This catalyst self-assessment project will document the current use of evidence-based instructional practices in undergraduate STEM courses at Western Michigan University (WMU). WMU is a Carnegie classification Research Extensive University with a student population of 25,000. This project will involve all STEM instructors in the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at WMU (N=634). This includes full-time faculty (N=268 tenured or tenure track and N=18 not tenure track), part-time instructors (N=65), and graduate student teaching assistants (N=283). During Phase 1, instructors will be surveyed regarding: i) their most commonly used teaching and learning approaches, ii) their perceptions of the teaching environment (i.e., climate) within their departments and the university, and iii) the networks of colleagues with whom they discuss issues related to teaching and learning. Self-reported use of teaching approaches will be supplemented by observations of a subset of faculty by trained raters (using the RTOP instrument). A research collaboration social network will also be constructed for these instructors. During Phase 2, a subset of departments (N=3) will engage in collaborative self- and case-studies with the research team to address those barriers and challenges to instructional change most noted in the literature. Data collection will include observations of teaching as well as interviews with instructors and students. Particular emphasis will be placed on the foundational courses offered by the department that have high attrition rates and are required for further study in the discipline or are prerequisites for other programs of study. These data will set a foundation for WMU to plan and implement institution-wide, but contextually targeted, change strategies to support instructor use of evidence-based instruction.
Intellectual Merit This project combines several previously separate methods related to teaching practices in higher education: self-report of practices, survey of teaching climate, social network related to teaching, and teaching observations. As recommended by the research literature, the project team is multi-level and multi-disciplinary, representing three communities of scholars concerned with STEM change: two active disciplinary-based science education researchers, the WMU director of faculty development, the WMU Provost and the WMU Dean of the Graduate College. All members of the project team have significant prior experience with STEM education reforms. The proposed study includes not only full-time faculty, but also part-time instructors and graduate students. These last two groups are often not involved in projects like this, but they provide significant and important instructional roles at WMU (and many other institutions), particularly in foundational courses. These groups must be included for institutional change efforts to be truly comprehensive. Finally, this project will measure the influences on instructors, including both the organizational influence and personal influences through networks of relationships. These influences have not been examined to the extent necessary to support the development of evidence-based change strategies.
Broader Impacts This project is designed to build the foundation for increased use of evidence-based instruction at WMU. This will improve instructional quality in STEM subjects and reduce student attrition from STEM fields, and is also expected to improve student engagement, thus improving degree completion rates overall. The project therefore will impact students beyond STEM majors, and departments and programs throughout the institution. In addition to serving the needs of WMU, this project will provide a model for other institutions beginning similar processes. The types of data collection methods proposed are not difficult to use, but have been used not at all (social network analysis) or very little (teaching climate) in higher education institutions. The leaders at all higher education institutions want to improve STEM instruction. Increased institutional use of the data collection tools used in this study will help other institutions to better understand the foundation from which they have to work.
