Examining the Impact of the Partnership for Life Sciences Education Recognition Program as a Mechanism to Foster Departmental Transformation

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This project aims to serve the national interest by improving undergraduate biological sciences education. To this end, it will study the impact of the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education (PULSE) Recognition Program in promoting systemic improvements in biological sciences teaching and learning. Life science departments are granted PULSE recognition based on adoption of pedagogical and institutional best practices that are aligned with the recommendations of the influential 2011 report, Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action. This project will support expansion of the PULSE Recognition Program to 18 additional life science departments from under-resourced institutions. The project will use previous data, together with data from the new institutions, to study the role of PULSE recognition in departmental transformation. The project has the potential to transform life sciences departments' implementation of student-centered, evidence-based teaching approaches. It may also influence STEM education more broadly by providing a model for large-scale institutional reform efforts.The PULSE Recognition Program is a novel, tiered recognition model inspired by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system for rating buildings. The recognition process requires departments to complete rubrics that evaluate utilization of evidence-based teaching practices and other institutional practices known to correlate with innovative pedagogy, improved student outcomes, and increased student retention in STEM as recommended by the 2011 Vision and Change report. Additional documents and departmental data are then submitted and reviewed, followed by a site visit that includes meetings with faculty, administrators, staff, and students. After review of the evidence, life science departments are awarded a “Progression Level” (Baseline, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) based on the degree of implementation of pedagogical and institutional best practices. This project focuses on studying the impact of PULSE Recognition through three specific objectives. The first is to conduct a rigorous and comprehensive longitudinal research study on the efficacy of the PULSE Recognition Program as a model to incentivize departmental change and continuous improvement in undergraduate STEM education. The second objective is to assess how departmental behavior and attitudes change in response to receiving PULSE Recognition. To measure these changes, a Faculty Attitudes and Readiness Survey has been developed, and individual faculty from participating life science departments will complete this short survey in years 1, 3, and 5 of the project. The third objective is to assess how the activities associated with earning PULSE recognition promote departmental change in ways that improve life sciences undergraduate education at distinct types of institutions. This work is organized in the context of the PULSE Theory of Change, a model for how PULSE activities ultimately produce departmental transformation. The project will create an infrastructure to evaluate data submitted during the recognition process and compile a nationally representative sample. The project findings will contribute to understanding factors that drive successful institutional transformation, as well as help dissemination of reform efforts in undergraduate STEM education. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.