Transform Your Department Culture – Helpful Examples for Inspiring Change

Tessa Andrews specializes in biology education research, with particular emphasis on factors influencing the adoption and effective implementation of evidence-based teaching strategies in undergraduate STEM education. Her research aims to further our understanding of how to support faculty. She studies teacher knowledge in undergraduate biology education, as well as change in STEM departments and institutions. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Genetics and core member of the Scientists Engaged in Education Research center at the University of Georgia. She is a Monitoring Editor for CBE-Life Sciences Education and a Working Group Leader for the Accelerating Systemic Change Network.

Michael Wittmann is the Head of Education at the American Physical Society.  He is the project director for the Effective Practices in Physics Programs (EP3) Initiative, the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC), and the APS Bridge program. Before joining APS, Michael was a Professor of Physics at the University of Maine, where he was co-founder of the UMaine Physics Education Research Laboratory and co-founder of the Maine Center for Research in STEM Education (RiSE Center), an interdisciplinary research center at UMaine, focused on discipline-based education research in the STEM departments and the College of Education and Human Development. His research in physics education included research on advanced physics topics such as quantum mechanics, investigations of both student and teacher knowledge of energy at the middle and early high school level, and the development of models of learning in physics. He served as editor of the Physics Education Research Section of the American Journal of Physics and was co-founder and co-organizer of the biennial conference on the Foundations and Frontiers of Physics Education Research. He served as chair of the UMaine Department of Physics and Astronomy. For his work in education research, professional development, and community growth, he was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Teodora Rutar Shuman is a Professor and Chair in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Seattle University.  She is the PI on the NSF RED grant titled “IUSE/PFE:RED: Revolutionizing Engineering Education through Industry Immersion and a Focus on Identity,” awarded to Seattle University in 2017 for $1.86M. She has had nine externally funded grants, including three from the National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education.  She led her department through transformational cultural change over the past five years. She teaches courses in thermal systems and design, and innovates regularly in the classroom and labs.  Her work was published in the Journal of Engineering Education, IEEE Transactions on Education, International Journal of Engineering Education, and Transactions of ASME, and she regularly presents at the ASEE Annual Conference.   Her research also includes NOx formation in lean-premixed combustion and electro-mechanical systems for sustainable processing of microalgae.  She mentored dozens of undergraduate students in peer-reviewed research venues, including in Chemical Engineering Journal, Bioresource Technology, and Algal Biomass Organization Summits.  She is a member of the ASEE, ASME, and the Algae Biomass Organization.  Dr. Shuman served as Chair for the ASEE Energy Conversion and Conservation Division in 2017 and on the organizing committee of the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Education Leadership Summit in 2022.