A Course Scaffold for Integrating Science and Culture: Exploring Faculty Adaptations Across Disciplines and Institutions

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This project aims to serve the national interest by developing and testing earth, environmental, and agricultural science courses that integrate human dimensions of science using the STEM Futures framework, a 21st century model for undergraduate education. By learning about the historical and cultural factors that influence science, undergraduate STEM majors should develop a broader understanding of their field and the ways in which science serves society. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Colorado State University, and the University of Texas at El Paso will partner in this three-year Level 1 Engaged Student Learning project. During a previous NSF-funded design studio workshop, the project team created a course scaffold and examples of course materials for an integrative course entitled “The History and Future of Water.” This project plans to further develop and implement that course, as well as to extend the curriculum framework to create new courses in environmental sciences and agricultural biology. Through these courses, STEM graduates should be better prepared to apply their knowledge and skills to solve important global challenges that require scientific expertise. This project addresses the urgent need to increase student interest and persistence in STEM careers to meet the nation’s need for a skilled technical workforce. This project is a design and development research study to gather evidence about the promise of efficacy of the integration of humanistic perspectives into undergraduate STEM education. Although some empirical studies have reported benefits to this pedagogical approach, the research base is still limited. The team plans to develop and test the STEM Futures course design scaffold, which integrates foundational, humanistic, and meta-knowledge, in three different institutional contexts: a public land grant university, a public regional university, and an Hispanic-serving institution. The instructional team will function as a community of practice, providing feedback to each other informed by personal reflection, student outcome data and products, and digital StoryMap portfolios. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, project researchers will a) examine instructors’ adaptations and experience with the design framework and b) determine course impacts on student understandings, critical thinking, self-efficacy, and interest. The three new STEM Futures courses are intended to support broadening participation in STEM by increasing relevance and interest for students, which has been shown to increase overall persistence and success. Further, women, minorities, and students with disabilities may have improved learning outcomes with the STEM Futures course design, which will integrate a variety of cultural perspectives, including those of historically marginalized groups. The project will benefit society by preparing students for 21st century STEM careers, which require the ability to apply knowledge from several domains to solve complex, multi-dimensional problems. To ensure wide dissemination, the course materials, assessment rubrics, and research instruments will be shared on a website linked to a national curriculum repository. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning 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.