how the building got to be [with key champions], and as with anything new, there were bumps in the road, and there was student resistance at the beginning….It’s not what most universities were doing, and so that was a little, “What’s going on here?” Frankly, some of the things we said to them didn’t help. The first one or two semesters, basically, we told them it was an experiment, so they’re guinea pigs. Well, that— that did not go over well, so we soon learned to say, “No, this isn’t an experiment. We know this works well. We’ve seen the grades of students who came through this university before and after this, and there’s a big difference. Students are grasping material better. We have many fewer DFW grades. C students tend to get bumped up into the lower B range, and, no, A students, you’re not suffering. Associate Dean, Public Research University- Exemplar Case Studies Data
Institutional T Transformation: A New F Framework Informed by Strategies U Utilized a at H Highly Pr Productive Institutions HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT UCLA HOME OF THE COOPERATIVE INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAM
Methods Me Sa Sample Co Codin ing an and Anal alysis is • Case studies from 11 diverse institutions • Constant Comparative Approach • Institutions had ‘exemplary success’ in used to code producing STEM degrees overall, or • Transcripts open coded for salient among a particular underrepresented larger themes followed by axial racial group of interest coding to determine how themes • Efficiency scores generated by stochastic were interconnected. frontier analysis identified ‘exemplar’ • Analysis involved visually campuses (See E Eagan paper) displaying the data within each • Roughly 20-30 STEM faculty, program code in spreadsheets by directors, and upper level administrators were interviewed at each institution institution. • Easily allows for comparisons • We investigated evidence-based between institutions. practices and the overall context for STEM education Eagan, M.K. (2010). Mo Moving beyond Frontiers: How Institutional Context Affects Degree Pr Production and Student Aspirations in STEM . . (Ph.D .D. . Dissertation), , Univers rsity of Californ rnia, Los An Angeles, CA. A. ProQuest database.
Organization onal Perspective for or Changing Nor orms in STEM Te Teaching and Learning Ex External Pressures Attention to D Dive versity within In Institutional Culture Ch Change Agent or Le Leadership Support Ch Change Agent or Pedagogical Pe Ch Change Agent or Leadership Support Le Ex Experimentation Le Leadership Support Sc Scaling and Di Dissemination Su Sustaining of of Innov ovative Institutional In Ch Changes in Ideas Id Practice Pr Culture Cu ar around STEM Te Teaching and Change Agent or Ch Ch Change Agent or Le Learning Leadership Support Le Le Leadership Support Ob Obtaining Momentum in Mo Bu Buy-in in From Change Efforts Ch Additional Ad Faculty Fa
Organization onal Perspective for or Changing Nor orms in STEM Te Teaching and Learning Ex External Pressures Attention to D Dive versity within In Institutional Culture Ch Change Agent or Le Leadership Support Ch Change Agent or Pedagogical Pe Ch Change Agent or Leadership Support Le Ex Experimentation Le Leadership Support Sc Scaling and Di Dissemination Su Sustaining of of Innov ovative Institutional In Ch Changes in Ideas Id Practice Pr Culture Cu ar around STEM Te Teaching and Change Agent or Ch Ch Change Agent or Le Learning Leadership Support Le Le Leadership Support Ob Obtaining Momentum in Mo Bu Buy-in in From Change Efforts Ch Additional Ad Faculty Fa
Attention t to D Diversity within I Institutional Culture When we hire faculty… • Institutions embraced increasingly diverse we are looking for student body somebody who really • Leadership vocal about the importance of diversity loves being with • Hiring of diverse faculty & faculty who students, who likes value teaching/doing research with teaching students, diverse students who’s not afraid to work • Collaborations with nearby Native American with people from communities different diverse • Institution recognizes that effectively teaching diverse students requires attention backgrounds. to additional challenges that URMs face ~ P Profe fessor Emeritus i in • Services may need to be tailored so that Biology, M , Master’s ’s they can target diverse students Comprehensive ve HSI
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