1. Transforming the Institutional Culture to Promote Innovation and Change in the First Year Education
Heidi Manning, Susan Larson and Bethany Leraas
Concordia College, Moorhead MN
OVERVIEW OF CONCORDIA COLLEGE STEP GRANT PROGRAM
The primary goal of the STEP grant program at Concordia College is to increase the number of STEM graduates by 20% by the end of the five-year grant period. To do this we implemented several new programs and pedagogies, all of which are focused on first-year STEM students. The emphasis on programming for first-year students is based on our data that indicate a significant number of our students drop their STEM major during their first year.
The new programs implemented through this STEP grant include:
Teaching Introductory Physics using the Studio Physics pedagogy
Teaching Introductory Biology using Case-Based Learning pedagogy
Offering an integrated laboratory section that teaches both Chemistry and Biology concepts
Mathematics Review for General Chemistry and Introductory Physics
Research Opportunities for First-year Students
Careers in STEM course
Lecture series
This grant was awarded in We are in the final year of the grant.
ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF THE GRANT
FACULTY SURVEY
We assessed the impact of the STEP grant on the campus environment through an electronic survey of the STEM faculty.
34 STEM faculty were invited to complete the survey.
20 faculty completed the survey
The survey consisted of questions regarding
Experiences and impressions conducting research with first-year students
A faculty member’s willingness and interest to make pedagogical changes in the classroom.
A faculty members impression of the impact of the STEP grant on them personally and the institution as a whole.
RESULTS OF THE ASSESSMENT OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
Participation by first and second year students in undergraduate research increased during the duration of the grant.
Table 1. Summary of Undergraduate Student Research presented at annual spring on-campus Celebration of Student Scholarship—all majors.
Prior to the onset of the grant, science faculty typically did not have first-year summer research students. They reacted favorably to this component of our grant and when asked which component of the grant was most impactful to them, six of twelve comments were about the summer undergraduate research experience. Ten of the faculty who conducted STEP-funded summer research with students would like to continue that component of the grant, because of its significant impact on our students.
When faculty were asked about their experience mentoring first-year students, some responses included: “Research is no longer seen as something only seniors can do and the fact that their peers are doing or have done research at this early stage may encourage more students to pursue these options building a stronger research community here at Concordia.” “Up to that point [prior to the NSF grant], I did not think that [first year students] had the skills necessary to complete meaningful research. I was completely wrong. A first-year student can perform the prescribed experiments, but also make substantial contributions to the development of the research plan.”
Undergraduate Research Students (All Majors)
2010
2014
2015
1st year students
1 (1.2%)
28 (10.6%)
24 (5.9%)
1st and 2nd year students
16 (19.3%)
68 (25.7%)
113 (27.7%)
RESULTS OF THE ASSESSMENT DATA FROM DEPARTMENT CHAIRS
Department chairs were asked to indicate the most impactful aspect of the STEP grant. Six faculty responded that they had been a department chair during the duration of the grant and 5 provided open-ended comments. Of the 5 comments, 3 focused on cultural changes achieved by the grant. They noted that the grant:
- lead to conversations among faculty about the changes they are trying to implement and those conversations drew in and affected pedagogy in wider variety of courses than those that were officially part of the STEP grant
- it has helped build a culture of research, particularly in the summer, and…has also led to meaningful changes to our curriculum
- created a departmental expectation to innovate and try new ways of teaching. Even faculty who had not really wanted to change their teach methods were expected to do so as it was part of the grant and becoming the departmental norm.
Follow up focus groups with department chairs will allow us to further explore these comments.
RESULTS OF THE ASSESSMENT OF INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS AND INNOVATION
Faculty were asked to compare their use of instructional methods currently to those of 5 years ago. Fifteen of 16 respondents to this question report using more instructional methods than 5 years ago and 18 of 20 respondents reported being interested in making change to their instructional methods.
UNEXPECTED BENEFITS OF THE STEP GRANT
The STEP grant at Concordia College was broad reaching and made many changes in every STEM department on campus. The support for changes in the classroom and the research environment created a culture of innovation and creativity on campus and faculty have been willing to experiment with new teaching pedagogy and try new methods in the classroom.
Additional programs supported through this STEP grant include:
Incorporating Additional Mathematics into the Introductory Biology Laboratory
Using ALEKS for Summer Mathematics Review in Introductory Physics, General Chemistry and Calculus I Courses
Outreach to Area High School STEM Classrooms
Much Less
Less
About the Same
More
Much More
I have not used this technique
Have small group discussions/problem-solving 1 4 6
Extensive Lecturing 11
Show demonstrations/simulations, or video clips 10
Have discussions on why material is useful/interesting from students’ perspective 8 5 2
Student evaluation of each other’s work 7 3
Multiple choice exams
Quizzes 9