Collaborative Research: Increasing Implementation of Proven Inclusivity Practices in Undergraduate Engineering Education

该项目旨在通过帮助本科生工程学教师创建更具包容性的课堂来服务于国家利益。这是匹兹堡大学、亚利桑那州立大学和科罗拉多矿业学院的合作项目。众所周知，包容性教学做法有助于提高学生的学习和学业成绩。然而，教职员工往往很难理解如何改进他们的课程、评估和指导，以便更好地包容所有学习者。该项目旨在为教师提供具体的、经过验证的包容性做法，他们可以在课堂上适应和实施这些做法。它还将发展教师学习社区，以支持他们在教学中做出改变。最后，它将评估新实施的包容性课堂实践对学生和教师的影响。这一项目的结果可能会对培养工科本科生的STEM身份产生革命性的影响，特别是来自尚未在工程学中得到公平代表的群体的学生。该项目预计最终将为工科学生带来积极的结果，包括更高的毕业率。研究支持这样一种说法，即包容性课堂提高了学生的学习和学业成绩，特别是对于在STEM中没有公平代表性的人群的学生。该项目旨在创建一个专业发展倡议，将编目并鼓励那些希望创建更具包容性的课堂的工程学教师实施可行的实践。项目团队将解决两个研究问题：(1)促进包容性工程课堂的最有效做法是什么？以及(2)不同的学习社区如何培养和支持兼容并包的工程课堂？研究团队将开发一份包容性课堂实践菜单和一个决策矩阵，以支持教师确定在课堂上实施实践的优先顺序。该小组打算招聘教师，并开发和试点包容性课堂学习社区，后者将部署包容性课堂实践。项目评估计划包括根据学生和教职员工的反馈对包容性课堂实践的有效性进行评估以及其他评估。该项目将通过一个精心策划的多个工程学科包容性实践的在线仓库进行传播，这些做法将在三所大学和其他机构共享，包括跨多样性、公平性和包容性网络。将审查在不同情况下实施全纳学习社区的情况，以增进对促进和支持全纳课堂发展的最有效方式的了解。评估的结果将向学术界通报，并增加关于有效变革模式的研究成果。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过机构和社区转型轨道，该计划支持高等教育机构和学科社区转变和改进STEM教育的努力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by helping undergraduate engineering faculty create more inclusive classrooms. It is a collaboration between the University of Pittsburgh, Arizona State University, and Colorado School of Mines. Inclusive teaching practices are known to support increases in student learning and academic performance. However, faculty often struggle to understand how to improve their curriculum, assessment, and instruction to be more inclusive of all learners. This project aims to provide faculty with specific, proven inclusive practices that they can adapt and implement in their classrooms. It will also develop faculty learning communities to support them as they make changes in their teaching. Finally, it will evaluate the impacts of the newly implemented inclusive classroom practices on students and faculty. Results of this project could be transformative for developing undergraduate engineering students' STEM identities, particularly student from groups that are not yet equitably represented in engineering. The project expects to ultimately produce positive outcomes for engineering students, including higher graduation rates. Research supports the claim that inclusive classrooms improve students' learning and academic performance, especially for students from populations that are not equitably represented in STEM. This project seeks to create a professional development initiative that will catalog and encourage implementation of actionable practices for engineering faculty who desire to create more inclusive classrooms. The project team will address two research questions: (1) What are the most effective practices to promote an inclusive engineering classroom? and (2) How do different learning communities foster and support inclusive engineering classrooms? The research team will develop a menu of inclusive classroom practices and a decision matrix to support faculty prioritization of practices to implement in their classes. The team intends to recruit faculty and develop and pilot inclusive classroom learning communities, who will deploy inclusive classroom practices. The project evaluation plan includes assessment of the effectiveness of the inclusive classroom practices based on student and faculty feedback and other assessments. The project will be disseminated through a curated online warehouse of inclusivity practices for multiple engineering disciplines that will be shared across the three universities and at other institutions, including across diversity, equity, and inclusion networks. The implementation of inclusive learning communities in different contexts will be examined to improve understanding of the most effective ways to catalyze and support development of inclusive classrooms. The results of the assessment will inform the academic community and increase the research findings about effective modes of change. 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.