This project, "Gateways-ND: Advancing Learner-Focused Instruction to Catalyze Student Success," will improve student learning by implementing an innovative and comprehensive model for the professional development of faculty and instructional staff at the college level. Project goals are to increase instructor use of evidence-based active-learning strategies and analytics that increase teaching effectiveness, to enhance student-learning outcomes, to increase retention in STEM fields, and to improve student attitudes toward STEM learning. The project will significantly improve the understanding and effectiveness of 150 instructional staff at North Dakota State University (NDSU) who, during the project period alone, will support over 12,500 first-year students in first-year STEM courses. Changing the nature of teaching and learning at NDSU will have a broad impact on the state and beyond by preparing future graduates with the STEM knowledge and abilities needed to meet state employment needs and able to grapple effectively with important economic and social issues that have an impact on North Dakota and the nation, such as oil and gas exploration, health care, and agriculture.
Gateways-ND will significantly improve the culture of STEM Education at North Dakota State University (NDSU), strengthen faculty teaching skills, and increase student learning outcomes and retention by providing professional development workshops, faculty learning communities, resources, and support for the faculty who teach gateway STEM courses. Faculty will learn to use proven active, collaborative, learner-focused pedagogy, and to utilize robust data analytics about student learning to guide their teaching. Faculty members will participate in a two-year professional development (PD) series, including a one-week intensive teaching workshop, monthly Faculty Learning Community (FLC) meetings, training in use of data analytics, mid-year follow-up, and a second year of advanced professional development. Gateways-ND research activities will examine relationships between high-impact teaching practices and improved student outcomes (i.e., learning outcomes, retention in STEM majors, and attitudes toward STEM learning). Project-based research will also examine faculty beliefs regarding teaching strategies before and after participation in professional development. Institutional cultural transformation will impact over 12,500 incoming students enrolling in gateway courses during the 5-year grant period.
