Measuring the implementation of student-centered teaching strategies in lower- and upper-division STEM courses

Benabentos, Rocio; Hazari, Zahra; Stanford, Jennifer S.; Potvin, Geoff; Marsteller, Pat; Thompson, Katerina V.; Cassone, Vincent M.; Murasko, Donna M.; Kramer, L. H.

doi:10.1080/10899995.2020.1768005

Cited by 12 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 44 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In an analytical review of literature on undergraduate STEM practices, Henderson et al (2011) noted that engagement in SOTL is a means for developing reflective educators. Instructors that engaged in STEM education research were found to use more student-centered instructional practices (Benabentos et al, 2020;Dancy et al, 2019;Henderson et al, 2017;Pelletreau et al, 2018;Tomkin et al, 2019). This is corroborated by our findings that participation in SOTL is associated with adoption of more active learning pedagogies.…”

Section: Scholarship Of Teaching and Learning Or Discipline-based Edu...supporting

confidence: 83%

“…In addition to pedagogical training, centers for teaching and learning can provide practical assistance to all instructors in their active learning endeavors. These centers can also sponsor communities of practice for instructors to discuss their teaching practices and instructional projects, which have also been shown to increase use of RBIS and transfer knowledge between disciplines to enhance instruction (Benabentos et al, 2020;Dancy et al, 2019;Henderson et al, 2017;Pelletreau et al, 2018;Tomkin et al, 2019); for adopters of active learning pedagogies, participation in a community of practice has been shown to have greater use of student-centered practices (Benabentos et al, 2020). If these centers for teaching and learning do exist, we propose that centers are given sufficient resources to achieve their goals.…”

Section: Participation In Teaching-related Professional Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study has a limited scope; we only sampled instructors who teach introductory courses from chemistry, mathematics, and physics. In addition, previous studies show differences exist between lower-and upper-division STEM courses (Benabentos et al, 2020;. To better characterize STEM courses as a whole, a broader study should be conducted that includes a wider array of STEM disciplines at both introductory and advanced levels from a representative sample of different institution types.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Evaluating the impact of malleable factors on percent time lecturing in gateway chemistry, mathematics, and physics courses

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Active learning used in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses has been shown to improve student outcomes. Nevertheless, traditional lecture-orientated approaches endure in these courses. The implementation of teaching practices is a result of many interrelated factors including disciplinary norms, classroom context, and beliefs about learning. Although factors influencing uptake of active learning are known, no study to date has had the statistical power to empirically test the relative association of these factors with active learning when considered collectively. Prior studies have been limited to a single or small number of evaluated factors; in addition, such studies did not capture the nested nature of institutional contexts. We present the results of a multi-institution, large-scale (N = 2382 instructors; N = 1405 departments; N = 749 institutions) survey-based study in the United States to evaluate 17 malleable factors (i.e., influenceable and changeable) that are associated with the amount of time an instructor spends lecturing, a proxy for implementation of active learning strategies, in introductory postsecondary chemistry, mathematics, and physics courses. Results Regression analyses, using multilevel modeling to account for the nested nature of the data, indicate several evaluated contextual factors, personal factors, and teacher thinking factors were significantly associated with percent of class time lecturing when controlling for other factors used in this study. Quantitative results corroborate prior research in indicating that large class sizes are associated with increased percent time lecturing. Other contextual factors (e.g., classroom setup for small group work) and personal contexts (e.g., participation in scholarship of teaching and learning activities) are associated with a decrease in percent time lecturing. Conclusions Given the malleable nature of the factors, we offer tangible implications for instructors and administrators to influence the adoption of more active learning strategies in introductory STEM courses.

show abstract

Section: Scholarship Of Teaching and Learning Or Discipline-based Edu...supporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Participation In Teaching-related Professional Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Evaluating the impact of malleable factors on percent time lecturing in gateway chemistry, mathematics, and physics courses

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…According to Kennedy and Odell (2014), in emerging markets, developed nations, and long-established economies like the US and Europe, improving STEM education teaching and learning has taken on economic importance. STEM education has developed into a meta-discipline, an integrated effort that eliminates the conventional barriers between these subjects and instead focuses on innovation and the practical process of designing solutions to challenging contextual problems using the most recent tools and technologies (Benabentos et. Al, 2021).…”

Section: Teaching Strategies For Stem and Other Coursesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Teaching Strategies of Stem Courses During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Comparison Study in Performance and Learning Experience Between Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning Mode in Higher Institution

