This project is implementing a program for increasing the adoption of technology-enhanced active learning in classes taught by science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty. Student-centered active learning techniques and incorporation of technology into teaching are identified as having positive effects on learning in STEM disciplines. However, barriers to these approaches - including lack of time, institutional support, and training, as well as the prevalence of traditional classrooms designed for passive lectures prevent their broad adoption. This project addresses those barriers by: 1) Facilitating the implementation of technologically-enhanced active learning by developing a cohort of six STEM focal point faculty (Catalysts) who immerse themselves in active learning pedagogy, redesign their own courses, and serve as models for their peers, 2) Establishing a student-centered technology-rich studio classroom designed to support active learning pedagogy, and 3) Assessing the effectiveness of technologies used in active learning pedagogy in order to provide best practice recommendations. These efforts increase the incorporation of active learning into all STEM disciplines at the university. Information and lessons learned are shared with other institutions through publications, an online teaching commons, and conference presentations. The Catalyst program for facilitating adoption of active learning techniques is replicable, enhancing the likelihood of transformational change in STEM education and broadening participation in the sciences. The studio classroom design is based on existing active classroom methodology and, by sharing the assessment of its technological innovations, will further the development of this area of education.
Active learning is a method of instruction that focuses on students being actively engaged in classroom activities rather than listening passively. Although active learning has repeatedly been demonstrated to increase student learning, its adoption as a STEM teaching technique has been slow in university settings, likely as a combination of lack of training of instructors, resistance to change by instructors and students, and lack of learning spaces that make this approach simple to implement. The Active Learning Catalysts project was undertaken at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, MI with three main goals: 1) build and use a classroom specifically designed to combine educational technology and active learning, 2) implement a professional development program for university faculty in order to teach them how to use technology in classroom settings other than lecture with the vision that these faculty would serve as models for other faculty and 3) evaluate the use of technology in classes using active learning to determine which technologies are cost effective and easily adopted by faculty. We successfully constructed the active learning classroom and it became a model for a much larger classroom building project on our campus. Our technology review showed that faculty were most likely to use technology with which they were familiar or where there was a direct link to their current practice, emphasizing the need for faculty training. We also saw specific patterns of use such as the adoption of digital tablets and document cameras in courses where problem solving was the norm. We were able to use our information on technology adoption to help our institutional decision making process and we also presented our data at many venues to enable other universities to similarly use our results. Our faculty development program was generally successful for our focal faculty based on student learning outcomes. Faculty behavior data showed dramatic changes in instructional approach for some faculty with more modest changes in others, highlighting the variability in response to such interventions. The faculty development program was highly effective as a tool to catalyze discussion of teaching at our campus and many faculty who were not the direct focus of the project were drawn into active learning techniques as a result. We concluded that the combination of an appropriate teaching space and faculty development is an effective approach to increase teaching through active learning on our campus. Even more importantly, the project was successful in increasing the overall discussion of the future of university teaching at our institution, and contributed to the establishment of a Center for Teaching and Learning. We believe this approach will be useful at other universities of similar size that struggle with similar issues. Critical elements to the success of the project were the support of the administration, including senior facilities personnel, and the emphasis on focal faculty outreach to faculty not directly in the project. This last point differs from most projects in that the focal faculty were required to do more than simply alter their own teaching strategies, they were required to engage with a broader community and share their experiences.
