An inclusive Research and Education Community (iREC) model to facilitate undergraduate science education reform

Over the last two decades, there have been numerous initiatives to improve undergraduate student outcomes in STEM. One model for scalable reform is the inclusive Research Education Community (iREC). In an iREC, STEM faculty from colleges and universities across the nation are supported to adopt and sustainably implement course-based research - a form of science pedagogy that enhances student learning and persistence in science. In this study, we used pathway modelling to develop a qualitative description that explicates the HHMI Science Education Alliance (SEA) iREC as a model for facilitating the successful adoption and continued advancement of new curricular content and pedagogy. In particular, outcomes that faculty realize through their participation in the SEA iREC were identified, organized by time, and functionally linked. The resulting pathway model was then revised and refined based on several rounds of feedback from over 100 faculty members in the SEA iREC who participated in the study. Our results show that in an iREC, STEM faculty organized as a long-standing community of practice leverage one another, outside expertise, and data to adopt, implement, and iteratively advance their pedagogy. The opportunity to collaborate in this manner and, additionally, to be recognized for pedagogical contributions sustainably engages STEM faculty in the advancement of their pedagogy. Here, we present a detailed pathway model of SEA that, together with underpinning features of an iREC identified in this study, offers a framework to facilitate transformations in undergraduate science education.

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Publication Details

Journal
Frontiers in Education
Published
2024-08-21
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1442318
Primary Topic
Career Development and Diversity
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

An inclusive Research and Education Community (iREC) model to facilitate undergraduate science education reform

Kristen Johnson, Hugo Gramajo, Pradeepa Jayachandran, Michelle Pass et al.
Frontiers in Education
Career Development and Diversity
article

An inclusive Research and Education Community (iREC) model to facilitate undergraduate science education reform

Kristen Johnson, Hugo Gramajo, Pradeepa Jayachandran, Michelle Pass, Mark J. Graham, Tamarah L. Adair, Iain Duffy, Kathryn Gunn, Shallee T. Page, Nathan S. Reyna, Anna S. Grinath, Victoria Frost, Urszula Golebiewska, Kristen Butela, Yesmi Patricia Ahumada‐Santos, C. Shaffer, Huimin Chung, Ombeline Rossier, Jaclyn Madden, Richard S. Pollenz, Jon Mitchell, Christine A. Byrum, Stephanie B. Conant, Peter H Uetz, Tom D’Elia, Ellen Wisner, Allison A. Johnson, Denise L. Monti, Megan K. Dennis, Jacqueline M. Washington, María Alejandra Mussi, Vassie C. Ware, Rodney A. King, Mauricio S. Antunes, Kathryn P. Kohl, Deborah Jacobs‐Sera, Daniel E. Westholm, Jillian C. Nissen, Fernando Nieto, Frederick N. Baliraine, Nancy Guild, Katie E. Crump, Rebecca A. Chong, Amy B. Sprenkle, Dustin Edwards, Nick T. Peters, Danielle M. Heller, Daniel C. Williams, Patricia C. Fallest-Strobl, Michael A. Thomas, Ruth Plymale, David I. Hanauer, Isabel Amaya, Sean P. McClory, Lynn Lewis, Lautaro Diacovich, Tejas Bouklas, Michelle Kanther, Keith Wheaton, Tiara Pérez Morales, Viknesh Sivanathan, Simon J. White, Matthew D. Mastropaolo, Suparna Bhalla, J. Rombold, Alison E. Kanak, Evan Merkhofer, Linda C. DeVeaux, Deborah M. Tobiason, Steven M. Caruso, Graham F. Hatfull, Lee E. Hughes, Jessica M. Rocheleau, Marie P. Fogarty, Edwin Vazquez, Heather Lindberg, C. Nicole Sunnen, Tonya C. Bates, Arturo Diaz, Elizabeth E. Rueschhoff, Matthew J. Waterman, R. Deborah Overath, Julie Torruellas Garcia, Sandra D. Adams, Imade Y. Nsa, Claire A. Rinehart, Kirk R. Anders, Ann M. Findley, Bryan Gibb, Mary A. Ayuk, Adam D. Rudner, Sharon K. Bullock, Julia Y. Lee‐Soety, Andrea Panagakis, Julia Gill, Susan M. R. Gurney, Andréa Beyer, Steven G. Cresawn, Mary Ann Smith, Julie A. Merkle, Matthew R. Fisher, Maria D. Gainey, Sara S. Tolsma, Brett Condon, William H. Biederman, Elizabeth Williams, Catherine M. Ward, Daniel A. Russell, Jennifer Guerrero, Courtney S. Galle, Jesús Ricardo Parra Unda, Michelle M. Tigges, Breonna J. Martin, David J. Asai, Justin R. Anderson, Mary G. O’Donnell
article en

