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1. Characterizing faculty motivation to implement three-dimensional learning

   https://doi.org/10.1186/s43031-023-00079-0  

   Nelson, Paul C.; Matz, Rebecca L.; Bain, Kinsey; Fata-Hartley, Cori L.; Cooper, Melanie M. (August 2023, Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Science Education Research)

   Abstract The National Research Council’s Framework for K-12 Science Education and the subsequent Next Generation Science Standards have provided a widespread common language for science education reform over the last decade. These efforts have naturally been targeted at the K-12 levels, but we have argued that the three dimensions outlined in these documents—scientific practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts (together termed three-dimensional learning)—are also a productive route for reform in college-level science courses. However, how and why college-level faculty might be motivated to incorporate three-dimensional learning into their courses is not well understood. Here, we report a mixed-methods study of participants in an interdisciplinary professional development program designed to support faculty in developing assessments and instruction aligned with three-dimensional learning. One cohort of faculty (N = 8) was interviewed, and four cohorts of faculty (N = 33) were surveyed. Using expectancy-value theory as an organizational framework, we identified themes of perceived values and costs that participants discussed in implementing three-dimensional learning. Based on a cluster analysis of all survey participants’ motivational profiles, we propose that these themes apply to the broader population of participants in this program. We recommend specific interventions to improve faculty motivation for implementing three-dimensional learning: emphasizing the utility value of three-dimensional learning in effecting positive learning gains for students; drawing connections between the dimensions of three-dimensional learning and faculty’s disciplinary identities; highlighting scientific practices as a key leverage point for faculty ability beliefs; minimizing cognitive dissonance for faculty in understanding the similarities and differences between the three dimensions; focusing on assessment writing as a keystone professional development activity; and aligning local evaluation practices and promotion policies with the 3DL framework. 

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2. CHARACTERIZATION OF UNDERGRADUATE BIOLOGY INSTRUCTORS’ GOALS AND STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTING QUANTITATIVE REASONING

   Khushal, Anum (August 2025, University of Nebraska Digital Commons)

   Quantitative reasoning (QR) is the ability to apply mathematics and statistics in the context of real-life situations and scientific problems. It is an important skill that students require to make sense of complex biological phenomena and handle large datasets in biology courses and research as well as in professional contexts. Biology educators and researchers are responding to the increasing need for QR through curricular reforms and research into biology education. This qualitative study investigates how undergraduate biology instructors implement QR into their teaching. The study used pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and a QR framework to explore instructors’ instructional goals, strategies, and perceived challenges and affordances in undergraduate biology instruction. The participants included 21 biology faculty across various institutions in the United States, who intentionally integrated QR in their instruction. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data focusing on participants’ beliefs, experiences, and classroom practices. Findings indicated that instructors adapt their QR instruction based on course level and student preparedness. In lower-division courses, strategies emphasized building foundational skills, reducing math anxiety, and using scaffolded instruction to promote confidence. In upper-division courses, instructors expected greater math fluency but still encountered a wide range of student abilities, prompting a focus on correcting misconceptions in integrating math knowledge and fostering deeper conceptual understanding in biology. Many instructors reported that their personal and educational experiences, especially struggles with math, often shaped their inclusive and empathetic teaching practices. Additionally, instructors’ research backgrounds influenced instructional design, particularly in the use of authentic data, statistical tools, and real-world applications. Instructors’ teaching experiences led to refinement in lesson planning, pacing, and active learning strategies. Despite their efforts, instructors faced both internal and external challenges in implementing QR, including discomfort with teaching math, time limitations, student resistance, and institutional barriers. However, affordances such as departmental support, interdisciplinary collaboration, and curricular flexibility helped to overcome some of these challenges. This study highlights the complex relationships between instructors’ experiences, beliefs, and contextual factors in shaping QR instruction. This calls for professional development that supports reflective practice, builds interdisciplinary competence, and promotes instructional strategies that bridge biology and mathematics and will help instructors design a learning environment that better support students’ development of QR skills. These findings offer valuable guidance for professional development aimed at helping biology instructors incorporate quantitative reasoning into their teaching. Such efforts can better equip students to meet the quantitative demands of modern biology and promote their continued engagement in STEM fields through more inclusive and integrated instructional approaches. 

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3. The Mathematical Autobiographies of College Faculty Participating in a Quantitative Reasoning Faculty Development Program: Stories of Trauma and Triumph

   Wilder, Esther Isabelle; West, Rebecca K (November 2024, Adults learning mathematics)

   This study evaluates the mathematical autobiographies of college and university faculty in order to identity (1) barriers that hinder success in mathematics, especially among groups underrepresented in STEM, and (2) strategies to reduce existing inequalities and promote effective pedagogy in both mathematics and quantitative reasoning (QR) education. From 2013 to 2019, 61 faculty from a wide range of disciplines participated in a multidisciplinary QR faculty development program. The results of a mathematical autobiographical activity demonstrate the exercise’s utility as a pedagogical tool that both encourages students to confront their mathematical anxieties and helps instructors promote success in mathematics by responding to students’ diverse experiences. The autobiographies center on three broad themes: negative experiences with mathematics (e.g., mathematics trauma, fear of bad grades, ineffective mathematics teachers, gender bias), positive experiences (using mathematics to better understand the world, effective teachers, success in mathematics courses), and the importance of making mathematics relevant. These narratives show how both mastery goals and performance goals can serve as incentives for learning mathematics. They also demonstrate the importance of viewing mathematics achievement through a positional lens (e.g., gender) that is conditioned by both structural variables (e.g., teachers) and agency variables (e.g., growth mindset). 

