Research-based Professional Development for Science Faculty and Its Impact on Student Learning

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This project aims to serve the national interest by understanding how the implementation of a professional development framework designed to improve instructional practice impacts student learning. This study, conducted at a public, broad-access, university has been designed to apply lessons learned from professional development research at both the K-12 level and at the college level. This project is specifically designed to better understand how extensive professional development for STEM faculty across several majors can transform teaching practices and impact student learning in STEM. The framework will be used at California University of Pennsylvania to (a) implement a type of professional development known as learning communities, (b) determine how the characteristics and features of professional development relate to student learning and practices of science faculty, and (c) contribute to evidence on best practices for extending the framework to other STEM departments and higher education institutions. The project’s scope includes two goals. The first goal is to implement and evaluate professional development at a primarily undergraduate institution which is minimally selective (95% acceptance rate), has a low four-year graduation rate (33.6%), and a high percentage of low socioeconomic (42%) and students from minoritized groups (21%). The second goal is to increase students’ content knowledge and scientific literacy in undergraduate science courses with a professional development framework that has been empirically linked to student learning in K-12 settings. The research questions which will help determine whether this goal and its objectives were met are: (a) What is the impact of framework-informed learning communities on instructors’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs? (b) What is the impact of participating in framework-informed learning communities on instructors’ use of active learning instructional practices? and (c) What is the impact of participating in framework-informed learning communities for instructors on their students’ scientific literacy and content knowledge? Results from the study will be disseminated through professional STEM societies’ education divisions and through publication of manuscripts documenting both implementation and outcomes of the approach. Participating instructors will be encouraged to write a narrative describing their use of new instructional practices and collected student learning data, and to submit their work to their professional organizations’ annual meetings, and discipline-specific science education journals. Materials created will be made available publicly through the institution’s website. 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 efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities.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.