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The Workshops for Engineering and Science Transfers (WEST) program was designed to foster critical-thinking skills and develop a supportive community for new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) community college transfer students at the University of California, Santa Cruz, with the ultimate goal of improving student retention and persistence in STEM. All learners in the program participate in inquiry activities devised to incorporate elements of backward design and equity and inclusion. Here we discuss our 2019 Toxicology WEST workshop activity, an in-depth exploration of dose-response relationships created to provide an overview of the field of toxicology and clarify common misconceptions. To reflect authentic research design, we had learners assume the roles of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientists tasked with investigating the effects of environmental toxicants on the model organisms Caenorhabditis elegans and Daphnia magna. Learners were asked to design and conduct experiments to explore the dose-response relationship and report their results in a culminating poster symposium. We assessed learning by evaluating their performance on two tasks: an individual written response and a group poster presentation. Our activity gave learners an opportunity to practice experimental design, data analysis, and science communication before beginning UCSC STEM courses. Practicing these skills early is essential for student retention in STEM, as many students find the experimental process challenging. Here, we describe details of our inquiry workshop activity, reflect on the effectiveness of the activity and our assessment of student learning, and offer suggestions for facilitation and adaptation of our activity to additional educational contexts. 

The majority of physics and astronomy undergraduate major classes are structured around problem sets, an approach that does not typically make it possible for students to learn in an inquiry-based manner analogous to how scientists conduct research. One of the reasons professors often do not attempt an inquiry approach is the lack of educational tools needed to facilitate this method of learning. In this work, I describe how Astrobites — a website run by astronomy graduate students with the goal of making the latest research more accessible to undergraduates — is ideally suited to serve as an educational tool that can make problem sets more inquiry-based. I discuss how I designed inquiry-based problem sets that make use of Astrobites for several different astronomy classes that target physics and astronomy majors. I also present strategies for implementing such assignments based on assessment from the students, and provide example problem sets that received good student feedback. These assignments are intended to complement traditional problem sets, thereby inclusively providing an alternate way for students to take interest and engage in their homework for the class. 

Data literacy and the ability to synthesize and communicate complex concepts are core components of modern scientific practice. Here we present the design and implementation of an inquiry activity about climate variability that was taught as a part of the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) Workshops for Engineering & Science Transfers (ClimateWEST) in 2019. The two-day activity introduced interdisciplinary undergraduate and community college transfer students pursuing graduate school to the field of climate science through a series of inquiry activities. Climate science is a complex topic, and research shows that there are certain concepts that are particularly difficult to grasp. Our climate activity focused on disentangling some of those misconceptions, by emphasizing the following themes or core dimensions of climate variability: (1) Climate varies on both shorter timescales (e.g. seasonal or annual cycle) and on longer timescales (e.g. climate change); (2) Both climate and climate trends vary spatially/geographically and are different from global climate; and (3) Climate is complex and includes not only temperature but also other key variables such as precipitation, ice, wind, ocean circulation, etc. We discuss the inquiry components, assessment-driven tools, facilitation and equity and inclusion design, as well as summarize students' progress toward our goals in the activity. 

Here we discuss the design and implementation of an introductory DNA Barcoding module that we developed for the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Science in Action Program, a two-week summer program that teaches high school students about Hawai‘i’s biodiversity. Students used the concept of characterization to explain the relationships among organisms using morphological, ecological, and molecular data. Additionally, students gained experience in the scientific practice of generating explanations by gathering multiple lines of evidence to support or refute a claim, linking claims with evidence, and presenting such claims in written and oral formats to identify unknown algae samples. During this activity, students also gained real-world research experience in the field of biodiversity research. We also discuss potential modifications for future iterations of this module. 

We designed, facilitated, and re-designed an inquiry activity in an introductory undergraduate astronomy research methods course at the University of Texas at Austin over two different semesters. The teaching venue for this inquiry activity took place in the course “AST 376R: A Practical Introduction to Research Methods”, the inquiry activity was inserted into an existing course structure, taking place over multiple class periods. We discuss how we were able to leverage the Professional Development Program (PDP) inquiry themes and introduce students to specific STEM practices, using this experience as a primer or mini version of a larger research activity and research experience that they would determine and lead themselves later on in the semester. In this paper we describe the benefits for students in this course and the lessons learned by the instructors. 

