Description
This competency focuses on designing and implementing teaching strategies specific to STEM disciplines. In STEM disciplines, instructors often encounter difficulties such as teaching abstract or complex concepts, addressing wide variation in students’ prior knowledge in mathematics and scientific reasoning, and encouraging active problem-solving rather than passive memorization. Large class sizes and lecture-dominated instruction can also make it difficult to maintain student engagement. Demonstrating this competency requires instructors to develop skills in designing active learning activities, scaffolding complex problem-solving, and using formative assessment to monitor student understanding. It also involves implementing inclusive teaching practices that support diverse learners and align instruction with core STEM practices such as quantitative reasoning, experimentation, and analytical thinking. These skills enable instructors to create effective learning environments that support deeper student engagement and understanding in STEM fields.
Artifact & Artifact Rationale
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This artifact consists of my draft lesson plan created for Assignment 3 in the course “An Introduction to Evidence-Based Undergraduate STEM Teaching” through CIRTL. It relates to the competency of developing discipline-related teaching strategies by requiring me to design a class session that integrates content knowledge with evidence-based instructional methods. Completing this assignment helped me develop the ability to select active learning strategies, align learning objectives with appropriate assessments, and structure a coherent lesson that supports student understanding of discipline-specific concepts. This experience informed my teaching by guiding me to plan instruction that effectively connects content, pedagogy, and assessment in ways that enhance student engagement and learning in my field.
Reflection
I completed the course “An Introduction to Evidence-Based Undergraduate STEM Teaching” through the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) Network. This eight-module course explored key topics such as principles of learning, developing learning objectives, assessing student learning, inclusive teaching practices, and lesson planning.
This course introduced a wide range of strategies that will strengthen my teaching. One area that stood out was the module on active learning. Before this course, I often heard the term active learning but didn’t fully understand what it meant or how to implement it effectively. Now, I have a clearer understanding of active learning and practical ways to incorporate it into the classroom. For example, I learned what problem-based learning (PBL) and cooperative learning are, as well as strategies for incorporating them into the classroom. One example of cooperative learning that I had never encountered before, but found very interesting, was group testing. This approach involves a two-step process: first, students take a test individually; then, they answer the same questions as a group. This method encourages students to explain their reasoning, engage in discussion with peers, and receive immediate feedback. More importantly, I gained insight into the cognitive framework behind active learning: when students actively engage with the material, their understanding and retention improve significantly. I also appreciated the opportunity to hear from current educators who shared their experiences and demonstrated how they apply these techniques in real-world settings. Their insights made the concepts more tangible and helped me envision how I might adapt these strategies for my own teaching.
While the course provided excellent examples, many were drawn from disciplines like mathematics and physics, subjects I am unlikely to teach. Although the principles are transferable to environmental science, ecology, and introductory biology (areas I anticipate teaching), I would like to explore more discipline-specific examples. Seeing how educators in these fields apply evidence-based practices would help me tailor these strategies more effectively to my future courses.
The assignments for this course were particularly valuable in reinforcing the concepts introduced throughout the course. The final assignment, creating a lesson plan for a single class session, was especially impactful because it required integrating multiple elements: learning objectives, active learning strategies, and assessment methods. This exercise highlighted the importance of alignment among objectives, instructional activities, and assessments. It’s one thing to design each component individually but bringing them together ensures coherence and maximizes student learning. Moving forward, I plan to use this integrated approach when designing my own lessons.
This course introduced a wide range of strategies that will strengthen my teaching. One area that stood out was the module on active learning. Before this course, I often heard the term active learning but didn’t fully understand what it meant or how to implement it effectively. Now, I have a clearer understanding of active learning and practical ways to incorporate it into the classroom. For example, I learned what problem-based learning (PBL) and cooperative learning are, as well as strategies for incorporating them into the classroom. One example of cooperative learning that I had never encountered before, but found very interesting, was group testing. This approach involves a two-step process: first, students take a test individually; then, they answer the same questions as a group. This method encourages students to explain their reasoning, engage in discussion with peers, and receive immediate feedback. More importantly, I gained insight into the cognitive framework behind active learning: when students actively engage with the material, their understanding and retention improve significantly. I also appreciated the opportunity to hear from current educators who shared their experiences and demonstrated how they apply these techniques in real-world settings. Their insights made the concepts more tangible and helped me envision how I might adapt these strategies for my own teaching.
While the course provided excellent examples, many were drawn from disciplines like mathematics and physics, subjects I am unlikely to teach. Although the principles are transferable to environmental science, ecology, and introductory biology (areas I anticipate teaching), I would like to explore more discipline-specific examples. Seeing how educators in these fields apply evidence-based practices would help me tailor these strategies more effectively to my future courses.
The assignments for this course were particularly valuable in reinforcing the concepts introduced throughout the course. The final assignment, creating a lesson plan for a single class session, was especially impactful because it required integrating multiple elements: learning objectives, active learning strategies, and assessment methods. This exercise highlighted the importance of alignment among objectives, instructional activities, and assessments. It’s one thing to design each component individually but bringing them together ensures coherence and maximizes student learning. Moving forward, I plan to use this integrated approach when designing my own lessons.
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