This Widening Implementation & Demonstration of Evidence-Based Reforms (WIDER) planning grant provides STEM faculty at Florida Gulf Coast University with training in evidence-based practices and course design. By participating in the STEM Professional Academy for Reinvigorating the Culture of Teaching (SPARCT), faculty are learning guiding principles for change in STEM instruction.
Intellectual Merit: By applying Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation, a change theory, SPARCT is creating ongoing changes among SPARCT faculty and within the larger university climate. The project encompasses all main STEM disciplines and includes faculty participants from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education, and Engineering. Combining content experts with educational experts, SPARCT is strengthening pedagogical understanding and serving as a model program for other universities. Training for SPARCT faculty includes participation in a three-week (4 hours per day) STEM Summer Academy followed by an academic year-long faculty learning community, training in peer observation, and participation in a seminar series. As SPARCT faculty measure and assess the effects of their teaching practices, they also evaluate the program. Both disciplinary and program findings are disseminated throughout the STEM learning community.
Broader Impacts: By involving at least 25% of Florida Gulf Coast University's STEM faculty, SPARCT is creating a community of STEM scholars, reinvigorating interdisciplinary connections, developing learning threads, and increasing the university community's potential to transform the teaching culture. SPARCT targets introductory STEM courses, thereby positively impacting student recruitment, retention, and learning among STEM and non-STEM majors. Moreover, SPARCT is helping to develop a more "STEM-literate" population, therefore enabling a stronger, more competitive STEM workforce in Southwest Florida.
