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1. Understanding Context: Propagation and Effectiveness of the Concept Warehouse in Mechanical Engineering at Five Diverse Institutions and Beyond – Results from Year 1.

   Self, B. P.; Dal Bello, D. J.; Koretsky, M.; Nolen, S. B.; Papadopoulos, C.; Prince, M. J.; Widmann, J. M. (June 2020, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   Several consensus reports cite a critical need to dramatically increase the number and diversity of STEM graduates over the next decade. They conclude that a change to evidence-based instructional practices, such as concept-based active learning, is needed. Concept-based active learning involves the use of activity-based pedagogies whose primary objectives are to make students value deep conceptual understanding (instead of only factual knowledge) and then to facilitate their development of that understanding. Concept-based active learning has been shown to increase academic engagement and student achievement, to significantly improve student retention in academic programs, and to reduce the performance gap of underrepresented students. Fostering students' mastery of fundamental concepts is central to real world problem solving, including several elements of engineering practice. Unfortunately, simply proving that these instructional practices are more effective than traditional methods is not enough to ensure widespread pedagogical change. In fact, the biggest challenge to improving STEM education is not the need to develop more effective instructional practices, but to find ways to get faculty to adopt the evidence-based pedagogies that already exist. 

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2. Examining whether and how instructional coordination occurs within introductory undergraduate STEM courses

   https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1156781  

   Couch, Brian A.; Prevost, Luanna B.; Stains, Marilyne; Whitt, Blake; Marcy, Ariel E.; Apkarian, Naneh; Dancy, Melissa H.; Henderson, Charles; Johnson, Estrella; Raker, Jeffrey R.; et al (April 2023, Frontiers in Education)

   Instructors’ interactions can foster knowledge sharing around teaching and the use of research-based instructional strategies (RBIS). Coordinated teaching presents an impetus for instructors’ interactions and creates opportunities for instructional improvement but also potentially limits an instructor’s autonomy. In this study, we sought to characterize the extent of coordination present in introductory undergraduate courses and to understand how departments and instructors implement and experience course coordination. We examined survey data from 3,641 chemistry, mathematics, and physics instructors at three institution types and conducted follow-up interviews with a subset of 24 survey respondents to determine what types of coordination existed, what factors led to coordination, how coordination constrained instruction, and how instructors maintained autonomy within coordinated contexts. We classified three approaches to coordination at both the overall course and course component levels: independent (i.e., not coordinated), collaborative (decision-making by instructor and others), controlled (decision-making by others, not instructor). Two course components, content coverage and textbooks, were highly coordinated. These curricular components were often decided through formal or informal committees, but these decisions were seldom revisited. This limited the ability for instructors to participate in the decision-making process, the level of interactions between instructors, and the pedagogical growth that could have occurred through these conversations. Decision-making around the other two course components, instructional methods and exams, was more likely to be independently determined by the instructors, who valued this autonomy. Participants in the study identified various ways in which collaborative coordination of courses can promote but also inhibit pedagogical growth. Our findings indicate that the benefits of collaborative course coordination can be realized when departments develop coordinated approaches that value each instructor’s autonomy, incorporate shared and ongoing decision-making, and facilitate collaborative interactions and knowledge sharing among instructors. 

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3. Impact of changing physical learning space on GTA and student behaviors

   https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2020.pr.Doty  

   Doty, Constance M.; Wan, Tong; Geraets, Ashley A.; Nix, Christopher A.; Saitta, Erin K.; Chini, Jacquelyn J. (January 2020, Physics Education Research Conference 2020)

   null (Ed.)

   We investigated how changing the physical classroom impacted graduate teaching assistant (GTA) and student behaviors in tutorial sections of an introductory algebra-based physics sequence. Using a modified version of the Laboratory Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (LOPUS), we conducted 35 observations over two semesters for seven GTAs who taught in different styles of classrooms (i.e., active learning classrooms and traditional classrooms). We found that both GTAs and students changed behaviors in response to a change from an active learning classroom to a traditional classroom. GTAs were found to be less interactive with student groups and to lecture at the whiteboard more frequently. Correspondingly, student behaviors changed as students asked fewer questions during one-on-one interactions. These findings suggest that the instructional capacity framework, which typically focuses on interactions between instructors, students and instructional materials, should also include interactions with the learning space. We suggest administrators and departments consider the impact of changing to a traditional classroom when implementing student-centered instruction and emphasize how to use classroom space in GTA professional development. 

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4. Factors that influence STEM faculty use of evidence-based instructional practices: An ecological model

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281290  

   Sansom, Rebecca L.; Winters, Desiree M.; St. Clair, Bryn E.; West, Richard E.; Jensen, Jamie L. (January 2023, PLOS ONE)

   Dalby, Andrew R. (Ed.)

   Traditional teaching practices in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses have failed to support student success, causing many students to leave STEM fields and disproportionately affecting women and students of color. Although much is known about effective STEM teaching practices, many faculty continue to adhere to traditional methods, such as lecture. In this study, we investigated the factors that affect STEM faculty members’ instructional decisions about evidence-based instructional practices (EBIPs). We performed a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with faculty members from the Colleges of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Life Sciences, and Engineering who took part in a professional development program to support the use of EBIPs by STEM faculty at the university. We used an ecological model to guide our investigation and frame the results. Faculty identified a variety of personal, social, and contextual factors that influenced their instructional decision-making. Personal factors included attitudes, beliefs, and self-efficacy. Social factors included the influence of students, colleagues, and administration. Contextual factors included resources, time, and student characteristics. These factors interact with each other in meaningful ways that highlight the hyper-local social contexts that exist within departments and sub-department cultures, the importance of positive feedback from students and colleagues when implementing EBIPs, and the need for support from the administration for faculty who are in the process of changing their teaching. 

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5. Integrating Computational Thinking in STEM Education: A Literature Review

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-021-10227-5  

   Wang, Changzhao; Shen, Ji; Chao, Jie (November 2021, International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education)

   Research focusing on the integration of computational thinking (CT) into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education started to emerge. We conducted a semi-systematic literature review on 55 empirical studies on this topic. Our findings include: (a) the majority of the studies adopted domain-general definitions of CT and a few proposed domain-specific CT definitions in STEM education; (b) the most popular instructional model was problem-based instruction, and the most popular topic contexts included game design, robotics, and computational modelling; (c) while the assessments of student learning in integrated CT and STEM education targeted different objectives with different formats, about a third of them assessed integrated CT and STEM; (d) about a quarter of the studies reported differential learning processes and outcomes between groups, but very few of them investigated how pedagogical design could improve equity. Based on the findings, suggestions for future research and practice in this field are discussed in terms of operationalizing and assessing CT in STEM contexts, instructional strategies for integrating CT in STEM, and research for broadening participation in integrated CT and STEM education. 

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