Ismail¹,

Saad²,

Sarmin³

et al. 2022

Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on the Future of Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The COVID-19 crisis has forced lecturers around the world to shift from traditional into computer screens classroom. Here, various teaching strategies adopted to support this adhoc virtual learning environment. Despite the various efforts to solve the challenges among the different teaching strategies implemented, the efficiency of the strategies is still questionable. Hence, the aim of this study is to investigate the most suitable teaching strategies for STEM online education. This study presents a comparison of two different learning modes, synchronous and asynchronous mode, in terms of students' performance and learning experience in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses. Two STEM courses were selected: engineering and programming course. The study randomly assigned students to one of two conditions: (i) taking the course in synchronous mode -class conducted in real-time mode with lecturers via online meetings and (ii) taking the same course in asynchronous modeonline materials being provided in advance such as pre-recorded video content. Here, the course content (learning outcomes, course topics required literature and assessment) were identical for all students. Next, all students sit for an (i) assessment to assess their mastery of the course content, (ii) completed an entrance-exit survey and (iii) a self-reported satisfaction questionnaire about their learning experience and satisfaction. Content analysis has been conducted to see the relationship between student scores, learning experience and satisfaction. The results showed that there are differences of a correlation between these Ismail et al., /Assessing Teaching Strategies of Stem Courses During…. 39 three factors. This study contributes to identifying the most suitable teaching strategy as well as increasing the efficiency of online learning in the context of STEM education in higher institutions.

show abstract

“…Numerous calls have encouraged faculty to implement reformed, evidence-based instructional practices (e.g., NRC, 2012;Olson & Riordan, 2012) that are positively correlated with student learning in geoscience and other STEM courses (e.g., Freeman et al, 2014;McConnell, Steer, & Owens, 2003;National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [NASME], 2018;NRC, 2012;Olson & Riordan, 2012;Stes, Min-Leliveld, Gijbels, & Van Petegem, 2010). However, incorporation of reformed teaching strategies by STEM instructors has not been ubiquitous (e.g., Benabentos et al, 2020;Bradforth et al, 2015;Henderson, Beach, & Finkelstein, 2011;Stains et al, 2018;Wieman, Perkins, & Gilbert, 2010), especially in STEM classrooms (Keith, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transforming education with community-developed teaching materials: evidence from direct observations of STEM college classrooms

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The Classroom Observation Project employs direct observations of geoscience teaching across the USA using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) to quantify the use of reformed teaching practices. We report on 345 RTOP observations used to evaluate the extent of teaching reform when curricular materials developed as part of the InTeGrate Project (ITG) were used. The InTeGrate Project has published 40 modules of curricular materials that teach geoscience in the context of societal issues and support instructors through guided use of student-centered instructional practices. All ITG materials were developed by teams of instructors, follow a consistent structure, and were evaluated against a project rubric. Results RTOP scores for classes observed when ITG materials were used (ITG; n = 50, M = 54.0) are significantly higher than RTOP scores for classes observed when ITG materials were not used (non-ITG; n = 295; M = 39.8; p < .0001). ITG observations all have RTOP scores in the student-centered (≥ 50) or transitional (31–49) instructional categories, and none in the teacher-centered instructional category (≤ 30), demonstrating that ITG materials support more student-centered teaching in class sessions where they are used. In 33 paired observations of the same instructor teaching with and without ITG materials, mean RTOP scores when teaching with ITG are greater than mean RTOP scores when teaching without ITG (M = 54 and M = 47.1, respectively). Conclusions RTOP observations reveal that more student-centered instructional practices occur in class sessions in which ITG materials are used. There is a small range of RTOP scores when individual ITG activities are used by multiple instructors, suggesting that using ITG materials results in a consistent quality of instruction. The complete absence of teacher-centered instruction when using ITG materials means the materials are a useful resource for practicing reformed teaching methods. The model of the ITG Project in the creation and broad dissemination of ready-made curricula for use in large numbers of classrooms can be replicated to transform teaching and learning in other disciplinary communities.

show abstract

Measuring the implementation of student-centered teaching strategies in lower- and upper-division STEM courses

Cited by 12 publications

References 44 publications

Evaluating the impact of malleable factors on percent time lecturing in gateway chemistry, mathematics, and physics courses

Evaluating the impact of malleable factors on percent time lecturing in gateway chemistry, mathematics, and physics courses

Assessing Teaching Strategies of Stem Courses During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Comparison Study in Performance and Learning Experience Between Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning Mode in Higher Institution

Transforming education with community-developed teaching materials: evidence from direct observations of STEM college classrooms

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About