National and local initiatives focused on the transformation of STEM teaching in higher education have multiplied over the last decade. These initiatives often focus on measuring change in instructional practices, but it is difficult to monitor such change without a national picture of STEM educational practices, especially as characterized by common observational instruments. We characterized a snapshot of this landscape by conducting the first large scale observation-based study. We found that lecturing was prominent throughout the undergraduate STEM curriculum, even in classrooms with infrastructure designed to support active learning, indicating that further work is required to reform STEM education. Additionally, we established that STEM faculty’s instructional practices can vary substantially within a course, invalidating the commonly-used teaching evaluations based on a one-time observation.
The pedagogy of service-learning is becoming an accepted method of connecting college classrooms to the community. A service-learning course component has been successfully incorporated into the second quarter of Introductory Chemistry (Chem 120) at Kalamazoo College. Students in Chem 120 design inquiry-based laboratory experiments related to course material for students in grades K–6. The Chem 120 students then conduct these experiments with assigned classes at a local elementary school. This project reinforces course material for the college students while supplementing the elementary school's science curriculum and exposing children to topics they otherwise would not learn. In addition to providing a context for college students to make connections between textbook concepts and real life processes, this project also offers a chance to improve other skills, such as problem solving and communication. Surveys of the Chem 120 students and comments from the elementary school community demonstrate that the project is successful overall and is a way to interest students at all levels in chemistry. This paper discusses the methods used to conduct and assess this service-learning project, survey results, comments from the elementary school community, and the effect of this project on the number of chemistry majors at Kalamazoo College.
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