The role of facilitator, and facilitation strategies, are components that sometimes get overlooked as important in promoting collaborative interactions, such as with group work. Being able to work effectively in a group is a required skill for most disciplines, in particular for those in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. It is also central throughout the Professional Development Program (PDP) developed and run by the Institute of Scientist and Engineer Educators (ISEE), starting with group formation and leading all the way up to the final culminating activity. As such, PDP teams are taught facilitation strategies. Keeping in mind a group’s goals and what their measures for accountability are, the facilitator should be able to give constructive feedback and actively assess the team’s progress on the go. In this process, the facilitator can identify early on issues that can then be addressed before they become pathological. In this paper, we discuss from our experience as PDP participants and facilitators, what are different spaces we have applied facilitation strategies, what are some of the strategies that have worked throughout the years to improve group work, and what observations from the group help us make the best possible assessment. 

In many organizations (e.g., higher education, non-profits, small companies), individuals are called upon to lead small groups of people to complete one or more tasks both in formal roles and in informal settings. For example, department heads, committee chairs, project leads, and program managers are all roles that require an individual to utilize leadership skills to lead their team to the successful completion of the tasks at hand. However, in many science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields and their associated jobs, training and support in leadership development are often lacking. To meet this need, the Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators (ISEE) at the University of California - Santa Cruz (UCSC) made supporting and mentoring leadership development a key component of the Professional Development Program (PDP) for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in STEM, which ran for over 20 years. Building off of the ISEE leadership development model (ISEE 2020), this workshop is designed to give professionals an opportunity to learn about and practice important leadership skills that can be used in their organizations. In this workshop, participants learn to apply three elements of effective leadership that are useful in practice and inclusive of multiple perspectives on leadership. Participants apply actionable leadership practices to their own challenges at work and develop the language to discuss their own leadership skills. Workshop duration: 15 minutes individual reading, 2 hours in-person workshop, 15 minutes follow up. 

The Akamai Internship in Hawai‘i and the Professional Development Program (PDP) address key issues of sustaining a diverse, equitable, and inclusive STEM workforce in industry and academia. Established in 2002, the Akamai program builds capacity to overcome the brain-drain workforce problem that Hawaiʻi faces by connecting local undergraduate students with internship opportunities in the STEM industries on the islands of Maui and Hawaiʻi. The PDP provides opportunities for graduate students, early-career scientists and industry leaders to learn effective andragogical practices for teaching science and engineering to the next generation at the undergraduate level. A unique, grounding aspect of the Akamai program across all cohorts is a week-long course preparing interns to work with their local industry partners and build an inclusive community. The course is co-led by Akamai program staff and PDP alumni in collaboration with PDP design teams who run complementary inquiry learning activities. Since the first cohort of 2003, 451 interns and around 100 design team members have participated in Akamai. Of the 451 interns who participated in the Akamai program, at least 8 participants have become PDP design team members. The purpose of this panel discussion is to feature four of those alumni that participated in both Akamai and PDP programs. The panelists will share the factors that influenced them to become a PDP instructor as well as highlight the impacts that both programs had in shaping their respective life and career pathways. 

It seems intuitive that effective learning experiences in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) should be inclusive and should mirror authentic STEM as practiced by professionals. However, it is less intuitive what an authentic, inclusive STEM learning experience (AISLE) should look like or include. Over the course of 20 years, the Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE) has grappled with this question, developing and refining a framework of six key elements of authentic and inclusive STEM learning experiences. Here, we present this framework, which grew from an exploration of what “scientific inquiry” means in the context of teaching and learning, and expanded to include practices and norms that are valued in engineering fields. ISEE’s framework is the cornerstone of its Professional Development Program (PDP), which trained early-career science and engineering professionals to teach STEM effectively, primarily at the college level, from 2001-2020. In addition to presenting the six elements of this framework, we describe how PDP participants implemented the elements, and we provide recommendations for putting the elements into practice through the design, teaching and assessment of STEM learning experiences.