This project is assessing the effectiveness of a networked learning community as a mechanism to initiate lasting change in the teaching and learning of college-level STEM content. The institutional partners are a four-year institution and two regional community colleges, both of which are Hispanic-serving institutions. The PIs are assessing the method of action research within the structure of a regional network as a means for sustained improvement in STEM teaching and learning. Institutional partners are building their capacity for action research through participation in annual and on-going workshops. The workshops are enabling faculty participants to conceive, plan, implement and assess their own course-level experiments in teaching and learning. The network is serving as a learning community where participants can collectively reflect on their results and learn from one another. Open education resources are being explored to determine their value to enhance and self-direct undergraduate learning. The PIs are also assessing the role of meaning to motivate and engage all participants (faculty, students, and community partners). This pilot study is advancing our understanding of how to successfully use emergent open educational resources to facilitate the design of individualized learning experiences for students with diverse prior-college life experiences. The project also focuses on revealing the structures and processes needed to enable meaningful and sustained faculty-initiated change in STEM education.
