NSF I-Cubed Grant and the Creation of the Center for STEM Education (CSL) University of Colorado Boulder NSF I-Cubed Meeting August 5-7 Washington, DC Anne-Barrie Hunter, Program Manager, CSL Noah Finkelstein, Managing Director Noah Finkelstein and Valerie Otero, Advisors to CSL William Tarantino, Business Manager Robbie Martinez, Administrative Assistant

Introduction Who are we? Program Activities Institutional Integration Impacts Conclusions / Discussion

Introduction – Principal Investigators Phil DiStefano, Chancellor Russ Moore, Provost Todd Gleeson, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences Lorrie Shepard, Dean of the School of Education Rob Davis, Dean of the College of Engineering & Applied Science Noah Finkelstein, Associate Professor of Physics

Project Management Team Noah Finkelstein, Physics Mike Klymkowsky, MCD Biology Valerie Otero, School of Education Robert Parson, Chemistry & BioChemistry, JILA Derek Reamon, Integrated Teaching & Learning Program, & Mechanical Engineering Daria Kotys-Schwartz, Mechanical Engineering Diane Sieber, Herbst Program of Humanities for Engineers Eric Stade, Mathematics

More than 75+ programs in STEM education on campus: CU-Boulder Transforming STEM Education PhET: 100+ interactive sims. Researched, effective. 70M + uses worldwide. phet.colorado.edu Physics Frontier Center - Educational partnerships: Joint effort between JILA and STEM education research. Enhancing graduate education through community. Seed funder for PhET! Supporting other NSF investments in basic research: Gender in STEM: research on stereotype threat & associated interventions. Science (6008):1234. Learning Assistants (LA) program: Making large enrollment courses “small” K-12 science teacher preparation  Replicated at over 80 other institutions nationwide

Introduction – Goals of I-Cubed Grant Overall goal of I-Cubed Grant  to establish a center of STEM education research and transformation towards a Center for STEM Learning

The University of Colorado as a national hub of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education research and reform University of Colorado is a national center for: Education in STEM disciplines Research on STEM education STEM teacher preparation Creating a Center for STEM Learning

Better education U.S. ranks: 21 out of 30 in science 25 out of 30 in math - PISA 2006 International Rankings (science) CSL: To Address a National Need

Better education More and better teachers 2/3 Physics Out of Field Less than 50% stay Physics Teachers with degrees in: CSL: To Address a National Need

Better education More and better teachers More and better STEM grads 1 Million more STEM grads needed by 2018 and growing CSL: To Address a National Need

US surpassed by Europe and Asia in S&E PhD production Higher education & research More and better teachers More and better STEM grads Better education CSL: To Address a National Need

the National Academies CSL: To Address a National Need STEM education - an era of significant attention: the White House Professional Societies

STEM Educational Transformation Discipline-Based Education Research Teacher Prep College & K12 Creating CSL

Prescribed Final Condition Emergent Final Condition Individuals Environment/Structures DEVELOPING Policy DEVELOPING Curriculum & Pedagogy DEVELOPING Shared Vision DEVELOPING Reflective Teachers Creating CSL– Theoretical Foundations of CSL Building on Four Categories of Change Strategies For more details: C. Henderson, A. Beach and N.D. Finkelstein, ““Facilitating Change in Undergraduate STEM Instructional Practices: An Analytic Review of the Literature” J. Research Science Teaching, 48 (8), (2011). For more details: C. Henderson, A. Beach and N.D. Finkelstein, ““Facilitating Change in Undergraduate STEM Instructional Practices: An Analytic Review of the Literature” J. Research Science Teaching, 48 (8), (2011).

Teacher Recruitment & Preparation Curriculum and course transformation Institutional change Discipline-Based Education Research

Creating a Center – Mission & Vision Mission: The mission of the Center for STEM Learning (CSL) is to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at the University of Colorado Boulder, and to serve as a state, national, and international resource for such efforts. Vision: The vision of the Center for STEM Learning is to maintain an infrastructure of institutional support in order to transform STEM education, support education research within and across STEM fields and departments, and promote K20 faculty recruitment, preparation, and professional development, and to facilitate change in STEM education by integrating an interdisciplinary community of scholars, promoting, sustaining, and evaluating existing reform efforts, sponsoring new programs, advocating for diversity and access, influencing relevant policy, fundraising, and communicating with the public.

Organizational Structures: Organizational structure (PMT & Pis) Mission and vision statements By-laws, Center proposal Developed a budget Communication: Branding/marketing/PR strategy Communication structure/ plan Funding: Long term funding avenues Programmatic Activities – Institutional Integration Community building Symposia, Seed Funding, Seminars... Creating a Center – Fundamentals

Creating CSL – Structure

INSTITUTIONAL INTEGRATION

IT Infrastructure Programmatic support / linking Communication, Policy, PR Symposia Evaluation Chancellor Awards DBER Seminars Integration – CSL Serves as Community Infrastructure

Annual fall symposium More than 160 people Representing 55+ departments, programs, & partners. Introduction by Lt. Gov. Garcia Participation by: Legislators, media, public, & university Integration – Through Annual Symposium & Events

Integration – Chancellor’s Awards These awards fund: faculty (up to $10,000) and graduate students (25% RA)  for DBER and/or educational course transformation.

Integration – Through DBER Weekly Discipline Based Education Research (DBER) seminars For Faculty, staff, and graduate students Ave 20+ participants, 80+ faculty, grads, staff in last year. 40 different programs and departments 4 schools/colleges DBER

Integration – Through Serving as a Communication Hub DBER

IMPACTS

Center Structure Communication Information Technology Foundation Support Impacts – Infrastructures

Impacts – Publicity Articles Featuring CU STEM Education in:

Impacts – Regional & State Engagement

Impacts – National Policy

Impacts – Replication University of Colorado at Boulder Auburn University Black Hills State University Boise State Boston University California Polytechnic State California State University - LB Cornell University Florida International University Indiana University (UTA Program) James Madison (Planned 11/12) Louisiana State University Marshall University (Planned 11/12) New Jersey Institute of Technology North Dakota State University Rutgers University Seattle Pacific University South Dakota State Towson University UNC Chapel Hill University of Arizona University of Arkansas University of Maine University of Maryland University of Minnesota - St Paul University of Oklahoma University of Texas - Austin University of Texas - El Paso Utah State University Virginia Tech Western Kentucky University

Federal Regional Center Impacts – A Network of Regional Centers Federal Regional Center STEM Education Centers: A National Conversation: APLU/NSF/ Sloan Funded 120+ Centers and more coming: 1° National Meeting Jun 2015

Major themes for centers include: Improving the STEM learning experience for students on campus Improving the flow of students into STEM programs Improving the the preparation of students for STEM undergraduate majors Understanding teaching and learning Broadening the impact of campus research Supporting national and regional scale improvement in STEM education

NSF I-CUBED at CU Boulder Enhancing the quality and access to STEM education for CU, the state and the nation: Tools, resources and models for: DBER educational transformation teacher and faulty professional development Integrating 75+ programs across 4 colleges at CU: Active educational transformation across 14 departments / programs Dozen PhDs supported Dozens of faculty supported Hundreds of faculty staff and grads engaged Thousands of undergrads students impacted  Achieving the goal of Establishing CU Boulder as a national hub: Excellence in STEM education Research on STEM education STEM teacher preparation This material is based upon work supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation, Award number: DRL Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.