W(h)ither Introductory STEM Courses in the 21st Century?
August 7, 2008
Deadline to Apply: May 28, 2008
This year, the Summer Institute offers faculty, administrators, and students who are interested in considering the state and future of introductory STEM courses the opportunity to participate in a full-day Pre-Institute Workshop. Participants must register for this workshop (see below) and will be expected to participate in both the workshop on August 7th and a general session during the SSI 2008 to present results to other Institute participants. Enrollment in the workshop will be limited to 30 Institute participants.
This workshop builds on a series of sessions that was first offered at the 2007 SSI in Portland, Maine. Participation in the workshop last year in Maine is not a prerequisite to be part of the 2008 cohort.
What is the present and future of introductory STEM courses?
A large body of research has pointed to introductory courses as one of the major contributors to the loss of future STEM majors in many disciplines. In addition, too many students who do not plan to pursue careers in STEM but must complete these courses to fulfill general education requirements delay taking them until late in their undergraduate careers. (Since the vast majority of college students will never enroll in higher level STEM courses, many of these first year courses might more appropriately be called “terminal” rather than “introductory.”)
In many institutions, faculty receive few rewards or recognition for the time and effort that they spend teaching these courses. Deans ask STEM faculty and departments to prepare and teach courses for non-majors, but department chairs complain that their courses are being short-changed. Curriculum committees debate whether such courses for non-majors are rigorous enough to meet graduation requirements (even though separate courses for prospective majors and non-majors are rarely found outside the STEM disciplines).
Large enrollments in introductory STEM courses render laboratory, field, and research experiences difficult or impossible to provide. Because introductory courses for majors historically have been designed to provide prerequisite content for upper-level courses in the discipline, these students may not be exposed to topics and skills that are considered appropriate in courses for non-majors (e.g., explorations of the processes, nature, and limits of science or developing effective communications skills) unless they enroll in senior-level culminating experiences or capstone courses.
What about future science and mathematics teachers? What do they need from these courses? Are their needs different from what other students should be learning? What kinds, if any, of postsecondary educational experiences should colleges and universities provide to students who already have placed out of introductory courses when they enroll?
In addition to this cacophony of competing goals, needs, and expected outcomes, expectations for STEM programs to be more interdisciplinary and applied are being added to the mix. Moreover, faculty at most institutions increasingly will be expected to provide more evidence of student learning in their courses.
Probe these questions – and others that you bring to us – during the 2008 SENCER Summer Institute
Should we continue offering these courses as we have in the past? Or, given all of the current pressures on introductory courses and some new ones that will likely emerge in the near future, have introductory courses in their current incarnation outlived their usefulness? Should they be allowed to wither and be replaced with some other model(s)? What would those new courses and programs look like? How would they integrate with other departmental and interdepartmental curricula for STEM majors? Would there (should there) be separate courses for non-majors and prospective majors or for future teachers? Does the current SENCER model for course development inform such questions? What role can you take in leading change?
This pre-Institute workshop will encourage participate to focus in much greater depth on a set of connected issues around introductory STEM courses. Accordingly, it is most appropriate for (but not restricted to) people who have participated in previous Summer Institutes or who are affiliated with campuses that already have begun or soon plan to address the structure, functions, and goals of introductory courses. Teams from an institution consisting of one or more faculty members and an academic administered are encouraged and will receive priority in the selection process.
The workshop will be organized by Jay Labov, senior advisor for education and Communication at the National Academies and Karen Kashmanian Oates, Deputy Director of NSF’s Division of Undergraduate Education and former co-PI for SENCER.
Cost: The workshop is free of charge but space is limited to 30 participants. Accepted participants will be notified by June 23.
Schedule: Applications should be submitted online through the SENCER website and must be received by May 28th. This workshop will begin on Wednesday, August 7th at 9a.m. and end at 6p.m. at the Fairmont hotel.
Questions: If you have questions regarding this workshop, please contact Jay Labov and Karen Oates. If you have questions regarding this application, please contact SENCER at (202) 483-4600.
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