This WIDER planning project is examining teaching, learning, and co-curricular evidence-based practices (EBPs) among underclass STEM majors and faculty at Otterbein University. Through an interdisciplinary initiative led by STEM practitioners and educational experts, the project is seeking to understand factors that influence the use and effectiveness of evidence-based practices for STEM students. These factors include faculty members' knowledge and use of EBPs, barriers to implementation of EBPs, and impact of EBPs on student learning and retention, as well as the role of student confidence and culture on learning and persistence. The team is using a rigorous, mixed-method design that employs a combination of validated assessment methods, classroom observations, focus groups, and data mining, focusing on gateway courses for majors in Biology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, and Zoo & Conservation Science. The mixed-method design is informed by multiple change theories, including Senge's model of learning organizations, and the results are being used to develop strategies for change at both the individual level (i.e., developing reflective teachers and disseminating curriculum and pedagogy) and the organizational level (i.e., enacting policy and developing a shared vision). The goal is to drive strategic, comprehensive reforms to the STEM programs at Otterbein and also to disseminate findings to other primarily undergraduate institutions in order to improve student learning and retention in STEM fields.
