Transforming Undergraduate STEM Education Supporting Equitable and Effective Teaching (2025) / Chapter Skim
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8 Supporting Equitable and Effective Teaching Through Ongoing Professional Learning and Development
8 Supporting Equitable and Effective Teaching Through Ongoing Professional Learning and Development
Pages 188-224
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From page 188... ...
as part of a process of continuous improvement that seeks to achieve equitable and effective teaching in undergraduate STEM education. Continuous improvement is the long-term collective effort to make sustainable change based on data collection and analysis informing iterative cycles of change (Langley et al., 2009; Park et al., 2013; Shakman et al., 2020)
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From page 189... ...
It then presents approaches to developing common values and goals for teaching. Following this, we present short comments on some of the topics on which STEM instructors need expertise, including how students learn, course design, classroom practices, and equitable and effective teaching strategies.
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From page 190... ...
This lack of opportunity to develop teaching skills can lead to situations where novice instructors who lack the resources, guidance, and support needed to develop skills for equitable and effective teaching. Such a lack results in instructors teaching the ways they were taught, even if those approaches are not effective or equitable.
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From page 191... ...
Through further educational development, instructors at colleges and universities across ranks and appointment types can come to more equitable approaches to teaching than perhaps they experienced in their own time as students. As described in Principle 7: Intentionality and transparency, enacting equitable and effective teaching requires institutions, departments, and disciplinary societies to adopt a level of intentionality to ensure its presence in the classroom.
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. Some institutional promotion, tenure, and review systems may discourage exploration in teaching, and this could discourage some instructors from taking the initiative necessary to transforming their practice to more equitable teaching approaches.
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And yet, their professional development is critical to advancing equitable and effective teaching in STEM (e.g., Lee et al., 2023) and academic units can play critical roles in the PLD for VITAL educators.
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. Personal barriers include not having an awareness of inclusive teaching approaches, not being aware of the diversity that exists within their student population, not noticing the classroom climate or its impact on students, not recognizing their own biases, a fear about making mistakes, not wanting to change teaching practices, not wanting to be responsible, and not knowing how to manage student-student interactions that were not inclusive (Addy et al., 2021)
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From page 195... ...
All of these important topics of PLD address a critical aspect of equitable and effective teaching practices, which is that the instructor does not simply know about them, but also knows how to implement them. PLD that centers on the following topic areas, as well as others, can provide opportunities for instructors to learn to apply practices that have the potential to interrupt inequitable experiences.
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From page 196... ...
book on equitable and effective teaching discusses how teaching practices might be changed using what, how, and why questions. While McConnell et al.
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From page 197... ...
PLD opportunities that support instructor self-reflection and self-awareness have the potential to enhance their future implementation of inclusive teaching approaches. One example of an opportunity along these lines is the conference called Opening the Pathway held as part of an NSF Advanced Technological Education project.
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From page 198... ...
Observations and reflections can provide insights into pedagogical approaches and foster changes to improve equitable and effective teaching. Instructors can use tools in a diagnostic manner to identify which teaching approaches they currently favor and to consider opportunities for future instructional techniques.
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From page 199... ...
A variety of digital tools can support equitable and effective teaching, and multiple criteria can be used to evaluate if these tools are suitable for PLD. These include whether instructors are aware of the tool and are able to feasibly and equitably use the tool (i.e.
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From page 200... ...
70 can be used together with an external observer to improve equitable teaching in the classroom. More information about one of the undergraduate level courseware initiatives is available at 68 https://www.coursewarechallenge.org/ 69 More information about the Open Learning Initiative is available at https://oli.cmu.edu/courses/ 70 More information about EQUIP is available at https://www.equip.ninja/about https://www.equip.ninja/ Prepublication copy, uncorrected proofs
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From page 201... ...
. Each of these types of communities can help instructors learn about pedagogy and how to flexibly and responsively support equitable and effective teaching and learning.
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study of change theory in undergraduate STEM education used a large metaanalysis to illustrate that CoPs are the most commonly-used community structure. CoPs often develop naturally from the participants, rather than external or administrative influence.
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. PLCs could be helpful in promoting the use of equitable and effective teaching, when instructors work together to meet a common teaching goal.
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From page 204... ...
Institution Level Communities At an institutional level, multiple approaches can support improvements to community around teaching including STEM education centers, science education specialists, and centers for teaching and learning (CTLs)
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From page 205... ...
, and Sorcinelli (2002) : • Local communities of practice for and among STEM instructors • Workshop series • Department-specific workshops • Panel discussions • Community book reads • Sharing of teaching strategies • Open classrooms to formatively observe courses on campus • Course design institutes • Course transformation grants • Intensive multi-day initiatives • Teaching symposia and conferences • Climate studies for STEM departments • Student perspectives sessions • Consultations with individual instructors or departments • Formative reviews of teaching focused on equitable teaching practices • Teaching fellowships Prepublication copy, uncorrected proofs
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From page 206... ...
