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This Research Work-in-progress paper presents a project that intends to increase student engagement, retention, and success through the implementation of a faculty development program focused on implicit bias and active learning. To assess the extent to which the program resulted in transformative changes in instructor teaching, the project team conducted classroom observations using minute-by-minute environmental scans and the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS). The project team found that the COPUS could not capture all the behaviors that needed to be observed to assess the faculty development project. Thus, 12 emergent COPUS codes were developed to code the required behaviors. Each code is defined, examples are provided, and excerpts of classroom observations with and without the emergent COPUS codes are examined. The project team thinks the emergent COPUS codes, generally focused on faculty behaviors related to classroom climate, will be useful in other classroom observation projects.
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This content will become publicly available on June 1, 2026
Fusion of COPUS and DEI Tools for Equitable STEM Classroom Engagement
This research paper investigates how classroom observation tools can be effectively combined to promote engagement in STEM education. Specifically, it explores the integration of the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) and a culturally responsive Classroom Observation Instrument (COI) to evaluate and improve teaching practices. COPUS, developed by Smith et al. [21], captures instructional dynamics and student-faculty interactions, while the Classroom Observation Instrument COI, created by Dr. Jennifer G. Cromley and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Developing Equity-Minded Engineering Practitioners (DEEP) research team [6], focuses on observing and assessing culturally responsive-related instructional practices. At Morgan State University (MSU), a Historically Black University (HBCU), coders formally trained by the UIUC DEEP team used both tools to analyze classroom recordings of faculty who had undergone professional development in engaging pedagogy. Findings indicate measurable improvements and balanced engagement in the classroom. This fusion of COPUS and COI tools offers a replicable framework for enhancing inclusive STEM instruction and cultivating more equitable learning environments.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2308531
- PAR ID:
- 10629848
- Publisher / Repository:
- ASEE Conferences
- Date Published:
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- STEM education COPUS culturally responsive engaging pedagogy classroom observations
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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