Stopping the ropA story about professors, change, and STEM teaching

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A project by GOODcorpsFunded by the Helmsley Charitable Trust, May 2016

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Ever wonder why the U.S. ranks 48th worldwide in quality of math and science education?

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Ever think about why 50% of U.S. students, who start college planning to major in a STEM field, actually fail to get a 4-year degree in a STEM discipline?

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Ever wonder how to help one of these students have a better chance of staying in a STEM major?

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And that is where our story begins...

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We know itis possible.

Wanting to help kids stay in STEM majors, the Helmsley Trust chose to support Active Learning methods in introductory courses because these engage students in the learning process.

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But even though these teaching methods have been shown to lower STEM major attrition, many professors were not bringing them into their classrooms.

The Trust learned about all the barriers: policies, time, funding, departmental organization, etc.

But these didn’t tell the whole story, especially because many of the new teaching methods could be adopted without much fuss or funding.

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“Who can help us figure out what might be standing in the way of these very smart people making these fairly easy changes?” they asked themselves.

GOODcorps, said, “We can help you with that.” And, we designed a project to shed some light on what else might be going on that influences professors’ willingness to adopt instructional changes in their classrooms.

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Want to meet them?

We read some great academic research and talked to 6 amazing experts in post-secondary STEM education.

We gathered some inspiring stories and ideas to help us see the attitudes, values, and needs that shape their behaviors with their students and in their classrooms.

We hit the road, traveling to schools in California, Texas, and New York to meet professors in their labs, classroom, and offices.

We built some mindsets, a kind of dispositional type, to make it easier to see these dimensions.

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Then we got busy.

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GOALIES PURISTS MANAGERS NEWCOMERS ACES

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GOALIES PURISTS MANAGERS NEWCOMERS ACES

Explain student choices in conventional ways.

Adjust traditional activities so more students engage.

Changes should support their advisory role.

Teach a younger version of themselves.

Rely on teaching tools from their experience as a student.

Changes should support their passion.

Teach, but research matters more.

Rely on teaching tools from their experience as a student.

Changes should support tenure track goals.

Motivate students with core knowledge.

Use new research and teaching tools to build enthusiasm.

Changes should enhance their effectiveness.

Advising students about the best paths

Passing their passion onto future generations

Getting students ready for the workplace

Making sure their tenure is on track

Blending teaching and research perfectly

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Prepare students for opportunities in industry.

Teach development of ideas through iteration.

Changes should ready their students for careers.

So as you can see, our professors are distinct in the way they understand their role as a professor, but their values and

needs overlap considerably.

Here’s how...

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GOALIES PURISTS MANAGERS NEWCOMERS ACES

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They are well practiced at self-determination

As professional academics, our professors expect to judge what is best for their classroom and students based on their experiences, understanding, and needs, as well as the hopes they have for their students’ success.

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They want what is best for students

They see themselves as role models who are accessible, enthusiastic, and caring, especially when showing students how the knowledge they teach them can help students be successful in their lives.

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They have a passion to share

They want to share the experiences of joy that their discipline can provide with students.

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They are the force behind change

They are always influenced and guided by the concepts and methods of others, but change happens best when they make the effort to align it with their students’ and classroom’s needs.

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They accept the significant challenges involved in moving students through the basics of their discipline. But they resist activities that even suggest “dumbing down” or “diluting” core knowledge and processes so more students can participate.

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We go on a kind of journey that lets us align or shift our values and adapt new ideas to better suit our needs.

Our pathway helps us change our perceptions, so we can envision the change and then act.

So if we’re talking about a pathway to instructional change in the classroom, what does that journey look like for our professors?

Now we all take some kind of pathway when making changes, right?

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They really liked the lecture today.

What if I had consistent info about new teaching methods?

Am I supposed to try all of these?

What if I had tools for adapting these activities?

What else can I try?

What if I could involve my students in creating changes?

How is this more effective for my kids?

What if I could easily link new methods to my teaching realities?

These activities seem easy to tweak.

What if I had ways to share what I tried to get relevant feedback?

I have some great stories to share.

What if I had a powerful network of peer practitioners?

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So how does all this become the bigger story about why professors are not more involved in instructional change?

