The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 91... ...
In order for instructors to teach equitably and effectively, they need to consider the students' point of view and reflect on the planned approach and its implications for equity and student learning in all aspects of course preparation. Engaging in professional learning and development (discussed in Chapter 8)
|
From page 92... ...
Focusing on student learning as the goal of a course has several important components for the instructor, including clearly articulating what they expect students will know and be able to do by the end of a course; making use of assessments that allow them to see students' progress toward those goals; and making use of class time to help students build their skills and be successful on the assessments, thus achieving the learning goals. Designing courses explicitly with learning goals in mind may require a shift in the instructional approaches and classroom activities that instructors use.
|
From page 93... ...
TABLE 5-1 Changes That Can Increase Teaching Strategies Focused on Student Learning Teaching Focused on Student Learning Includes More of… Less of… Clear articulation of learning goals and A focus on getting through a set amount of how the work done in the course will help content students achieve learning goals Course structures that engage students as Course structures that maintain students as active learners passive receivers of information Activities that regularly engage students Separate laboratory sections focused on in using the skills and knowledge of the skills without clear connections to course discipline content Being transparent about opportunities and Assuming that all students are aware of expectations for learning and engagement what they "should" be doing Grading practices that allow for formative Grading practices that focus on a theoretical feedback and focus on mastery distribution (a curve) and promote competition in a few high-stakes assessments
|
From page 94... ...
Designing Around Clear Learning Goals When designing for learning, a critical step is to develop clear learning goals for students. These goals then guide selection of course materials, development of tasks and activities for students, and assessments of student learning -- an intentional approach to course design that reflects Principle 7: Intentionality and transparency.
|
From page 95... ...
FIGURE 5-1 The Universal Design for Learning guidelines.
|
From page 96... ...
The final step is to design activities that help students develop the knowledge and skills they need to succeed on the assessments. By foregrounding learning goals, and building content and assessments around them, backward design allows instructors to be more intentional and transparent in their teaching (Neiles & Arnett, 2021; Reynolds & Kearns, 2017)
|
From page 97... ...
. Clearly articulated learning goals can help with the careful selection and effective use of instructional resources in the classroom.
|
From page 98... ...
and often have been tested in college classrooms for their effectiveness. Engaging Students Actively Courses can be designed to develop skills within a particular discipline through the use of inclusive teaching strategies and active learning approaches centered around group work and peer instruction; this incorporation of active learning into STEM courses is the focus of Principle 1: Active engagement.
|
From page 99... ...
. The instructor guides the students to explore new concepts that are central to the learning goals of the course and the development of disciplinary knowledge.
|
From page 100... ...
. Such courses improve student learning (Freeman et al., 2007)
|
From page 101... ...
While social interactions can have positive benefits, they also have the potential to be problematic when instructors are not sensitive to power dynamics, racism, gender oppression, and other related issues. When these issues manifest in the classroom in problematic ways, they negatively affect underserved students.
|
From page 102... ...
(See the section in this chapter on Assessing Learning and Providing Feedback for additional discussion about assessment strategies.) Help Students Build upon Their Knowledge and Lived Experiences As articulated in Principle 2, students' prior knowledge and previous experiences set the foundation for new knowledge.
|
From page 103... ...
. In other instances, understanding students' prior knowledge allows the instructor to help students reflect on any alternative conceptions they may have (Fisher, 2004)
|
From page 104... ...
The specific approaches may vary for foundational STEM courses versus the often-smaller upper-level courses. In large, high-structure courses pre-class preparatory assignments can be combined with in-class active learning activities such as think-pairshare, polling, and student surveys (Eddy & Hogan, 2014; Freeman et al., 2014; Haak et al., 2011; Theobald et al., 2020)
|
From page 105... ...
A longitudinal study to explore the role of undergraduate research in changes to institutional culture and student learning is documented in the book Transforming Academic Culture and Curriculum: Integrating and Scaffolding Research Throughout Undergraduate Education, which presents guides and toolkits designed to inform change agents (Malachowski et al., 2024)
|
From page 106... ...
learn about the scientific practices and generate new knowledge within their discipline. Over the past few years, CUREs have been used as a tool to improve undergraduate STEM classes while engaging a larger number of students in disciplinary practices (e.g., Werth et al., 2022)
|
From page 107... ...
