Leveraging this Moment to Transform STEM Education
In the beginning of 2021, the AAAS-IUSE Initiative asked the community of undergraduate STEM faculty, researchers, and professionals working in higher education, how they are adapting to the challenges of teaching and learning during COVID-19. After reviewing over 100 submissions, we found that the IUSE community had gone beyond creating best practices for teaching in a pandemic and instead developed strategies with implications after the pandemic for broadening participation, increasing accessibility, and transforming the way we teach STEM.
Submissions from the AAAS-IUSE community addressed issues on a range of topics including (but not limited to) student engagement, course design, internships, and online labs. Below is a report and resource pages that highlight lessons learned that have implications beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the examples below were featured in the AAAS-IUSE STEM for All Video Showcase.
Strategies for Faculty
COVID Resources
How Providing Mentorship Opportunities Supported Non-Traditional Pre-Service Teachers
The pandemic heightened many existing challenges (such as work-school balance, working multiple jobs, family obligations, etc.) for non-traditional preservice …
COVID Resources
How Making Labs Accessible and Relatable Increases Student Engagement
With labs moving online during the pandemic, many STEM faculty had to quickly adapt their in-person labs to a virtual format. Dr. Zovar and Dr. Horodyskyj both…
COVID Resources
How Supporting Faculty Through Communities of Practice Leads to More Equitable Teaching Practices
Through the creation of an online Community of Practice (CoP) for STEM faculty across the state, the WA CTC system is able to provide professional development …
COVID Resources
How Supporting Student Well-Being Creates a Positive Learning Environment
Dr. Glaser recognized that the switch to remote learning, coupled with the stresses of living during a pandemic, negatively impacted many of her students. Unde…
COVID Resources
How New Assessment Practices Encourage Student Intellectual Engagement Online and Beyond
Intellectual engagement of students in STEM courses has been especially challenging in the virtual environment. Dr. Anya Goodman saw this problem and made chan…
COVID Resources
How a Virtual Internship Model Promotes Experiential STEM Learning
Since 2017, the research team at Northeastern University has been developing a virtual internship and team project model. The original focus of these efforts w…
COVID Resources
How a Mentorship Program Adapted and Built Connections to Last
The STEM Leaders Program at Oregon State provides research and mentorship opportunities that support students often underrepresented in STEM (first-generation,…
COVID Resources
How the Abrupt Shift Online Led to a Permanent Shift in Course Design
COVID disrupted and, in some cases, devastated students’ ability to learn from traditional courses that are designed for synchronous classroom instruction. Wit…
COVID Resources
How an Online Engineering Lab Experience Promotes Inclusion
Lab activities are important for helping students visualize course concepts and apply knowledge through hands-on learning. However, faculty who teach face-to-f…
