Imagining the Future of
Undergraduate STEM Education
PROCEEDINGS OF A VIRTUAL SYMPOSIUM
Kerry Brenner, Alexandra Beatty, and Joe Alper, Rapporteurs
Board on Science Education
Board on Higher Education and Workforce
National Academy of Engineering
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
www.nap.edu
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This activity was supported by a contract between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation (1935569). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number–13: 978-0-309-09376-7
International Standard Book Number–10: 0-309-09376-7
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/26314
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Imagining the Future of Undergraduate STEM Education: Proceedings of a Virtual Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26314.
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PLANNING COMMITTEE FOR A SYMPOSIUM ON IMAGINING THE FUTURE OF UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION1
ANNETTE PARKER (Co-chair), South Central College
BARBARA SCHAAL (Co-chair), Washington University in St. Louis
LEANNE CHUKOSKIE, Qualcomm Institute, University of California, San Diego
KINNIS GOSHA, Morehouse College
NICHOLAS HORTON, Amherst College
RYAN KELSEY, Markle Foundation
KIRK KOLENBRANDER, Southern New Hampshire University
ARTHUR LEE, Chevron Services Company
CATHRYN MANDUCA, Carleton College
CHRISTINE ORTIZ, MIT, Station1
JOSIPA ROKSA, University of Virginia
LYNN A. STEIN, Olin College
MONIQUE UMPHREY, Houston Community College, Northeast
Project Staff
KERRY BRENNER, Senior Program Officer
ELIZABETH T. CADY, Senior Program Officer
TIFFANY E. TAYLOR, Program Officer
LETICIA GARCILAZO GREEN, Research Associate
LAYNE SCHERER, Senior Program Officer
ELIZABETH SUMERLIN, Senior Program Assistant
IVORY DEAN, Program Officer
ALEXANDRA BEATTY, Senior Program Officer
HEIDI SCHWEINGRUBER, Senior Board Director
JOE ALPER, Consulting Writer
___________________
1 The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s planning committees are solely responsible for organizing the workshop, identifying topics, and choosing speakers. The responsibility for the published Proceedings of a Workshop rests with the workshop rapporteurs and the institution.
BOARD ON SCIENCE EDUCATION
SUSAN R. SINGER (Chair), Vice President for Academic Affairs, Provost, Rollins College
SUE ALLEN, Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance
MEGAN BANG, Learning Sciences, Northwestern University
VICKI L. CHANDLER, Provost, Minerva Schools at Keck Graduate Institute
SUNITA V. COOKE, Superintendent and President, MiraCosta College
MAYA M. GARCIA, Science Content Specialist, Colorado Department of Education
RUSH HOLT, CEO Emeritus, American Association for the Advancement of Science
TONYA MATTHEWS, CEO, International African American Museum
WILLIAM PENUEL, School of Education, University of Colorado Boulder
STEPHEN L. PRUITT, President, Southern Regional Education Board
K. RENAE PULLEN, K–6 Science Curriculum Instructional Specialist, Caddo Parish Schools, Louisiana
K. ANN RENNINGER, Social Theory and Social Action, Swarthmore College
MARCY H. TOWNS, Bodner-Honig Professor of Chemistry, Purdue University
DARRYL N. WILLIAMS, Senior Vice President, Science and Education, The Franklin Institute
HEIDI SCHWEINGRUBER (Director)
BOARD ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE
KUMBLE R. SUBBASWAMY (Chair), University of Massachusetts, Amherst
JAIME CURTIS-FISK, The Dow Chemical Company
MARIELENA DESANCTIS, Denver Community College
JOAN FERRINI-MUNDY, University of Maine, Orono
GABRIELA GONZALEZ (NAS), Louisiana State University
TASHA R. INNISS, Spelman College
KATE STOLL, MIT Washington, DC Office
MEGHNA TARE, University of Texas at Arlington
THOMAS RUDIN (Director [until November, 2020])
LEIGH MILES JACKSON (Acting Director [May 2021 until August, 2021])
TOM ARRISON (Acting Co-Director)
MARILYN BAKER (Acting Co-Director)
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Acknowledgments
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Board on Science Education and Board on Higher Education and Workforce thank the National Science Foundation for its support of this symposium and wish to express their sincere gratitude to the planning committee co-chairs Annette Parker and Barbara Schaal for their valuable contributions to the development and orchestration of this virtual symposium. We also wish to thank all the members of the planning committee, who collaborated to ensure a symposium complete with informative presentations and rich discussions. Finally, we want to thank the speakers and moderators, who generously shared their expertise and their time with symposium participants.
This Proceedings of a Symposium was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published proceedings as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.
We thank the following individuals for their review of this proceedings: Margaret E. Beier, Department of Psychological Sciences, Rice University, and James E. Swartz, Center for Science and the Liberal Arts, Grinnell College.
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the proceedings nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review
of this proceedings was overseen by Emily Miller. She was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this proceedings was carried out in accordance with standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the rapporteurs and the National Academies.
Contents
2 GOALS FOR THE FUTURE: CHANGING PURPOSES OF UNDERGRADUATE STEM EDUCATION
Goals of Undergraduate STEM Education
Goals for Undergraduate STEM Learning
Transforming Structures of Undergraduate STEM Education
3 TRANSFORMATION IN THE U.S. HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM
Implications for Racial Equity
Three Transformational Moments
4 LEARNING FROM TODAY’S STUDENTS
Community College Technician Education
Lessons from Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs)
Personal Experiences Navigating Education
A Crucial Role for Community Colleges
7 INNOVATIONS AND STRATEGIES FOR MOVING FORWARD
Current Innovations in STEM Education
Aligning Goals, Structures, and Strategies
Expectations and Assumptions About Who Is Involved in STEM
Redesigning the Student Experience
Examples of Participant Stories
Participant Perspectives: Building on Current Innovations
C Biographical Sketches of Symposium Speakers and Moderators
Boxes, Figures, and Table
BOXES
5-1 Changing Landscapes: 2040 versus 2020
5-2 Access and Inclusion: Beginning with the End in Mind
5-4 Snapshot 2 from the Idea Competition—CampusXR: Where Real and Virtual Education Blends
6-1 Fast-Changing Technology: Uses and Ethical Issues
7-1 Challenging Our Strategies and Expectations About Student Learning
7-2 Creating the Future We Want
7-3 Redesigning the Student Experience
Acronyms and Abbreviations
| ADL | U.S. Government’s Advanced Distributed Learning Program |
| ANAPISI | Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander-Serving Institution |
| HBCU | Historically Black College and University |
| HSI | Hispanic-Serving Institution |
| MSI | Minority-Serving Institution |
| NSF | National Science Foundation |
| SACNAS | Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science |
| STEM | Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics |
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