Building Community and Transforming Practice with Faculty Triads

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The significance of this project is to improve foundational, large-enrollment classes at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) that contribute to developing a technologically proficient workforce. Faculty from departments of chemistry, biology, physics and mathematics will be brought together in small teams ("triads") to develop student-centered approaches that result in improved learning and performance. Targeted courses have historically struggled particularly with retention of underrepresented groups; emphasizing deeper understanding and non-lecture-based teaching methods addresses retention of this important population. The project also carefully assesses student learning, using the results to inform class processes and connect learning to broader objectives of career preparation. Finally, by explicitly studying how innovations disseminate throughout the four departments, the project increases the likelihood of widespread adoption, impacting faculty across RIT's College of Science.The project's goal is to disseminate and institutionalize research-based pedagogies across multi-section courses through the work of four faculty triads --- collaborative teams of three faculty working together to transform high-enrollment, introductory STEM courses, which will affect approximately 1500 students. Two courses with historically large attrition --- Introductory Calculus-based Physics and Elements in Multivariable Calculus & Differential Equations --- will be initially targeted, and the work in these courses will serve as models for future triads. Mechanisms to incorporate course transformation and assessment activities into faculty plans of work and annual reviews will be developed, thus ensuring institutional recognition and support for the work of the faculty. Close analysis of the triads will contribute to greater understanding of institutional change, including important issues about the balance between emergent and prescribed projects and which team tasks best promote change. The project, particularly the work within the triads, also encourages the development of specific learning goals and assessment measures. Collaboration with an existing Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER) team enables triad faculty groups to incorporate research-based materials and assessments into their work.