We propose to present a collection of posters united by a single theme: the use of interactive teaching across STEM disciplines. The posters will be presented by Mason faculty and graduate students participating in the NSF-funded SIMPLE Project. The focus of the project is developing faculty communities of practice that promote evidence-based interactive teaching across STEM. As part of this project, participants have been trying new interactive teaching strategies in their classrooms and documenting the process in the form of a design memo. A design memo is a short, structured reflection on the implementation of a particular teaching strategy. In the context of the SIMPLE Project, design memos pursue two goals: prompting instructors to engage in reflection about their teaching, and serving as sharable artifacts for other instructors interested in adopting similar strategies. More information about the project and about design memos can be found on the project website: simple.onmason.com.Each poster at the session will provide a birds-eye view of the participant’s design memo; thus, it will include (but will not be limited to) a description of a strategy with examples, the instructor’s reasons to implement it, information on preparation needed for its use, discussion of potential pitfalls to avoid, and reflection on how the instructor would refine the technique for future implementations. Posters will be complemented by printed copies of design memos as handouts for attendees. By the end of the session, attendees will learn about various interactive teaching strategies and how they can be enacted in practice.
Preparing Graduate Students for STEM Careers Outside Academia