‘STEM teaching’
Student Success in Introductory STEM Courses
Apr. 1, 2022—Chris Rasmussen, professor of mathematics education at San Diego State University, is giving a talk titled “Insights from Two National Studies of Precalculus through Calculus 2” on April 15th from 12:10 to 1:00pm. While the talk is part of the Department of Mathematics colloquium, it is likely to be of interest to faculty outside of...
CSET Mini-Conference Improving Science Communication: The Promise of Science and Humanities Collaborations – March 18
Mar. 3, 2022—The Communication of Science and Technology program announces a mini-conference to foster science/humanities collaborations around teaching. See the mini-conference schedule and description of talks by Radiolab founder Jad Abumrad and Communication Professor Leah Ceccarelli, who originated the idea of the “scientist citizen.” CSET Mini-Conference Improving Science Communication: The Promise of Science and Humanities Collaborations Student...
Teach Coding? Learn About a tool for integrating enhanced Jupyter Notebooks into Your Teaching
Dec. 6, 2021—As part of a Course Improvement Grant project, associate professor of biomedical engineering Will Grissom been using Pathbird, a tool that runs enhanced Jupyter notebooks (in Python, Julia, or R). It allows students to navigate to their site with no additional setup, and the instructor can interleave autograders, multiple choice questions, and short answer questions with...
Tweaking research presentations to foster community and knowledge construction: A focus on peer review
Nov. 10, 2021—by Cynthia J. Brame I recently got to watch a class session that taught me a new and very effective way to help students build their science identity by building a scientific community. It was awesome, and I can’t wait to figure out how to adapt it to one of my classes. Here’s the setting:...
Promoting Persistence in STEM Learning Community: Resources and Reflections
Sep. 28, 2021—STEM disciplines have long been concerned with disparities between underrepresented and well-represented student groups and the associated “pipeline” problem, where underrepresented students are more likely to switch away from STEM majors. In 2020-2021, a group of about twenty faculty from eight departments met biweekly to consider ways to address this problem individually and collectively. Members...
One of these things was not like the others: Experiences with standards- and specifications-based grading
Aug. 30, 2021—This guest blog post comes from Richard F. Haglund, Stevenson Professor of Physics. The following comments are reflections after a year of fruitful dialogue with colleagues in an on-line learning community sponsored by the Center for Teaching, organized and led by Cynthia Brame. What I experienced about grading in 2020-2021 is a significant difference...
Promoting Persistence in STEM Learning Community
Jun. 10, 2021— STEM disciplines have long been concerned with disparities between underrepresented and well-represented student groups and the associated “pipeline” problem, where underrepresented students are more likely to switch away from STEM majors. A group of about eighteen faculty from eight departments met throughout 2020-2021 to explore approaches to increasing equity and inclusion in their courses...
CFT offers new guide for writing science exams
Mar. 26, 2021—Are you a scientist who uses timed exams in your course? Would you like to know some research-based recommendations for making your exams more valid, effective, and equitable? If the answer to both those questions is yes, check out our new guide for writing science exams. Put together by a learning community of scientists striving...
“I was trying to re-create the magic of impromptu, small group, in-class work.”: Julie Johnson shares key lessons from her Fall 2020 teaching
Feb. 11, 2021—Julie Johnson, Professor of the Practice of Computer Science, recently joined Marcy Singer-Gabella and Jesse Blocher for a Conversation on Teaching about the hybrid courses they taught in Fall 2020. You can see the recording of the entire session here. In the clip below, Julie shares key lessons from her teaching: Persistent groups are critical...
Striving Towards Inclusion in Academic Biology Spring Webinar Series
Jan. 12, 2021—The webinar series on Striving Towards Inclusion in Academic Biology continues this spring with nine seminars focusing on different elements of inclusion. While the series is supported by the Society for Advancement of Biology Education Research and targets academic biology, the webinars are led by scholars from a variety of disciplines (including Anjali Forber-Pratt, Department...