Transforming Undergraduate STEM Education--National Academies Consensus Study Highlights

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit organizations that review, reflect, and make recommendations to help shape polices and bring solutions to pressing world problems.

The organization recently published a consensus study report titled: "Transforming Undergraduate STEM Education". It is full of advice on how to navigate the "long-term journey" to make sure all students can have access to evidence-based methods for teaching STEM subjects even in the face of challenging times. The prepublication (uncorrected proofs) report is free from the MyNAP site, and you can either use a login or download as a guest. Or you can buy the bound hard-copy from the same site.

I recognized the names of two InnovATEBIO members as contributing to the report, Josephine Pino of Portland Community College (Committee member), and Tom Tubon of MiraCosta College (Reviewer), there maybe others that I missed. Its good to know that community colleges had a voice in the report!

Its a long document, 377 pages including the references, but a thorough Table of Contents that list sections, boxes (special sub-sections), figures, and tables helps the report be both clear and compelling. Even the fact that calling for equity has recently become even more challenging is discussed in the report. And, to quote the Committee Chair, Dr. Archie Holmes, "The evidence presented in this report makes the committee's position on this issue clear: effective and equitable teaching benefits all students and is intricately linked to excellence." 

The report is "designed to provide a common language and structure for conversations across academia", to aid in the community-wide effort that will be required to make a plan, and then build a system where disparities in STEM education have been replaced with equitable learning for all. The authors of the report recognize that what is being outlined is work added to the shoulders of many who may already be overburdened--they call on the academic and institutional leaders to support instructors in this journey with policies that reflect the need for instructor support, both during initial implementation and ongoing improvements. Pages 7-13 of the report detail fifteen recommendations by the Academy to instructors, leadership, and funders.

The report outlines key principles and approaches that are critical to providing equitable and effective learning experiences (p.70):

• Principle 1: Students need opportunities to actively engage in disciplinary learning
• Principle 2: Students’ diverse interests, goals, knowledge, and experiences can be leveraged to enhance learning
• Principle 3: STEM learning involves affective and social dimensions
• Principle 4: Identity and sense of belonging shape STEM teaching and learning
• Principle 5: Multiple forms of data can provide evidence to inform improvement
• Principle 6: Flexibility and responsiveness to situational and contextual factors support student learning
• Principle 7: Intentionality and transparency create more equitable opportunities

The report also has suggestions for actions that stakeholder groups (Instructors, Academic Unit Leadership, Institution Leadership, Resource Developers and Disciplinary Societies) can take, to further and support progress on the journey.

This report was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the National Science Foundation.