Using Networks to Scale Improvement of STEM Undergraduate Education: A Comparative Study of Network Goals, Processes, and Strategies to Advance Organizational Change

该项目将推进以组织为中心的变革网络的知识，作为推进本科STEM教育改进的潜在有力杠杆。这个为期四年的项目将研究以组织为中心的变革网络如何支持和推进STEM本科教育的改善。基于网络可以扩展STEM教育进步的变革理论，这项研究建立在3个不同知识库的基础上并整合了知识：组织变革，网络和STEM教育。将研究连接组织或连接直接与组织单位或部门工作的机构领导人的六个网络：先进技术教育网络;湾景联盟;研究，教学和学习一体化中心; STEM教育中心网络;本科生命科学教育合作伙伴关系;和再造中心。该项目将使用跨案例分析，以确定有关优化网络运作和影响的有效战略和程序的经验教训。在第三年期间，将召集每个网络的小组参加一个知识交流专题讨论会，讨论新的发现，交流对网络发展、运作和影响的看法，并确定对其他网络的重要影响和教训，该项目将采用严格的定性方法，包括文件分析、访谈和实地访问，审查每个网络的三个方面。首先是网络的设计，包括其目的和解决的问题，以及指导其工作、成员和结构的变革理论。第二个涉及网络的生命周期和过程，包括网络发展的阶段，用于推进与STEM本科教育相关的目标的战略，问题和挑战，以及如何处理这些问题。第三个方面是网络的成果、影响和规模，包括：用于提供进展反馈的指标和流程，评估哪些成果和影响以确定实现网络目标的进展，以及用于扩大网络范围和规模的战略。

This project will advance knowledge of organization-focused change networks as a potentially powerful lever for advancing improvements in undergraduate STEM education. This four-year project will examine how organization-focused change networks support and advance STEM undergraduate educational improvement. Based on a theory of change that networks can scale advances in STEM education, this research builds on and integrates knowledge from 3 different knowledge bases: organizational change, networks, and STEM education. Six networks that connect organizations or that connect institutional leaders working directly with organizational units or departments will be studied: the Advanced Technological Education Network; the Bay View Alliance; the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning; the Network of STEM Education Centers; the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education; and the Reinvention Center. The project will use cross-case analysis to identify lessons concerning effective strategies and processes for optimal network functioning and impact. During year 3, teams from each network will be convened in a knowledge exchange symposium to discuss emerging findings, exchange perspectives on network development, functioning, and impact, and identify important implications and lessons for other networks.The project will use rigorous qualitative methods, including document analysis, interviews, and site visits, to examine three aspects of each network. The first is the network's design, including its purpose and problem addressed, and the theory of change guiding its work, membership, and structures. The second concerns the network's lifecycle and processes, including stages of network development, strategies used to advance goals related to STEM undergraduate education, issues and challenges, and how those issues are handled. The third aspect is the network's outcomes, impact, and scale, including: metrics and processes used to provide feedback on progress, what outcomes and impacts are assessed to determine progress toward network goals, and strategies used to extend the reach and scale of the network.