Innovation in T&L: moving the needle? Professor Teri Balser, Dean T&L Curtin University Science and Engineering

STEM pipeline leaking badly (Across race, gender, SES, etc.) Concern about STEM (we need all the minds) STEM pipeline leaking badly (Across race, gender, SES, etc.) 53% Women 81% Men In 2001, there were a bit more than 4 million 9th graders. Four years later, 2.8 million of them graduated and 1.9 million went on to two- or four-year college; only 1.3 million were actually ready for collegge work. Fewer than 300,000 were majoring in STEM fields and only about 167,000 are expected to be STEM college graduates by 2011. Year 9 Year 12 Uni STEM

U.S. Biology Education Reform Rapid growth and change across the biological sciences in the past 30 years Concern about scientific literacy in general, and U.S. competitive success (U.S. needs one million new STEM degrees for the next decade to maintain global leadership) National calls for reform in STEM (and especially life sciences education) starting in the late 1980s

2009 American Association for the Advancement Of Science (AAAS)

Core Elements of Vision and Change It is recognized that: American global competitiveness requires a well-educated citizenry in all areas of STEM 21st Century Biology is an integration of scholastic skill sets across life sciences, chemistry, physics, computer sciences, statistics, and mathematics The Information Age and multimedia technologies have changed the mechanisms of dissemination of information across the sciences and science curriculum Emerging student-centered pedagogy has been shown to be more effective with a new generation of students, particularly under-represented students in STEM and college in general These call for a nation-wide, systematically new approach to education in the life sciences.

In the 2009 Call to Action, recommendations focus on: What students should know and be able to do Innovative pedagogy that focuses on student-centered environments across the curriculum Integration of authentic research experiences into classes and programs Assessment of student success both as measured within programs and success in the workforce and professional programs Professional development for current and future faculty for teaching success Engagement of administrative and other institutional levels Resources and tools to facilitate and support changes at various academic levels

2011: Still stuck!

How to get the nation’s life sciences community to engage in Vision and Change?

PULSE: Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education

PULSE Leadership Fellows

PULSE Change Leadership Inclusive National Effort pulsecommunity.org Change Leadership 40 Leadership Fellows; all with leadership experience in educational change Driving change at the Department level or higher Inclusive National Effort Anyone can join (students, faculty, administrators) More than 2,000 members (in 2017)

How does PULSE work? Leadership Fellows are drawn from www.pulsecommunity.org Leadership Fellows are drawn from Liberal arts colleges Comprehensive universities Research universities Community colleges Role of Leadership Fellows Produce roadmaps for Departmental change Engage community for feedback Refine strategies for change

First Set of Working Groups: Raising the PULSE – PR campaign Taking the PULSE – Designing a self-assessment rubric and a recognition/accreditation framework Faculty Networks – Developing resources for faculty development PULSE ambassadors – Training PULSE members to work as departmental facilitators Other

PULSE Activities Regional Networks, Institutes, and Workshops Resources for Departmental Self- assessment and Planning Ambassadors (Site visits and change leadership development) Recognition Program Other

Example: Developing Rubrics for Self-Study and a Recognition Program Goal To develop set of rubrics, based on the guidelines and principles outlined in the Vision & Change report, for Biology Departments to use to assess progress

FIVE RUBRICS -Curriculum Alignment -Assessment -Faculty Practice/Support -Infrastructure -Climate for Change

Example

Intended Use of Rubrics 1) Departmental self-assessment Where is my department on the path to Change? Develop strategic plan to move toward Vision & Change goals 2) Tiered Recognition Program (Modeled after LEED for Sustainable Building Construction) Pilot program completed in 2013

Recognition program pilot test Call for applications / EoI for site visits (80 applications for initial pilot program!) Selected programs complete the rubrics PULSE Teams conduct site visits (interview staff and senior leadership, observe classes, etc.) Provide post-site visit report to school for comment or revision Analyse and assign recognition level Announce results publically/nationally

Using the rubrics

CBE-Life Sciences Education Vol. 15, Winter 2016

Highlights? Conclusions? Successful national-level change and innovation initiative! Built from the ground-up following instigation from national funding agencies Provides opportunity for academic staff to be part of something ongoing and important at a grass-roots level Institutional-level mentoring, and change that “spirals outward” (ongoing, sustainable)

Sustainable action toward change! Summary of the First PULSE Workshop October 15 – 18, 2012

Thank you! Questions? teri.balser@curtin.edu.au InsightEducation.org