Institutional Transformation

Tim PaineBrad HymanRich Cardullo

Goal: Participants will learn about effective strategies for transformation on course, department, institutional, and national levels.

Learning Outcomes: You will be able to . . .

•Optimize interactions and gain support based on a better understanding of the issues facing senior administrators

•Approach senior administrators to discuss curricular innovation and reform, with an increased level of confidence/ comfort/efficacy

•Become familiar with recent national reports on the improvement of undergraduate education in biology and STEM more generally.

• Explore the intersection between education and policy.

• Appreciate the growing influence of K-12 education on what you do and your role in influencing K-12 education.

• Recognize that you are not alone!

Role Play

Work in teams of two.

One person take the role of the administrator, the other is the SI participant who would like to bring Scientific Teaching to their campus.

What issues do administrators have that may be barriers for supporting the Scientific Teaching/change efforts?

How can the SI participant be prepared to address these barriers during and after the meeting with the administrator?

Draft an outline of a letter to the dean (or other key person)

Work in institutional teams.If you are a team of one, pair up with another singlet.

Identify what you would like to ask from the dean or another key person (some of this may come from Wednesday’s poster session).

Think about who would be your allies and how you would leverage ongoing efforts on campus.

Draft an outline of the letter so when you go back you already have something with which to work.

Examples of On-Campus Efforts

Entomology/ Biology 303: Philosophy and Pedagogy of Teaching in the Life Sciences

SI Alumni – Cardullo, Hammond, Paine

Currently offered in alternate years to advanced graduate students

Examples of On-Campus Efforts

Entomology/ Biology 303: Philosophy and Pedagogy of Teaching in the Life Sciences

Currently offered in alternate years to advanced graduate students

Exercise: Choose a partner. One of you has taken the class; spend a couple of minutes to try convince your partner of the value of taking the class

Examples of On-Campus Efforts

Entomology/ Biology 303: Philosophy and Pedagogy of Teaching in the Life Sciences

Currently offered in alternate years to advanced graduate students

Exercise: Choose a partner. One of you has had a student who has taken the class; spend a couple of minutes to try convince your faculty colleague of the value of his/her student to take the class

Examples of On-Campus EffortsBrad Hyman – SI for new UCR Professor

Review the syllabus for this new program. Please make suggestions for improving it.What is missing?

1)      Issues in Teaching at a Public Research University 

2)      Effective Teacher Attributes

3)      Setting Learning

4)      Effective

5)      Interactive Engagement/Active Learning

6)      Uses of Instructional Technology

7)      Diversity in your classroom

8)      Requirements/ Assessments 

Tentative syllabus for new faculty course (Fall 2014)

Examples of On-Campus EffortsBrad Hyman – SI for new UCR Professor

Identifying the barriers

A)What would you say in an invitation letter to convince new professors to attend?

B)If you were the new professor, how might you perceive such an invitation (pros and cons).

C)How might the chair of the department or the dean perceive this opportunity?

Examples of On-Campus Efforts

SI Participants

Discuss at your tables the strategies you will use to approach your colleagues about getting involved with Scientific Teaching.

Examples of Off-Campus Efforts(local or national)

Brainstorm:What can you do external to your institution to support the Scientific Teaching movement?

Examples of Off-Campus Efforts(local or national)

Brad – SI for teachers in grades 7-12 classrooms

Poll: Did you encounter at least one unfavorable science/mathematics course during your middle or high school education?

A.Yes

B.No

What’s happening in our classrooms?

• Small percentage were STEM majors enter teaching

- mathematics majors: 18%

- physical sciences majors: 7%

- life sciences majors: 6%

• 1/3 are under-prepared, which correlates with:

- CaHSEE failure rate

- Entrance rate to 4-year colleges

- Readiness for workforce

UC Office of the President 2006

California Science/Mathematics Teaching Job Market

Teacher Workforce Forecast for the Next Decade

* 100,000 teachers workforce will retire

* 33,000 new science and mathematics teachers neededEdSource Report, January 2008

The University of California responds.A new undergraduate student program:

Initiated by a compact between the Governor of California and the President of the University of California (2005)

Former UC President Dynes

Then-incumbent Governor Schwarzenegger

CalTEACH Science- Mathematics Initiative (SMI)

Goal: To address the shortage of “highly qualified” science and mathematics teachers in California classroom

http://smi.ucr.edu

What does the Science-Math Initiative have to do with institutionalizing Scientific Teaching?

http://smi.ucr.edu/summer_institute_2008.html

Participants:

• Mixture of in-service middle and high school (grades 7-12) mathematics and science teachers; previous service as SMI mentor teachers and pre-service mathematics and sciences majors (engineering too, but difficult).

Learning outcomes of the institute • Develop awareness of Scientific Teaching as pedagogy• Enrich teaching skills• Experience new teaching methods• Cultivate a culture of community sharing and peer review• Build upon collective knowledge of participants

Architecture of the institute:

• Modeled your Summer Institute:• AM concepts PM group work --diversity designing teachable units --assessment designing teachable tidbits --active learning --Engaugements --backwards design

Architecture of the institute:

• Modeled on your Summer Institute: Three working groups:

--Mathematics --Science --Interdisciplinary (Math + Science)

--Each contained at least one in-service teacher and several pre-

service students (STEM majors)

Examples of Off-Campus Efforts(local or national)

Rich – PULSE Fellow

Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education (PULSE)

Open Discussion

What other thoughts or questions do you have?

Jessamina Blum, Managing Editor, CourseSourceCollege of Biological SciencesUniversity of Minnesota223 Snyder Hall, 1475 Gortner AveSt. Paul, MN 55108fax: (612) 624-2785office: (612) 625-4000

Thank you for an amazing week!

Congratulations!You have been named National Academies Fellows in Undergraduate Education for the 2014-15 year.