Why do these new teaching methods, like Active Learning, which focus on keeping undergraduates on the path to a STEM degree seem of little interest to our professors, who really do want to engage their students and help them to be successful in STEM classes?

Well, these methods just don’t appear to be aligned with or suited to professors’ goals and needs in the classroom. This means they are not motivated to take the necessary steps to make these methods their own.

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These new teaching methods feel as if...

• They are unrelated to the realities of today’s classroom experiences.

• They will diminish the core knowledge being taught in favor of “lighter” content that will appeal to more students.

• They appear to turn the classroom over to the students, who are not prepared for this kind of active engagement.

• They make the professors less and less relevant to the student and disrupt mentorship relationships in favor of peer teaching.

So let’s summarize. How can these insights about needs, values, and the pathway to change actually guide us?

Maybe a set of guidelines for taking action that focuses on the professors’ values and needs?

A list of “do’s and don’ts” for staying on track when asking these professors to change?

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How toTEACH

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5 Guides

Respect Our AutonomyProfessors have lived long and prospered in environments where self-determination is valued. We decide what kind of experiences should happen in our classrooms. We need to know you appreciate that and recognize what it means when you ask us to change our teaching.

Value Our Connections to StudentsWhen students feel we care, they engage more and strive to reach their goals. Give us activities that strengthen these bonds so that we continue to cultivate our students’ successes.

Align Not Juxtapose Contrasting our teaching methods with new activities makes us feel bad. Show us the ways in which we can align and evolve our preferred methods to help our students, and we are more likely to engage and adapt yours.

Remember Who’s DrivingDo not lean on an alienating story about our teaching skills. Remember that classroom changes include us. Show us how your strategies are relevant to our experiences and the vital role we will continue to play in helping our students learn.

Provide Relevant ResearchWe do want solid facts and outcome data. But remember we are researchers, so our teaching activities are experiments that help us evolve our understanding of how to teach. We also look to the efforts of professors like us to see what is advancing teaching and learning for our students.

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Now let’s talk about the challenge.

When creating communications, programs, funding strategies, or just your next steps forward, these mindsets can help you reflect on the types of audiences you will want to reach. The guidelines and the pathway can support you to keep the professors’ needs, values, and journey in the forefront as you develop your ideas.

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But in the spirit of more active learning, we would like to turn this back to you.

What kinds of dialogue can we start that would help professors see the value of new teaching methods, like Active Learning?

What kinds of programs would be most effective to help professors begin to engage and adapt these teaching methods into the realities of their classrooms?

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Discussion

Thank you to...The professors whose stories have been instrumental to our understanding of the experience of teaching STEM courses and beyond.

The education experts who brought us up to speed on the current state of STEM education and teaching: Professors Adrianna Kezar, Susan Ambrose, Nika Hogan, Charles Henderson, Noah Finkelstein, and Sylvia Hurtado.

The people behind this effort are...

The Helmsley Charitable Trust team: Ryan Kelsey and Sue Cui

The GOODcorps team: Grant Garrison, Andrea “Andy” Williams, Janise Chan, Anna White, Haakon Faste, and Sheri Linden.

Want to talk more about what you learned here or what you can do? Contact:

Grant Garrison, Managing Director, GOODcorps grant@goodcorps.com | 310-266-3170

Appendix

Thought startersHere are a few ideas to help you kick-start your own. What if there were…

• On-campus “news” kiosks that provide students and faculty with thought-provoking messages about STEM education and suggest adaptable instructional methods and activities.

• A STEM education storytelling podcast that highlights professors who speak to their passion for their discipline and how they get other people, including students, excited through their teaching.

• A professional meeting or conference experience with compelling, interactive demonstrations of Active Learning as applied to different disciplines.

• Micro-grants that support professors to adapt, introduce, and evaluate different teaching activities into their introductory courses.

• Crowdsourced forum, like Reddit, where professors share how they adapted Active Learning and ask questions about methods, scenarios, and challenges. Funded through grants, but moderated by a cross-disciplinary team of professors. • A Mentors’ Club, a community of practitioners, not educational experts, who meet to exchange ideas about teaching practice and other activities, which can ensure greater success of STEM disciplines. • A stipend for advocates of STEM Active Learning that supports them to attend professional meetings where they can share their new expertise in instructional methods.

• New evaluation tools that help faculty and students give relevant feedback on activities.

Note:

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