90-3 Inclusive Design for Enhancing Active Learning in STEM

Session: Diversifying Geoscience Education Across the Academic Playing Field: Using Creative Methods to Foster the Current and Next Generations of Geoscience Professionals, Part I

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Previous education research has shown that incorporating active, student-centered learning into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) classrooms increases student engagement, improves performance outcomes, and fosters a sense of belonging regardless of students’ prior experience in STEM fields. However, faculty adoption of these classroom practices has been slow due to a wide variety of factors, including a lack of external resources (e.g., compatible classroom architecture or classroom assistant support) and internal resources (e.g., a lack of familiarity with techniques or high research demands). Within our context at the Auburn University College of Sciences and Mathematics, many of these external barriers have been addressed, with an investment of millions of dollars in active learning classrooms, lecture halls, laboratory infrastructure, and funding to support undergraduate learning assistants in the classroom. To address other faculty needs, the Inclusive Design for Enhancing Active Learning in STEM (IDEALS) project leverages a case study research approach to focus on educators from Geosciences and other STEM disciplines as they learn and employ active, student-centered teaching strategies through a week-long intensive teaching workshop. This workshop, called the Auburn University Summer Science Institute (AUSSI), introduces participants to specific innovative, research-based teaching practices and pedagogical techniques such as backward design, transparency in teaching and learning (TILT), and various concrete active learning strategies. Workshop participants include graduate teaching assistants, postdocs, and faculty from across the Auburn University College of Sciences and Mathematics. By triangulating pre- and post-efficacy and attitude measures, classroom observations, student classroom engagement data, and faculty reflections on their teaching, our case study will investigate the changes made by five faculty members, including two geoscientists, as a result of workshop participation. By situating our analysis within the theory of planned behavior, our work will support the improvement of faculty professional development to meet the ever-changing needs of geosciences and other STEM faculty.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

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