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4. Implementing Interconnected Faculty Development Initiatives for STEM Faculty

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--56754  

   Hass, Christopher; Brown, Philip; Emenike, Mary; Ruggieri, Charles; Ptak, Corey; Blackwell, Stacey; Zenarosa, Gabriel (June 2025, ASEE Conferences)

   Our evidence-based practice paper will present a Teaching Excellence Network (TEN) implemented at a large, multi-campus, North-Eastern US, R1 institution. TEN was funded by a 5-year NSF IUSE grant (institutional and community transformation track) that was part of a multidisciplinary collaboration of science and engineering faculty and Learning Centers staff. We discuss our practices, the reasons behind them, and impacts on participating faculty, emphasizing building connections between the institution’s offices, departments, and schools. TEN addressed perceptions of fragmentated and siloed faculty development initiatives at our institution. Faculty development efforts are distributed across departments, including an office for teaching with technology, one for assessment and evaluation, two school-based offices, a center for faculty research excellence, and an office for DEIB efforts. While each contributes significantly to faculty development, the siloes and disconnected communication channels lead to a perception of scarcity when it comes to support around teaching. In addition, most units focus on specific areas of development and not the kind of holistic teaching support we implemented. Recently, engineering departments have hired full-time teaching-focused faculty to improve teaching practice and education quality. While some science and math departments have many teaching-focused faculty, our engineering departments often have only a few faculty in these positions. We designed our BDI to bring siloed faculty together and create easier access to the many and varied programs across campus. TEN, and our study, are grounded in questions about how institutional structures impact faculty agency and motivation. Our work is guided by three theories: Structuration, Agency, and Expectancy-Value. These theories conceptualize human motivation as being connected to instructors’ expectations of success in an endeavour (e.g., transforming aspects of their course) and the perceived value of that endeavour, while allowing us to examine the interdependence of human decision-making and institutional structures. We planned TEN around maximizing value for faculty, while generating structures that supported faculty becoming involved in our programs and focusing efforts on teaching development. TEN has two major components: summer institutes are focused on pedagogical content delivery, and the production of usable materials and course design plans; semester support groups focus on the production or implementation of specific smaller projects, or the in-depth discussion of particular research-based ideas to provide faculty continuing support and a sense of connectedness with peers. Our analysis will start from a thematic analysis of interviews with faculty, in the style of Braun and Clark, to develop a sense of our data and the impacts that this program has had on participants. We will be using our theoretical lens to look for themes around how the structures of TEN have impacted faculty. Through the iterative process of thematic analysis, other themes may also emerge for investigation, which will enrich our understanding of participants’ experiences. Presentation of these themes, alongside illustrative cases of STEM faculty, will demonstrate the impacts of TEN on participants, provide context for engaging roundtable discussions of what participants are taking away from the programs, and present implications for faculty development initiatives. 

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5. Discerning Advanced Manufacturing Education Pathways: Insights from Rural Northwest Florida’s Program Origin Stories

   Tenney, Curtis S.; Mardis, Marcia A.; Jones, Faye R. (June 2019, ASEE annual conference & exposition)

   School-to-career pathways not only represent a student’s journey, but they also represent the educational program context; to understand the pathway, one must understand the geographic, political, and social conditions that led to the program’s creation. To determine the kinds of pathways advanced manufacturing (AM) programs in rural Northwest Florida community and state colleges enabled for their students, we interviewed faculty and administrators about their AM programs’ historical emergence. In this paper, we present five detailed AM program “origin stories,” using a multiple case study methodology. These origin stories allowed us to explore how rural AM postsecondary programs have evolved in organizational structure, curriculum content, employer relations, and student pathways facilitation. We gathered data to discern 1) commonalities and unique features in AM programs’ initiation impetus; 2) current AM program, faculty, and student profiles; and 3) significant AM program challenges and priorities in rural settings, such as institutional commitment to long-term economic health. In our findings, we highlight how active participation in diverse community and industry collaborations serves to establish and grow AM educational pathways tailored explicitly for the immediate community. For example, participants share innovative partnership programming and certificate development that enabled seminal two-year engineering technology and engineering technician education opportunities. We also identified that the ability of rural programs to offer instruction in advanced physical spaces requires an ongoing commitment to appropriate resources, support that is variously obtained from the institution, local employers, or some combination of stakeholders. Through our methodology and findings, we aim to contribute to a holistic understanding of how to study school-to-career pathways. This study investigates how rural AM programs can advance to achieve competitive growth. 

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