A Model Workshop for Helping New Faculty Engage Students in the STEM Classroom

Abstract

In May 2016 a workshop entitled "Engaging Students in the STEM Classroom" was presented to faculty at Southern Utah University. Although not exclusive to new faculty, the target audience and predominant attendees, were new faculty from the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines on campus. The three-day workshop focused on basic principles of effective learning and teaching, aligning learning outcomes to assessments and teaching activities, methods for active learning, and strategies for effective classroom presentation. The workshop curriculum was centered around the following goals: 1) promoting broader awareness of alternative teaching strategies for STEM classrooms, 2) increasing faculty comfort level in using alternative teaching strategies, 3) increasing adoption of active learning and other evidence-based pedagogies, 4) building a campus community dedicated to improving teaching, and 5) increasing multi-disciplinary collaborations amongst faculty attendees. The purpose of this paper is to provide an example of a model workshop designed to help new faculty engage students in STEM disciplines, and includes the planning, implementation, and assessment of this workshop. The paper begins by introducing the development of the workshop, including the logic model and assessment plan, the curriculum outline, and preparation processes. The paper also explores the implementation lessons learned. Finally, this paper includes the assessment results of the effectiveness of the workshop in meeting the workshop goals. This includes a preand post-workshop comparison of the participant's attitudes regarding evidence based pedagogies and their perceived competency in using them. This paper is useful for engineering educators in developing teaching expertise, researchers interested in faculty attitudes and perceived competency in using alternate teaching strategies, and faculty and administrators planning to create professional development opportunities to help faculty of all levels become more proficient in evidence-based pedagogies. This paper also serves as an example of a model workshop to develop interdisciplinary communities of educational practice, as well as strengthen the abilities of a new faculty in establishing an engaging and effective classroom.

Celebrating 20 Years of the ExCEEd Teaching Workshop

“…Several individuals or teams have written about the impact that the ETW had on them 24,25,26 . The impact of the ETW has also been documented in the extension of some of its principles to other applications and workshops 27,28,29 .…”