Program Overview

The Transforming STEM Teaching Faculty Learning Program is a professional learning program designed to improve undergraduate STEM faculty’s instructional practice. The program nurtures a learning community of interdisciplinary STEM faculty who are committed to examining and changing their teaching practice. Learning activities are situated within faculty’s everyday work. As faculty redefine their role in the undergraduate lecture, students’ learning gains and experiences in these courses will be affected positively.

Goal & Objectives

The primary goal of the program is to improve undergraduate student outcomes in STEM. There are four objectives:

• Build education expertise of STEM faculty, which includes understanding how learning happens.

• Support STEM faculty in developing their teaching practice, which includes skills to facilitate student discussion and reflection in the large, undergraduate STEM lecture courses.

• Engage STEM faculty in habits of reflection, which includes peer observation and feedback of their teaching.

• Nurture a tradition of continued learning about teaching practice.

Program Elements

Participation in the Full Course involves a 2-semester commitment during the academic year, and cultivates a faculty learning community among participants.

• Each cohort includes faculty across STEM disciplines, departments, employment status, and campuses. This diversity in experiences and perspectives allows faculty to learn from one another, understand teaching across contexts, and know their students from different vantage points.

• The program is organized into two parts:

PART 1, Spring 2023: a 3-day online launch institute, followed by 7 online workshops. Topics include: how people learn, the importance of talk, facilitating conversations, the importance of expertise, motivational factors in learning, mindset, stereotypes, and learning synthesis

OPTIONAL! Design Labs and/or Coaching, Summer 2023: Focus on classroom revisions with help from your facilitators and community! Choose learning supports that work for you.

PART 2, Fall 2023: Peer observations are supported by 3 practice workshops and 4 observation meetings (online or in person TBD by participants).

A Blended Design

The blended format for the program offers flexibility for faculty to participate. As noted above, the community will launch with a 3-day online institute, consisting of 2-hour Zoom workshops each day plus asynchronous assignments in Canvas. All subsequent meetings are also online via Zoom and Canvas, with the possibility for some in-person classroom observations in part 2 (fall 2023) if that is geographically feasible and desired by participants.

Optional Course Credits and Stipends for Completion

Our 3CSN FLP cohort will provide a stipend for CCC STEM instructors who complete the FLP ($500 upon completion of part 1, in May 2023, and $500 upon completion of part 2, in November 2023)

In addition, this course is eligible for 5 academic units from the College of Extended and International Education at CSU, Dominguez Hills. The cost is $500 for 5 post-BA units. For many faculty, these units can be used to move across the pay scale. Before making an investment, be sure to check with your college's HR department and make sure they are valuable in your context.

This opportunity is open to part time and full time CCC STEM faculty.

All materials are written and developed by Dr. Lynn Uyen Tran and Catherine Halversen in the Learning and Teaching Group at UC Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science. The Faculty Learning Program online modules are the property of The Regents of the University of California and may not be modified or further distributed without the prior written permission of the University. Drs. Tran and Halverson personally mentored and prepared your 3CSN facilitators to offer this course to our broad network.

Funding for this 3CSN cohort is being provided by NSF Award #1928740, Leveraging a Faculty Community of Practice Model of Professional Learning to Enhance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEM Teaching, Learning, and Leadership, at CSUDH.

The FLP was developed through funding from the National Science Foundation DUE#1347691, Redefining the College Lecture: Facilitating Discussions in STEM Undergraduate Courses. Broad implementation supported with funds from NSF DUE#1626624, Transforming College Teaching: Statewide Implementation of the Faculty Learning Program to Improve STEM Undergraduate Teaching and Learning. 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.