This project, Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER) is building on an identically-named CCLI National Dissemination project that began in 2001. Informed by an independent evaluation of the first five years of SENCER, this second stage version of SENCER is undertaking a comprehensive set of activities to help teams of STEM faculty bring nationally-validated undergraduate STEM materials and educational practices to new campus applications. As before, SENCER is engaged in recruiting and empowering numerous new faculty and academic leaders to improve undergraduate STEM education, strengthening alumni faculty expertise, and expanding a growing community of practice that links STEM learning to the exploration of civic issues. In addition, SENCER is building new systems to deepen and sustain the impact of the SENCER approach and to complete and publish the results of a set of robust evaluation, assessment, and research projects. Goals: SENCER improves science education by linking the discovery of scientific principles and the development of scientific thinking to engagement with complex social problems. By developing faculty expertise in teaching "to" basic science and mathematics "through" civic concerns, SENCER is extending the impact of learning across the curriculum and into the community. Using materials, assessment instruments, and research developed in the SENCER project, SENCER faculty are designing curricular projects that (1) get more students interested and engaged in learning in STEM courses, (2) help students connect STEM learning to their other studies, and (3) strengthen students' understanding of science and their capacity for responsible work and citizenship. Activities: SENCER is pursuing these goals by focusing on strengthening faculty expertise, STEM community-building, and making contributions to the STEM knowledge base. Specifically, SENCER goals are: (1) to provide comprehensive training for, and follow-up with, teams from 75 new institutions, (2) to bring increased attention to increasing early enrollment in SENCER courses (because our research shows this increases advanced study in STEM courses), (3) to create additional national venues for disseminating the results of mature campus projects, and (4) to develop new resources and create broader access to, and dissemination of, existing resources. To expand the scale and sustain the impact of SENCER reforms, this project is: (1) designating 100 SENCER Leadership Fellows and (2) creating five regional SENCER Centers for Innovation. To contribute to the STEM education knowledge base, the project is (1) conducting a meta-analysis of the SENCER evaluation and assessment results, (2) increasing the frequency and incidence of the use of the SENCER-SALG (an online assessment tool), (3) establishing a consortium of SENCER faculty committed to expanding in-class assessments for learning, (4) applying the Carnegie Foundation's "Scholarship of Teaching and Learning" model to a suite of mature summative evaluation research projects, and (5) planning to publish an annual compendium of assessment and evaluation results and resources. Intellectual Merit: Evaluation evidence establishes that the SENCER approach is an effective strategy for improving STEM education and, in particular, achieving gains in science literacy among women and non-majors. A small but significant cohort of students show greatly increased interest in pursuing advanced science study following their enrollment in SENCER courses. The SENCER approach offers a strategy to increase enrollment in STEM courses and attract students to careers that require STEM expertise. SENCER supports an alumni community that is extending the SENCER approach to new applications, and refining and renewing reforms. The work of this community is making contributions to the STEM-education research and knowledge base in the form of validated assessment instruments, field-tested learning materials, and peer-mentoring activities. Broader Impacts: SENCER benefits will be extended to a more diverse set of institutions, especially community colleges. Campus impacts include strengthening interdisciplinary connections, encouraging pre-service teacher education in the sciences, and stimulating student engagement. Community-based research and outreach activities extend the impacts to people and communities in need. Because SENCER courses focus on critical civic questions, the intended long-range impact for students and faculty reaches the core questions we face in our democracy.