• Conducting climate studies and obtaining data on existing inequities to identify opportunities for improvement Creating and implementing departmental or program-level strategic and assessment plans • Facilitating discussions at team meetings on equitable teaching practices across courses • Holding department or program retreats focused on equity • Engaging in curricular revision to advance equity • Hiring science education or STEM education experts to work with instructors • Facilitating speaker series on approaches to equitable and effective teaching • Creating teaching circles consisting of instructors teaching similar courses • Identifying instructors with knowledge of pedagogy and equity issues who can serve as mentors or peer advisors • Supporting instructors by facilitating review of teaching in a low-stakes formative manner in which the instructor receives feedback designed to inform improvement from a peer or expert serving as a critical friend (more on the "critical friend" approach can be found in Chapter 9) Prepublication copy, uncorrected proofs
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From page 207... ...
Achieving a culture where equitable and effective STEM teaching and learning is valued will be difficult if there is not buy-in at all levels of the institution and PLD is an expectation The list above includes a variety of intentional steps that instructors, units, and institutions can take to support sustained engagement with PLD around equitable and effective teaching practices. For example, when academic units discuss what types of PLD they want to undergo as a unit; they could choose to include lessons on assessment practices and how to best collect data to support the work of their faculty.
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The AAU Undergraduate STEM Education Initiative has elevated attention to evidence-based teaching and system change at the department level 72 (Coleman et al., 2019)
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74 The annual principal investigator meetings of the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) initiative of the National Science Foundation are also a source of community for education researchers and change agents.
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78 is another key group that has created a learning community to engage in systematic use of research methods to develop and implement teaching practices that advance learning. Their work focuses on graduate students as future educators of undergraduate students.
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This project embodies several of the Principles for Equitable and Effective Teaching by providing PLD that focuses on Principle 3: Affective and social dimensions, Principle 4: Identity and a sense of belonging, Principle 5: Multiple forms of data, and Principle 6, Flexibility and responsiveness. Students reported increases in positive perceptions of their learning environments (Principle 3: Affective and social dimensions)
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From page 212... ...
Source: Inclusive STEM Teaching Project (n.d.) and presented by Bennett Goldberg and Sarah Chobot Hokanson on May 22, 2023.
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From page 213... ...
. Instructors have the opportunity to participate in institutes and learning communities focused on implementing evidence-based teaching practices in STEM, including equitable instructional approaches.
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. PREPARING FUTURE INSTRUCTORS A critical group in making undergraduate STEM education equitable and effective is graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, many of whom are future faculty and current VITAL educators.
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. As a result of these long-term efforts, there are substantial evidence for the benefits; evaluations show that participants focus on learning goals for students and understand the nature of learning in order to apply effective teaching strategies to support specific learning goals (Hill et al., 2019a; Hill et al., 2019b)
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From page 216... ...
. Overcoming these challenges requires attention not just to the availability of PLD for graduate students and postdocs, but to the value placed on teaching and professional development in teaching, and to the power dynamics that play a significant role in their choices (and perceived ability)
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From page 217... ...
. In the UTeach Replication Model, the apprentice teacher has sustained teaching experiences with a master teacher, who provides them with advice and guidance on how to put their educational theories into practice (Goodell & Koç, 2020)
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From page 218... ...
If a pedagogy course or seminar exists, the graduate student may be able to lean on the instructor for support, like the university supervisor in the model discussed above, but they may not be paired with a master teacher who can introduce them to equitable and effective practices. Methods for Delivering Professional Learning and Development Professional learning and development can occur either before or while the graduate students are teaching.
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BOX 8-5 Peer-Mentoring for Graduate Students Mentoring can have enormous effects with respect to change towards equitable and effective education.
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Providers of Professional Learning and Development Structures for providers of graduate student PLD fall into two general categories, in one the provider's job is to support graduate student PLD by regularly designing, organizing, and modifying PLD opportunities throughout their unit or the institution (e.g.
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From page 221... ...
Considerations for Postdoctoral Scholars While the section above largely addressed graduate student instructional development in equitable and effective teaching, postdoctoral scholars may currently teach or plan to do so in their future academic careers, making PLD in equitable and effective teaching critical for them as well. If they plan to enter academia and teach, postdoctoral scholars can seek out opportunities to teach as guest lecturers or instructors or as instructors of record.
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. In a systematic review of literature, one major theme that arose with regards to PLD of postdoctoral scholars was an appreciation for developing their teaching and learning skills, including equitable teaching approaches such as active learning (Nowell et al., 2018)
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From page 223... ...
SUMMARY Continuous improvement strategies are necessary to work towards equitable and effective teaching. When instructors engage together in communities they can foster equitable and effective teaching by collaborating to improve pedagogical approaches and also contribute to changes to institutional and departmental cultures towards undergraduate instruction.
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From page 224... ...
Conclusion 8.1: Implementation of equitable and effective teaching is an ongoing process that necessitates all instructors (full-time faculty, VITAL educators, and post-docs with teaching roles) regularly engage in professional learning and development (PLD)
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