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

•  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.

Diversity issues at Providence College

And while the faculty were reading the literature in their ivory towers….

•  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.

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•  …which he did at 9:45 pm.

Faculty Seminar on Inclusive Excellence in the Sciences

•  Goals –  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”.

PC did not advance to the next round for the HHMI Inclusive Excellence grant.

•  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 –  Stereotype threat –  OER

Products

A STEM Advisory Board will make recommendations to the 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)

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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 –  Misperception of the major 13

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

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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

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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.

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•  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

Classifications of active learning classrooms at PC

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

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”

Development of active learning spaces on campus – a summary

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

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Fall 2013

Spring 2014

Fall 2014

Spring 2015

Fall 2015

Spring 2016

Fall 2016

Spring 2017

Fall 2017

Spring 2018

Num

ber o

f Cla

ssro

oms

Total # Classrooms Active Learning Classrooms

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

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Fall 2013 Spring 2014

Fall 2014 Spring 2015

Fall 2015 Spring 2016

Fall 2016 Spring 2017

Fall 2017 Spring 2018

Tota

l Enr

ollm

ent

Active Learning Lite

Active Learning Classrooms

Active Learning Suites

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

You can see student initials here, but for students, all comments are anonymous to minimize stereotype threat and to encourage free participation.

Students can ask questions

Other students can answer the questions

Students can indicate if they find an answer helpful

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

Motives for college based on race

*Data are based on psychology prescreening from 2016-2018 (851 White, 143 Non-white students)

Motives for college based on generational status

*Data are based on psychology prescreening from 2016-2018 (934 continuing-generation, 121 first-generation students)

Mismatch in goals: possible solutions

•  Depict college as more interdependent (e.g., welcome packet)

Stephens et al., 2012

Mismatch in goals: possible solutions •  Provide opportunities to hear about students’ experiences

•  Explicitly linking adapting to college with social class.

Stephens et al., 2014

Our intervention •  Planned pilot test with undeclared students

–  First-generation vs. continuing generation –  White vs. Non-White –  Enrolled in first-year experience vs. Not

•  Phase 1 (baseline measurements) –  Goals for attending college –  Perceived preparation –  Academic identification –  Academic efficacy –  Personal mastery –  Contingent self-esteem –  Depression –  Anxiety –  Stress

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Phase 2—Intervention •  Group sessions to view video testimonials from

eight students –  Control group

•  Trace your path for finding your major •  What has been your favorite class and least

favorite class so far and why? –  Difference-education group

•  People come to college for many different reasons. What did coming to college mean for you?

•  What experiences that you had prior to college prepared you to excel in way you wouldn't have anticipated at the time?

Phase 3--Intervention •  Phase 3 – End of Semester Follow-Up

– Tendency to seek college resources – Perceptions of relationships with

students/faculty – Baseline measures

•  Challenges – Participation & homogeneous

population – Administrative buy-in, particularly for

incentives – Timing 38

Discussion •  Take two minutes to consider what you think

is the biggest concern/challenge for you, in your department and at your college/university, in terms of addressing inclusive excellence. Share a concrete example of why you believe this is the primary concern or challenge.

•  Brainstorm about how you might address this

concern/challenge at your particular institution, either using similar methods as we presented here, or something different. What concrete steps could you start taking to implement this strategy? 39