Assessing the Impact of Teaching Faculty in STEM Institutional Transformation

虽然科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）教育研究的最新进展突出了改善本科教育的有前途的教学实践，但这些实践的广泛传播在大多数机构仍然难以实现。 一种可能有助于实现这一目标的方法是在STEM部门内嵌入以教学为中心的教师。 这样的教学为重点的教师的一个例子是那些持有职位的讲师与就业保障（LSOE），终身教职的教师职位内的加州系统的大学。 该项目的重要目的是衡量教师在部门和机构一级担任这类职位的影响。 这项研究将是衡量机构教学文化的最广泛的尝试之一，在课堂实践，教师互动和教学实践的看法方面，不仅涉及多个STEM部门，而且涉及一个相互连接的大学系统中的多个机构。该研究还将分析LSOE在促进部门层面的教学合作和影响部门研究生产力方面发挥的作用。这项研究的结果将表明，这种LSOE教师轨道是否可以在其他机构的STEM项目值得考虑的手段，以增加基于证据的教学实践的传播。该项目的目标是制定一项评估计划，以（1）确定LSOE对最近招募了大量LSOE的三个UC校区（欧文，圣地亚哥和戴维斯）的各种STEM学科的教学改革的影响，（2）证明该项目中描述的评估方法可用于部门和机构评估教学的一般目的。建议的方法包括社会网络分析，课堂观察，关于教学实践的调查分布，收集部门出版物和资金数量，并与UC利益相关者和LSOE就教师的期望采访。 通过说明可以结合使用这些方法来评估机构教育实践，这项工作的结果将为其他大学的类似研究奠定基础。

While recent advances in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education research have highlighted promising instructional practices to improve undergraduate education, widespread dissemination of these practices remains difficult to achieve at most institutions. One method which may help to accomplish this is to embed teaching-focused faculty within STEM departments. An example of such teaching-focused faculty are those holding positions as Lecturer with Security of Employment (LSOE), a tenure-track faculty position within the University of California system. The important purpose of this project is to measure the impact of faculty in this kind of position at the departmental and institutional levels. This study will be one of the most expansive attempts to measure institutional teaching culture, in terms of classroom practice, faculty interactions, and perceptions of instructional practices, across not only multiple STEM departments, but multiple institutions within a connected university system. The study will also analyze the role that LSOEs play in fostering departmental-level collaborations about instruction and in impacting departmental research productivity. The results of this study will indicate whether whether this LSOE faculty track can be a means worthy of consideration in STEM programs at other institutions to increase the spread of evidence-based teaching practices. The goal of the project is to institute an assessment plan to (1) determine the impact of LSOEs on transforming instruction across various STEM disciplines at three UC campuses (Irvine, San Diego, and Davis) which have recently recruited large numbers of LSOEs and (2) demonstrate that the assessment methodologies described in the project can be used for the general purpose of departmental and institutional evaluation of teaching. The proposed methodologies include social network analysis, classroom observations, distribution of surveys regarding teaching practices, collection of departmental publication and funding numbers, and interviews with UC stakeholders and LSOEs regarding expectations of teaching faculty. By illustrating that it is possible to utilize these methods in combination to assess institutional education practices, results from this work will lay the groundwork for similar studies at other universities.