Speaker(s):
How can we support student outcomes in undergraduate STEM courses and create an engaging learning environment? In this workshop, speakers discuss successes in implementing active learning through grassroots and policy approaches. First, Dr. Jessica Rosenberg shares takeaways from the grassroot effort at her university to implement active learning into STEM courses. Next, Dr. Wendy Smith identifies key policy levers to improve student outcomes and encourage active learning in first-year STEM courses. Overall, this workshop provides different approaches to implement active learning and improve student success in undergraduate STEM courses.
Links & Resources Shared by the Audience During the Workshop:
- Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL)
- PALM Network: Promoting Active Learning and Networking
- The California State University: Read to Learn
- Course Source: Evidence-Based Teaching Resources for Undergraduate Biology and Physics
- National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
- Inquiry and Gender Inequity in the Undergraduate Mathematics Classroom
- Racial Hierarchy and Masculine Space: Participatory in/Equity in Computational Physics Classrooms
- Open-Source Mathematics Textbooks at The University of Nebraska – Lincoln
- Interactive Simulations for Science and Math, University of Colorado Boulder
Speaker(s)
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Jessica Rosenberg, Ph.D.
Education Director of the Quantum Materials Center, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy
George Mason University
Jessica Rosenberg, Ph.D., is the Education Director of the Quantum Materials Center and an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at George Mason University. When she is not unravelling the mysteries of the universe as an astrophysicist, she works to improve the education and retention of a diverse group of students in the STEM disciplines and build new models of graduate student preparation. She has developed and implemented education programs that span K-20, researched improvements to STEM classroom education, and examined how scientific research projects can have a broader impact on society though research, education, and outreach. As the Director of Education for the Quantum Materials Center she is building internship programs, transdisciplinary undergraduate experiences, and broadening graduate student preparation for the workforce. As PI for the NSF funded project, Building a Culture of Active Learning through Course-Based Communities of Transformation, she leads an effort to transform how gateway STEM courses are taught at a large R1 university.
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Wendy Smith, Ph.D.
Research Professor
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Dr. Wendy Smith is a Research Professor from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. With a focus on broadening participation in STEM and improving equitable STEM teaching and learning, Dr. Smith's research interests include PK-20 mathematics, science and computer science education, institutional change, active learning, education leadership, rural education, teacher change, teacher professional development, professional networks, action research, and estimating teacher professional learning effects on student achievement.
