Would you like your students to be more engaged in your STEM courses? Are you thinking about equity and how you can facilitate inclusivity in your course? Faculty Development invites you to join a group of STEM faculty to explore strategies to enrich your courses and promote student engagement to improve learning. This learning community supports faculty (tenure-track and lecturers), especially those teaching large lectures to enhance student learning gains. Though originally designed for STEM courses, those from any discipline are welcome to join.
Faculty who complete this program will earn a certificate of completion backed with the reputation UC Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science that created this evidence-based program especially designed for STEM faculty as a result of NSF funding. All teaching techniques discussed in this program use STEM examples for clear application with our unique CSUN students. For those interested in engaging in our Graduation Initiative and seeking greater student success, this is an excellent opportunity for faculty to take action.
Funding
Funding of $500 will be available to faculty who fully participate in the program activities. What does full participation in Transforming STEM Teaching include?
1) Attendance (with cameras on) at Zoom meetings on Wednesdays from 9:00 to 11:50 a.m. on the following eight dates in 2024: Jan 24, 31, Feb 7, 14, 21, 28, March 6, 13
2) Active engagement at weekly meetings (sharing reactions, reading about teaching & learning)
3) Participation in activities, including discussion posts
Overview
“The Transforming STEM Teaching Faculty Learning Community (FLC) Program is developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley, in collaboration with their Center for Teaching and Learning. It is designed for faculty to: deepen their understanding of how people learn, develop active learning strategies to support student learning in STEM lecture courses, and reflect on their teaching practices.
Changing instructional practice requires faculty to rethink their role in teaching, and thus redefine how lecture courses are designed and taught. Inclusion of STEM faculty from community colleges and universities allows faculty from these institutions to learn together, and hence support efforts to streamline transfer pathways from 2-year colleges and 4-year universities.” Learn more about this program which is also offered to UC Berkeley faculty and due to extensive NSF funding has expanded throughout the state in multiple UCs, CSUs and Community Colleges.
Goals & Objectives
The big picture “dream” of this Transforming College Teaching Faculty Learning Program is to improve student achievement in STEM undergraduate courses through statewide transformation of college level teaching.
Four goals are rooted in this program: (1) to build STEM education expertise of STEM faculty through delving into literature on learning and teaching; (2) to support STEM faculty in developing their teaching practice to support student learning in their lecture courses; (3) to engage STEM faculty in habits of reflection on their teaching practice, through peer and self-observations; and (4) to nurture a tradition of continued learning about teaching practice among participants, and build a faculty learning community. By the end of this program, faculty should be able to:
1) Implement active learning teaching practices effectively that generates student engagement and achievement.
2) Cultivate a capacity to sustain and share new and improved STEM instructional practices within your local department, college, and college/university.
3) Describe the value of developing a collegial and complementary community between STEM faculty who can share instructional best practices.
Facilitators
Casey terHorst (Biology)
Jeanne Robertson (Biology)
Current and Past Participants
Engineering and Computer Science
- Computer Science: Mohammed Abdelrahim
- Electrical and Computer Engineering: John Valdovinos
- Mechanical Engineering: Shadi Mahjoob
Science and Math
- Biology: Mariano Loza Coll, Sean Murray, Melissa Takahashi, Maurie Beck
- Mathematics: Richard Fine, Otilia Gonzales
- Physics: Ana Cadavid, Tyler Luchko
- Chemistry: Karin Crowhurst, Kayla Kaiser
Business and Economic
- Systems and Operations Management: Amir Gharehgozli; Kunpeng Li
Arts, Media, and Communication*
- Art: Peri Klemm, Meiqin Wang
Los Angeles Valley College
- Biology: Patrick Lyons
- Physics: John Altounji
- Anthropology: Kenneth Feldmeier
- Anthropology: Jacyln Magginetti
*While priority is given for faculty teaching STEM related topics, this program is open to all CSUN faculty. The principles and evidence of teaching & learning that will be discussed in this program apply to all learning contexts. However, this program was specifically designed for STEM faculty who often request evidence and examples applicable for these unique teaching and learning environments.