The Implementation Project entitled: Student-Centered Active Learning and Assessment Reform (SCALAR) at Florida A&M University (FAMU) will implement a series of innovative curricular and co-curricular initiatives that will ultimately position the university as a national leader in STEM education. The project involves a complete restructuring of the undergraduate course curricula and instructional approaches in the areas of mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, and computer science. All of the program areas are housed in a newly created College of Science and Technology, which will facilitate the seamless and focused implementation of the project activities. Specific program components include: the redesign of course curricula to include a specific instructional focus on using active learning strategies to teach STEM concepts; a comprehensive assessment strategy that will be integrated into the course design and will be continuously used to modify the instructional strategy in order to optimize student learning; the creation of a faculty development program to increase faculty use of pedagogical best practices; the development of an online seminar series, which will be presented by leading scientists from institutions across the country; and the development of a centralized STEM tutorial center.
Over 5000 undergraduate students at FAMU, where the enrollment is approximately 90% African-American, will be impacted by this project. The broader impact will result from documentation of how a student-centered learning environment that is integrated into the STEM curriculum will be created, and from the wide dissemination of the documentation. The FAMU SCALAR project will thus serve as a model for the sustainable transformation of the undergraduate STEM curriculum to incorporate evidence-based best-practices in STEM education.