Abstract

Over the last two decades, there have been numerous initiatives to improve undergraduate student outcomes in STEM. One model for scalable reform is the inclusive Research Education Community (iREC). In an iREC, STEM faculty from colleges and universities across the nation are supported to adopt and sustainably implement course-based research - a form of science pedagogy that enhances student learning and persistence in science. In this study, we used pathway modelling to develop a qualitative description that explicates the HHMI Science Education Alliance (SEA) iREC as a model for facilitating the successful adoption and continued advancement of new curricular content and pedagogy. In particular, outcomes that faculty realize through their participation in the SEA iREC were identified, organized by time, and functionally linked. The resulting pathway model was then revised and refined based on several rounds of feedback from over 100 faculty members in the SEA iREC who participated in the study. Our results show that in an iREC, STEM faculty organized as a long-standing community of practice leverage one another, outside expertise, and data to adopt, implement, and iteratively advance their pedagogy. The opportunity to collaborate in this manner and, additionally, to be recognized for pedagogical contributions sustainably engages STEM faculty in the advancement of their pedagogy. Here, we present a detailed pathway model of SEA that, together with underpinning features of an iREC identified in this study, offers a framework to facilitate transformations in undergraduate science education.

Frontiers in EducationVol. 9
University of North Carolina at Charlotte (US), Bryn Mawr College (US), Western Carolina University (US), Idaho State University (US), Rocky Vista University (US), Eastern Nazarene College (US), Thiel College (US), Virginia Western Community College (US), Benedictine University (US), Brookings Institution (US), Virginia State University (US), University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (US), University of North Florida (US), LeTourneau University (US), James Madison University (US), Gonzaga University (US), La Sierra University (US), University of North Texas (US), South Texas College (US), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Pennsylvania State University (US), Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US), Howard University (US), SUNY Old Westbury (US), University of Connecticut (US), Saint Leo University (US), University of Puerto Rico at Cayey (PR), University of Ottawa (CA), University of Evansville (US), Baylor University (US), University of California, Los Angeles (US), Neumann University (US), Montclair State University (US), Minnesota State University Moorhead (US), University of St Andrews (GB), Winthrop University (US), University of Pittsburgh (US), Iowa State University (US), Carthage College (US), University of New Hampshire at Manchester (US), College of St. Scholastica (US), Virginia Commonwealth University (US), Lehigh University (US), University of Colorado Boulder (US), University of Mary Washington (US), Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa (MX), Southeastern Louisiana University (US), University of Lagos (NG), Indiana University of Pennsylvania (US), Nova Southeastern University (US), Washington University in St. Louis (US), College of Charleston (US), New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (US), Coastal Carolina University (US), Northern State University (US), Ouachita Baptist University (US), University of Massachusetts Amherst (US), University of South Florida (US), Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), University of Michigan (US), Durham Technical Community College (US), Oregon Coast Community College (US), Federal Correctional Institution Schuylkill (US), Northwest Indian College (US), Yale University (US), Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (US), National University of Rosario (AR), New York Institute of Technology (US), Indiana University Southeast (US), CEA Paris-Saclay (FR), Conway School of Landscape Design (US), Texas Southmost College, Indian River State College (US), Salem State University (US), The University of Texas at San Antonio (US), La Salle University (US), Queensborough Community College, CUNY (US), Saint Joseph's University (US), Harford Community College (US), Mount St. Mary's University (US), Northwestern College - Iowa (US), University of Louisiana at Monroe (US), University of Detroit Mercy (US), Tarleton State University (US), Salish Kootenai College (US), University of Maryland, Baltimore County (US), University of West Florida (US), Mount Saint Mary College (US), University of North Georgia (US), Marist University (US), Western Kentucky University (US), Franklin Pierce University (US)
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Career Development and Diversity
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