. Field Experiences Engaging students in making observations and collecting data in the field is a hallmark of some STEM disciplines, including the geosciences (geology, environmental science, and marine sciences)
|
From page 108... ...
and report preferring in-person field experiences (Rader et al., 2021) , these promising results provide support for the use of virtual field experiences when an in-person field experience is inaccessible for any reason.
|
From page 109... ...
were used and their positive impacts on femaleidentifying students. The study evaluated gender-based performance trends in nine high-enrollment introductory biology courses in Fall 2016.
|
From page 110... ...
. Designing assessments that are clearly aligned to the stated learning goals for a course and then communicating the goals and expectations to students is critical.
|
From page 111... ...
Mastery-based grading (also called mastery-based testing or MBT) focuses on the student learning process and measuring student understanding of clearly defined learning goals, it has been promoted as a way to improve equity (Alex, 2022; Livers et al., 2024; Perez & Verdin, 2022; Winget & Persky, 2012)
|
From page 112... ...
The idea is that the approach can pinpoint areas where students are experiencing additional challenges and help guide the instructor in adapting their lessons to support students who may benefit from additional activities or from engaging with the material in a different way. Carnegie Mellon University's Open Learning Initiative9 has been collecting and interpreting data over time with a goal of improving learning efficiency and overall outcomes mediated both by software-driven support directly to the student as well as faculty evidence-based interventions based on student learning outcome analyses (Bier et al., 2019, 2023)
|
From page 113... ...
Instructors can focus on establishing that respectful culture in order to foster their primary goal of supporting student learning. One way for instructors to approach how to create a productive learning environment is to consider the students' point of view and reflect on the
|
From page 114... ...
Through an asset lens, students are seen as bringing rich, diverse backgrounds and experiences with them into their undergraduate STEM classes that can serve as launch points for discussions and opportunities to apply STEM methods to questions of interest (Jaimes, 2021; Johnson, & Bozeman, 2012; Williams, 2021)
|
From page 115... ...
. Understanding their students' interests and goals, prior knowledge, experiences, and needs will help instructors create an inclusive classroom environment and design or refine their class activities to create more effective learning experiences by connecting to and leveraging students' identity, sense of belonging, interests, and goals.
|
From page 116... ...
. Instructors can use disaggregated data about the students they teach coupled with surveys to gain access to information about their students, such as majors, experience with campus, first-generation status, work and family responsibilities outside of school, performance in prerequisite classes, and more, useful to instruction and course design.
|
From page 117... ...
. As discussed above in the section "Help Students Build upon Their Knowledge and Lived Experiences," there are many strategies that can build on students' culture and prior experience.
|
From page 118... ...
. Using active learning strategies and engaging students in group work can open up additional opportunities for instructors to engage with students informally during class time by circulating and listening in as students work on tasks and participate in small group discussions.
|
From page 119... ...
For students, these check-ins give them an active role in the learning environment. Furthermore, students who may be unaware of their low performance are given the opportunity to turn their grade around before the term is over (Overall & Marsh, 1979)
|
From page 120... ...
found that incorporating LAs in a large introductory biology class promoted a "sense of belonging in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by decreasing feelings of isolation, serving as inspirational role models, clarifying progression through the STEM educational system, and helping students become more engaged and confident in their STEM-related knowledge and skills" (Clements et al., 2022, p.
|
From page 121... ...
. To develop student agency, instructors can make students partners in their own learning, allowing them to engage in assignments based on their own interests or make choices between different instructor-designed assessments intended to measure their performance on course learning goals.
|
From page 122... ...
. STEM instructors play an important role in helping students recognize strategies that can advance their own learning.
|
From page 123... ...
. Items that can be unclear in syllabi include details about effective work and study habits, definitions of terms such as office hours, and locations of important places, such as the bookstore and tutoring center.
|
From page 124... ...
making the learning goals and outcomes a central, organizing element of the document that makes it clear what students will do to achieve the learning outcomes; and (c) including a schedule that provides transparency on course structure and grading by, for example, using regular due dates/times and describing the reasoning for those due dates and including more information than just course topics for each week/class period.
|
From page 125... ...
Conclusion 5.2: Using the Principles to achieve equitable and effective teaching requires careful consideration of how to design courses around desired learning goals and how to develop student-centered productive learning environments.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.