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Title: STEM Netweaver Dialogues: Creating, Designing, and Managing Transformative Networks
The Network of STEM Education Centers (NSEC) convened three 90-min network learning dialogues with four leading experts in network facilitation, systems change, and STEM education reform.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1524832
PAR ID:
10303653
Author(s) / Creator(s):
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Network of STEM Education Centers
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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  1. ; ; ; ; ; (, International Journal of STEM Education)
    null (Ed.)
    Abstract Background Transforming the culture of STEM higher education to be more inclusive and help more students reach STEM careers is challenging. Herein, we describe a new model for STEM higher education transformation, the Sustainable, Transformative Engagement across a Multi-Institution/Multidisciplinary STEM, (STEM) 2 , “STEM-squared”, Network. The Network embraces a pathways model, as opposed to a pipeline model, to STEM career entry. It is founded upon three strong theoretical frameworks: Communities of Transformation, systems design for organizational change, and emergent outcomes for the diffusion of innovations in STEM education. Currently composed of five institutions—three private 4-year universities and two public community colleges—the Network capitalizes on the close geographic proximity and shared student demographics to effect change across the classroom, disciplinary, institutional, and inter-institutional levels. Results The (STEM) 2 Network has increased the extent to which participants feel empowered to be change agents for STEM higher education reform and has increased collaboration across disciplines and institutions. Participants were motivated to join the Network to improve STEM education, to improve the transfer student experience, to collaborate with colleagues across disciplines and institutions, and because they respected the leadership team. Participants continue to engage in the Network because of the collaborations created, opportunities for professional growth, opportunities to improve STEM education, and a sense that the Network is functioning as intended. Conclusion The goal to increase the number and diversity of people entering STEM careers is predicated on transforming the STEM higher education system to embrace a pathways model to a STEM career. The (STEM) 2 Network is achieving this by empowering faculty to transform the system from the inside. While the systemic transformation of STEM higher education is challenging, the (STEM) 2 Network directly addresses those challenges by bridging disciplinary and institutional silos and leveraging the reward structure of the current system to support faculty as they work to transform this very system. 
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  2. ; ; ; ; ; ; (, Innovative Higher Education)
    Abstract The (STEM)2Network (Sustainable, Transformative Engagement across a Multi-Institution/Multidisciplinary STEM Network) is a National Science Foundation Research Coordination Network-Undergraduate Biology Education funded project intended to bridge disciplinary and institutional silos that function as barriers to systemic change in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in higher education. We utilized three foundational frameworks to develop an adaptable model that we posit is applicable across contexts. The model includes a core infrastructure that, combined with intentional self-reflection, results in an adaptable design that can be tailored to individual institutions, contexts, and goals. Herein, we describe the inception of the network, the foundational theoretical frameworks that guide network development and growth, and detail network structure and operations with the intention of supporting others in creating their own networks. We share the nuts and bolts of how we developed the (STEM)2Network, and include a supplemental network development planning guide to support others in utilizing the (STEM)2Network model to reach their own objectives. 
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  3. ; (, ASEE Conferences)
    The paper overviews a new IUSE:EDU project to develop a social network analysis (SNA) instrument that will allow STEM education centers to assess the otherwise intangible concept of STEM education capacity. STEM education capacity refers to the ability and empowerment of STEM educators to adapt to changing needs and collectively achieve shared objectives of their organizations. STEM education capacity is an important property of any academic system in STEM disciplines. It characterizes the readiness of the system’s members, communities, and the organization as a whole to adapt educational practices effectively to changing circumstances. However, it is also a latent system property, meaning that STEM education capacity can only be observed when it is in action. Most commonly, academic units see capacity in action during times of crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. In such times of crisis, it is too late to intervene and develop capacity to more effectively deal with the crisis. We argue that STEM education capacity can be more proactively be observed in mundane interactions between peers. SNA is a promising tool to be able to capture and quantify these interactions, allowing STEM education leaders to anticipate capacity development opportunities to better prepare for times of crisis or change. The project is in its first phase of three, in which we use qualitative interviewing to identify the kinds of relationships and interactions that matter to STEM education capacity building. We interviewed fifteen engineering faculty and staff involved in the teaching and learning process in one university’s College of Engineering. We aimed to understand who they talked to about teaching and learning, how their relationships developed, and what kinds of conversation they have most often. These interviews helped us deduce how engineering educators grow, learn, change, and help others through their interactions with other educators. The results of this phase of research yielded important insights about the ways networks of educators grow and solidify in STEM higher education. They also revealed the kinds of interactions relevant to individual growth and systemic capacity building. The next project phase will develop a SNA instrument that can capture the kinds of interactions relevant to STEM education capacity building. The final project phase will validate the instrument via its deployment across the entire College of Engineering. At the end of the project, STEM education leaders will have a tool they can use to assess, study, and grow STEM education capacity in their contexts. We call this tool the CATENA Instrument (Capacity Assessment, Tracking, & Enhancement through Network Analysis). This paper and NSF grantees poster will introduce the project as a whole, and also describe our Phase 1 results. 
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  4. ; ; (, ASEE Conferences)
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  5. ; ; (, International Journal of STEM Education)
    Abstract BackgroundSTEM minority participation programs have been widely implemented in higher education with the goal of diversifying the global STEM workforce. Informed by research highlighting the potential of targeted exploration of STEM roles and reflection on theselfin relation to STEM (identity exploration), this work examines how engagement in a government funded STEM minority participation program shaped these processes in current students and program alumni. ResultsEpistemic network analysis (ENA) was used to visualize conceptual connections between identity themes that emerged from interviews with present and past program participants. Network models were developed for current students and alumni for cross-group comparisons. Differences were found in how participants at different stages of their careers enact and describe their identity exploration processes. Summative network models highlighted how students discussed action-taking (sometimes through participation in STEM minority program initiatives) as they explored less-certain possible future STEM roles, while alumni integrated more diverse and holistic facets of their identities when conceptualizing their futures. To close the interpretive loop, a qualitative interpretation of interview discourse was used to give context to network patterns. ConclusionsResults highlight the differences between novices’ and professionals’ conceptualizations of their future selves and illustrate how minoritized individuals describe their long-term patterns of identity exploration related to STEM majors and careers. Implications for future STEM identity research and practice, including higher education programming as a tool to support students’ STEM identity exploration processes, are discussed. 
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