The (STEM)2 Network: a multi-institution, multidisciplinary approach to transforming undergraduate STEM education

Abstract Background Transforming the culture of STEM higher education to be more inclusive and help more students reach STEM careers is challenging. Herein, we describe a new model for STEM higher education transformation, the Sustainable, Transformative Engagement across a Multi-Institution/Multidisciplinary STEM, (STEM)2, “STEM-squared”, Network. The Network embraces a pathways model, as opposed to a pipeline model, to STEM career entry. It is founded upon three strong theoretical frameworks: Communities of Transformation, systems design for organizational change, and emergent outcomes for the diffusion of innovations in STEM education. Currently composed of five institutions—three private 4-year universities and two public community colleges—the Network capitalizes on the close geographic proximity and shared student demographics to effect change across the classroom, disciplinary, institutional, and inter-institutional levels. Results The (STEM)2 Network has increased the extent to which participants feel empowered to be change agents for STEM higher education reform and has increased collaboration across disciplines and institutions. Participants were motivated to join the Network to improve STEM education, to improve the transfer student experience, to collaborate with colleagues across disciplines and institutions, and because they respected the leadership team. Participants continue to engage in the Network because of the collaborations created, opportunities for professional growth, opportunities to improve STEM education, and a sense that the Network is functioning as intended. Conclusion The goal to increase the number and diversity of people entering STEM careers is predicated on transforming the STEM higher education system to embrace a pathways model to a STEM career. The (STEM)2 Network is achieving this by empowering faculty to transform the system from the inside. While the systemic transformation of STEM higher education is challenging, the (STEM)2 Network directly addresses those challenges by bridging disciplinary and institutional silos and leveraging the reward structure of the current system to support faculty as they work to transform this very system.

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THE ROLE OF A SCIENTIFIC CIRCLE IN STUDENTS’ PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

Медична освіта ◽

10.11603/me.2414-5998.2020.1.10997 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 72-76

Author(s):

V. V. Rodionova ◽

L. A. Hlyniana ◽

K. Yu. Hashynova ◽

R. V. Razumnyi

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Education Reform ◽

Professional Growth ◽

Professional Training ◽

Cognitive Activity ◽

Scientific Work ◽

Practical Experience ◽

Higher Education Reform ◽

Important Place ◽

Research Activities

In the current context of higher education reform, there is a redistribution of academic hours, with reduced number of lectures and practical classes and increased workload for students to prepare themselves. In the training of doctors, the practical component of training remains perhaps the most important. The types of educational activities of students according to the curriculum are lectures, practical classes and students’ independent work. The latter occupies an important place in the course of teaching the discipline. In order to encourage students to gain practical experience with the patient, perform scientific work, etc., students should be encouraged to participate in the work of scientific circles at the departments. During the preparation of the meetings of the circle and its conducting, the teacher becomes more familiar with the most active and purposeful students, who seek not only to deepen their knowledge during extracurricular time, but are involved in the implementation of scientific work, participate in the Olympiad, prepare scientific papers for participation in higher education all-Ukrainian competitions of scientific works. The Student Science Circle is a full-fledged, non-classroom method of student’s training. The participation of students in the work of scientific circles promotes research activities, the formation of creative abilities, the increase of general self-esteem and self-realization of students. An important condition for the formation of quality education is the development of a creative component of a specialist with the support of their cognitive activity and independence, which supports professional growth of a future doctor.

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Academic Course Evaluation

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040.14.4.297 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 297-306 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Edith Braun ◽

Bernhard Leidner

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Education Reform ◽

Bologna Process ◽

Course Evaluation ◽

Higher Education Reform ◽

Teaching Behavior ◽

Personal Benefit ◽

Quality Of Higher Education ◽

Confirmatory Factor ◽

The Bologna Process

This article contributes to the conceptual and empirical distinction between (the assessment of) appraisals of teaching behavior and (the assessment of) self-reported competence acquirement within academic course evaluation. The Bologna Process, the current higher-education reform in Europe, emphasizes education aimed toward vocationally oriented competences and demands the certification of acquired competences. Currently available evaluation questionnaires measure the students’ satisfaction with a lecturer’s behavior, whereas the “Evaluation in Higher Education: Self-Assessed Competences” (HEsaCom) measures the students’ personal benefit in terms of competences. In a sample of 1403 German students, we administered a scale of satisfaction with teaching behavior and the German version of the HEsaCom at the same time. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the estimated correlations between the various scales of self-rated competences and teaching behavior appraisals were moderate to strong, yet the constructs were shown to be empirically distinct. We conclude that the self-rated gains in competences are distinct from satisfaction with course and instructor. In line with the higher education reform, self-reported gains in competences are an important aspect of academic course evaluation, which should be taken into account in the future and might be able to restructure the view of “quality of higher education.” The English version of the HEsaCom is presented in the Appendix .

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