Experiential Learning in a Large-Enrollment Introductory Science Course

The project aims to serve the national interest by developing and researching improved teaching strategies to support students in using science knowledge and skills for science civic engagement. The hope of educators, policymakers, and researchers is that with increased STEM learning, a better informed and skilled citizenry will be more fully engaged and make important decisions to shape and advance our society. Despite the value placed on developing students’ science civic engagement, few classroom models exist to support students’ science civic engagement (especially at an undergraduate level). The significance of this project is to fill this gap by developing an evidence-based classroom model to support students’ science civic engagement, especially focused on experiential learning activities. Much of the learning that helps students connect everyday importance to science knowledge and skills occurs in activities outside of the classroom, which may have unequal access for historically underserved populations, or in upper-division courses after attrition from STEM has already occurred. Incorporating civic engagement into introductory college courses provides an opportunity to support all students in developing science literacy skills, connecting science course content to desired societal outcomes, and to motivate and retain students in STEM career trajectories. This project intends to advance an understanding of how science education can empower students to employ their knowledge and skills to solve complex societal issues. The goals of this project will develop instructional strategies to incorporate experiential learning and civic engagement learning in a large-enrollment STEM course and evaluate the impact of the instructional strategies on students’ development of science literacy skills and science civic engagement. This project is grounded in science education theory and research and aims to perform basic and applied research using qualitative and quantitative data. The research will take place in a large enrollment required introductory science literacy course that serves approximately 600 students every academic year. The science literacy course learning objectives are centered on evaluating, synthesizing and applying relevant scientific evidence to societal decision-making and using both scientific information and values-based objectives to support a position about what should be done about a socioscientific issue (defined as a societal issue that is informed by science). In the course student teams create a dynamic and well-researched project about a complex socioscientific issue and develop recommendations for a solution using a structured decision-making process. Students will be asked to spend a total of 4-6 hours on experiential learning related to their final topic by connecting with a community partner engaged in their topic. Experiential learning in the course may include service learning, data collection or citizen science, direct science civic engagement such as attending a town council meeting, or formal and informal public educational activities. The project aims to address three research questions: (1) Does an experiential learning requirement in an introductory science literacy course, coupled with more explicit instructional guidance on how to civically engage, impact students’ ideas about using their own skills and knowledge to civically engage in their communities? (2) How do students relate their ideas about using their own skills and knowledge to civically engage in their communities to experiential learning activities they performed in an introductory science literacy course? (3) How do students’ ideas about using their own skills and knowledge to civically engage in their communities vary by issues context? Evidence-based transportable teaching program elements to implement experiential learning in large introductory STEM classrooms will be disseminated through workshops, online guides and publications. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.