How Building Institutional Capacity Can Facilitate Inclusive - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

How Building Institutional Capacity Can Facilitate Inclusive Excellence in STEM Examples from our Campus Eliane Boucher, Department of Psychology Kathleen Cornely, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Lynne Lawson, Department of Engineering-Physics-Systems

Founded in 1917, Providence College is a private, coeducational, residential Roman Catholic university run under the auspices of the Dominican Friars.

Diversity initiatives at Providence College • First Strategic Plan for Diversity in 2010; first Chief Diversity Officer hired in Jan 2012. – Mission statement includes diversity – Training of Office of Safety & Security staff – PC joins Creating Connections Consortium – Campus climate focus groups – Science & Diversity Task Force – Faculty Diversity Initiative – Friar Foundations Program (a summerbridge program) – Partnership with CCRI

Announced July 2015

Lucia Barker Former Program Officer SEA PHAGES program HHMI

And while the faculty Diversity issues at were reading the literature in their ivory Providence College towers … . • Nov 12, 2015: Students of color hold a peaceful midnight march to protest racism on campus. • A faculty member of color present at the march reports that students in the dorms yelled racial epithets at the marchers. – Complaints are filed; there is no public response. – Students present a list of demands to president Father Shanley, who promises to meet with the students. • Feb 2, 2016: Five women students of color are denied entrance to an off-campus party and allege that racial epithets and bottles were hurled at them as they left.

• Students arrived at Harkins Hall at 8:30 am. • They were asked to leave at 4:30 pm. They refused. • The president promised a “complex plan of action” by the end of the semester. • The students refused to leave until the president had signed a document listing their demands.

• … which he did at 9:45 pm. 8

Faculty Seminar on Inclusive Excellence in the Sciences PC did not advance to the next round for • Goals the HHMI Inclusive Excellence grant. – To identify and implement approaches that promote student success in the sciences. • Opening workshop in June 2016. • Eight two-hour meetings during the 2016-2017 academic year. • Each participant received $3000. – $1000 after the completion of the June workshop – $2000 at the conclusion of the seminar; each participant was required to submit an inclusive excellence “product”.

Products • STEM student survey • High impact practices – Undergraduate research – Active learning/evidence-based pedagogies – Metacognitive learning strategies – Creating a positive classroom environment • Infrastructure – STEM Zone staffed by post-docs in the evenings • Alternative paths – Gateway and off-sequence courses – STEM component to Friar Foundation Program • Points to ponder A STEM Advisory Board will – Stereotype threat make recommendations to the – OER Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences.

Our diversity landscape • Despite improvements in diversifying our college population, our non-white students … – report more depressive symptoms, and identify less with the college overall (Cote & Boucher, 2015) – report more cynicism toward the meaning of school, and a greater sense of inadequacy at school (Kemp & Boucher, unpublished data ) 11

STEM majors & retention • Survey of students entering college with declared STEM major conducted Spring 2017 – 249 respondents • 68% female, 77% white, 84% continuing- generation • 61 respondents (24.5%) dropped original major – 24% white vs. 26% non-white dropped • 50% white remained in STEM vs. 40% non- white – 22% continuing-gen vs. 45% first-gen dropped • 51% continuing-gen remained in STEM vs. 44% first-gen – 17% men vs. 27% women dropped • 70% men remained in STEM vs. 44% women

STEM majors & retention • Primary reasons for dropping major – Change in career aspirations – Concerns about GPA – Lack of interest in the material – Concerns about future career – Work/Life Balance – Class requirements – Lack of confident in the material – Difficulty interacting with faculty – Difficulty adjusting to college – Relationship with faculty 13 – Misperception of the major

