Conference: Promoting Cross-institutional Evidence-based Practices Implementation and Assessment to Enhance Student Outcomes Through a Meeting of the SCIENCE Collaborative

This project aims to serve the national interest by supporting the broad adoption of evidence-based teaching and learning practices that increase undergraduate student achievement and persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Increased student success and retention in STEM fields provides important contributions to meeting critical national workforce needs. The Student-Centered Institutional Enhancement and Co-Learning Exchange (SCIENCE) Collaborative consists of a network of faculty, staff, students, and administrators from colleges and universities across the country, providing opportunities to scale efforts and serve as a model for other STEM education reform efforts. This Conference project is structured to allow opportunities for sharing what has been learned across institutions, to develop new knowledge and collaborations, and to coordinate assessment activities. This is designed to increase capacity for significant and wide-reaching change through enhanced faculty support. The goals of this collective effort to increase student achievement and persistence in STEM fields include (1) engaging students, faculty, staff, and administrators to identify, prioritize, and implement evidence-based teaching and learning strategies; (2) providing institutional and cross-institutional professional development to support implementation; (3) fostering collaborative efforts among SCIENCE Collaborative institutions; and (4) assessing the impact and iterating on the structure to optimize outcomes. As part of the planned project conference activities, institutional groups and communities of practice will share outcomes from previous implementation approaches, as well as engage in strategic collaborations to learn from the work of others and initiate broader implementation of evidence-based practices. The assessment plan includes collecting a variety of measures at both the individual and institutional levels that can inform future collective strategies. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through conference projects, the program supports efforts to improve undergraduate STEM education, developing implementation practices, and assembling research partnerships and agendas across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities. 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.