Workshop for Chairs of STEM Departments: Improving Undergraduate STEM Teaching and Learning in Research Universities

自2011年以来，由美国和加拿大62所杰出研究型大学组成的美国大学协会（AAU）开展了一项重大倡议，以提高AAU成员大学的本科STEM教育质量。它通过鼓励教师使用已被证明有效的教学方法，专注于改善STEM教育。这些大学的学术部门是改善本科教学的核心，因为部门内部的文化和规范极大地影响了课程的教学方式。STEM系的系主任受益于如何培养重视和鼓励使用循证教学实践的部门文化，以及如何奖励从事创新教学工作的教师的指导。为了提供这样的指导，该项目将于2018年10月为来自AAU大学的STEM系主任举办为期两天的研讨会。该研讨会的目的是协助各系主任确定与实施长期教学改进有关的挑战和实际解决方案。与会者将学习到成功的策略，以促进本科STEM教学和学习的全系改革。这些信息和讨论的目的是促使主席更深入地思考他们在鼓励和实施本部门和整个校园的改革努力方面的作用。系主任在各自部门的后续行动有可能改善AAU成员校园的本科STEM教学和学习，并为其他机构建立可见的模式。研讨会的发现和结论将与其他系主任、教师、AAU机构的高级领导以及更广泛的高等教育界广泛分享。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Since 2011, the Association of American Universities (AAU), a coalition of 62 distinguished research universities in the United States and Canada, has engaged in a major initiative to improve the quality of undergraduate STEM education at AAU member universities. It has focused on improving STEM education by encouraging faculty members to use teaching methods that have been proven to be effective. The academic departments of these universities are central to making improvements in undergraduate teaching and learning, because the culture and norms within departments greatly influence how courses are taught. The chairs of the STEM departments benefit from guidance about how to cultivate departmental cultures that value and encourage the use of evidence-based teaching practices, and how to reward faculty members for innovative teaching efforts. To provide such guidance, this project will conduct a two-day workshop in October 2018 for STEM department chairs from AAU universities.The workshop will be designed to assist department chairs in identifying challenges and practical solutions related to implementing long-lasting teaching improvements. Participants will learn about successful strategies that have been used to facilitate department-wide reform of undergraduate STEM teaching and learning. The information and discussions will be designed to prompt the chairs to think more deeply about their roles in encouraging and implementing reform efforts in their departments and across their campuses. Subsequent actions of the chairs in their departments has the potential to improve undergraduate STEM teaching and learning on the AAU member campuses and develop visible models for other institutions. The findings and conclusions from the workshop will be widely shared with other department chairs, faculty members, and senior leaders at AAU institutions, as well as the broader higher education community.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.