HOW DO WE IMPROVE RETENTION? … PARTICULARLY FOR WOMEN, FIRST-GENERATION, AND NON- WHITE STUDENTS? 14

Institutional support has facilitated active learning approaches across campus • Growth of number of classrooms equipped for active learning • Growth in use of active learning classrooms (ALCs) • Funding for ALCs through grants, capital campaigns, and general fund • Committees formed to oversee ALC implementation, use, and outcomes (LSIT) • Center for Teaching Excellence – Active learning workshops – Active learning Faculty Fellow 15

Why active learning? • Interested in inclusive excellence – Started in STEM disciplines. Now efforts to bring it campus-wide • Active Learning is recognized as a High Impact Practice that engages students and can lead to better learning outcomes. It is also a practice encouraged for inclusive excellence. 16

Classifications of active learning classrooms at PC • Active learning lite (ALL) – multiple whiteboards and flexible seating • Active learning classrooms (ALC) – multiple whiteboards, flexible seating with group-focused work, multiple display screens with Apple TV • Active learning suites (ALS) – ALCs with Solstice Pods

Funding is actively pursued for the creation and/or renovation of active learning spaces • Proposal submitted to Champlain Foundation for the renovation of space in a building on campus (Feinstein) – not successful • Proposal to the Alden Trust for outfitting of an active learning space in the new Science Complex Addition – successful - $150k awarded • Other spaces have been funded through general fund and capital campaigns 18

Development of active learning spaces on campus – a summary 2010 – first flexible classroom (flexible furniture, whiteboards, laptops) 2012 - Introduction of Apple TV to some classrooms 2013 – New humanities building with flexible classrooms and group seminar space Instructional Technology Committee (ITeC) vision for “incubator classroom”

2015 – team participation in U of Minnesota ALC Forum LSIT (Learning Spaces and Instructional Technology) Committee formed 2016 – Added monitors and whiteboards to two classrooms to facilitate group work in class 2017 – business building opens with multiple ALCs. Introduction of Mersive Solstice Modification of additional classrooms to facilitate active learning pedagogy 2018 – Science Complex addition opens with three additional ALCs

Support of active learning has led to an increase in available spaces and use 140 Total # Classrooms Active Learning Classrooms 120 100 Number of Classrooms 80 60 40 20 0 Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring 2013 2014 2014 2015 2015 2016 2016 2017 2017 2018 ALCs have gone from <5% of available classrooms to over 10%.

Support of active learning has led to an increase in available spaces and use 3000 Active Learning Lite 2500 Active Learning Classrooms Total Enrollment 2000 Active Learning Suites 1500 1000 500 0 Fall 2013 Spring Fall 2014 Spring Fall 2015 Spring Fall 2016 Spring Fall 2017 Spring 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Usage has increased over 400%!

The Center for Teaching Excellence sponsors workshops that highlight active learning • Active Learning Classroom Webinar - Mar 2015 • Designing an Active Learning Classroom – April 2015 • Teaching Tools: Why Active Learning? – February 2016 • Course Design for Active Learning Classrooms – December 2016 • Drive-Thru Active Learning – November 2017 • Perusall Presentation – December 2017 • Creating a Roadmap for Active Learning in the Classroom – May 2018 • Increasing Student Engagement with Active Learning – November 2018 26

Next generation reading assignments ​ ​ Assign textbook sections ​ Students annotate readings asynchronously ​ Conversation about material develops ​

Advantages of Perusall • Similar to social media so it’s familiar to students • Allows for interaction and engagement with material and classmates out of class • Facilitates “flipping” of the classroom • Turns a solitary activity of reading text into an engaging collaborative experience

Students can ask questions Other students can answer the questions Students can indicate if they find an answer helpful You can see student initials here, but for students, all comments are anonymous to minimize stereotype threat and to encourage free participation.

Why Do Students Struggle? One Explanation: Mismatched Goals • Independent Goals – Skills: learning to express oneself, learning to be a leader – Motives: expand my understanding of the world, explore new interests • Interdependent Goals – Skills: learning to work together with others, learning to do collaborative research – Motives: provide a better life for my own children, help my family out after I’m done with college

Mismatch in goals Stephens et al., 2012