Author(s):
Need: The 2018 report “The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education: Branches from the Same Tree,” published by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, demonstrates a growing recognition of the value of the integration of humanities and arts with STEM for improving STEM education in universities. The integration of humanities and STEM curriculum has been associated with positive student learning outcomes, such as critical thinking abilities and enhanced communication and teamwork. Furthermore, integrated STEM curriculum has been associated with particular benefits for women and underrepresented students, such as improved GPAs and increased retention rates. The report concluded with a call for the development and implementation of new models and programs of STEMM-arts-humanities integration. Guiding Question: This IUSE project designed and studied new undergraduate science instructional materials using the STEM Futures course scaffold, which supports instructors to integrate three domains of knowledge: 1. Foundational knowledge, which is the essential core that students must master, 2. Meta knowledge, which includes the skills and attitudes that make application of foundational knowledge possible, and 3. Humanistic knowledge, which is how students can develop the concept of self and assess individual action in various contexts. The project’s research question is “How can an integrated course scaffold be adapted in different educational contexts to support students’ ability to integrate foundational, humanistic, and meta-knowledge for problem-solving in STEM?” We anticipated that using an integrated course design framework would increase students’ a) understanding of the multi-dimensional connections between STEM and society, b) scientific problem-solving self-efficacy, and c) science interest. Outcomes: A team of science faculty instructors and a historian of science designed and implemented new courses in agricultural biology, environmental sciences, and geology that use the STEM Futures integrative framework. To achieve the goal of humanities and STEM integration, the three courses feature case studies of the forgotten histories and contributions of cultures and individuals that have been historically marginalized in science. Students respond to reflective questions about the cases and demonstrate their integrative learning through a final course project presented as a digital story. Two case studies will be available for IUSE Summit attendees to review and provide feedback. Preliminary survey results for one course show that students not only felt more independent, confident, and self-directed, but they also reported significant gains in their technical skills, ability to generate research questions, collect and analyze data, explain problems, use scientific literature, and develop hypotheses. Broader Impacts: The team has developed a process model and workshop to assist other institutions who would like to form science-humanities collaborations to integrate cultural perspectives into core undergraduate science content. The project also generated new integrative course resources tailored to course implementation at different types of institutions, which include a public regional institution, a Hispanic-serving institution, and a research university.
Coauthors
Kathleen Vongsathorn, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, IL; Hugo Gutierrez, University of Texas-El Paso, El Paso, TX; Robyn Roberts, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO; Tracy Wacker, Independent, Flint, MI
