Curricular products
The final output of the workshop included a diverse and innovative set of curricular design products, including: 9 concentration & certificate programs; 7 efforts for courses, course components, or curricular alignments; 6 degree programs; and 3 training and professional development programs. These designs spanned traditional disciplines such as Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Engineering, and Health, as well as more interdisciplinary STEM programs. These materials were targeted at a broad array of audiences including STEM majors and non-majors, first-year students, disciplinary majors in upper-level courses, college faculty, preservice teachers, student leaders, and college STEM-bound high school students.
Despite the range of content covered and audiences targeted by these different curricular designs, one thing stayed constant: the intentional, meaningful and contextually relevant integration of foundational, meta, and humanistic knowledge.
The collection below includes details of each of these curricular design initiatives as well as an associated sub-element (such as activities, course descriptions, handbooks etc.) to clarify the direction and substance of the larger product.
Critical Health Studies Undergraduate Degree Program
Erika Bonadio, Salem College; Spring Duvall, Salem College; Katie Manthey, Salem College; Maria Robinson, Salem College; Jing Ye, Salem College
Critical Health Studies is a transdisciplinary major program of co-taught courses that incorporates STEM subjects (biology, biochemistry, environmental science, psychology, and kinesiology), social sciences (anthropology, sociology, communications, entrepreneurship), and humanities (writing, religion, history, arts), related to health and well-being. Students will proceed through the major in a cohort that is book-ended by project-based learning seminars. A meta focus in action research will lead these cohorts in partnerships with community groups to create meaningful interventions to reduce health inequities. The curriculum will model a decolonized course design to promote fundamental values.
Translating STEM, Integrating Values
Becky Bates, Minnesota State University-Mankato; Alexandra Bradner, Kenyon College
Translating across disciplines, which are often identified by their different styles of reasoning, is challenging, but responsible citizenship requires the use of multiple perspectives to solve problems. Our translation goal is to value what other disciplines already do and know, and find pathways to incorporate that knowledge both within and outside STEM. This team has considered these translational challenges from both a liberal arts perspective and an engineering/science perspective, and have connected both to the use of narrative and story. We present two credentials in STEM communications and in ethics that help students learn the skills of translation, while practicing integration.
Community-Based Interdisciplinary STEM Certificate
Nawal Benmouna, Montgomery College, Vedham Karpakakunjaram, Montgomery College, Milton Nash, Montgomery College, K. Rebecca Thomas, Montgomery College
Many contemporary problems that impact our daily lives – from the spread of infectious diseases to climate change – demand expertise from one or more STEM domains. Effective solutions require an understanding that moves beyond STEM, integrating the culture, values, and interests of impacted communities. This Community-Based Interdisciplinary STEM Certificate prepares students to solve complex, interdisciplinary problems in the real-world context of their own communities.
Montana Space Grant Consortium Hands-on STEM Certificate
Angela Des Jardins, Montana State University-Bozeman; Randal Larimer, Montana State University-Bozeman
Many Montana higher education students don't currently have good access to the real-world STEM experience employers desire. This is due to many factors, such as institutional focus on academic learning and relatively low number of local pre-graduation training and research opportunities. Therefore, Montana Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) has created a hands-on STEM certificate that will form a guided path to prepare the participants to start their careers.
The Science of Disparities Concentration
Kristin Chapleau, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Kari Dugger, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Samantha Giordano-Mooga, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Nadia Richardson, University of Alabama at Birmingham
The Biomedical Sciences Program (BMD) is a undergraduate major at the University of Alabama at Birmingham with approximately 700 undergraduate students. As the major has expanded, it is clear we need to create "pathways"/concentrations that allow undergraduate students to expand their expertise into sub-specialities within the biomedical sciences field. The goal of this work is to create a Science of Disparities concentration within BMD, that will be designated on student transcripts and provide students the opportunity to create unique expertise that accommodates their personalized career goals.
Certificate in Sustainability Solutions
Stephanie Pfirman, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
The proposed Certificate in Sustainability Solutions prepares students to apply sustainability principles and approaches to address complex human and environmental challenges. Through 6 courses, including an applied project, the Sustainability Solutions certificate offers practical, skill-based experience positioning students perfectly for today's job market.
Faculty Development Workshop: Transforming the student learning experience in STEM courses through modules that connect fundamental knowledge with social issues
Lisa Lewis, Albion College; Kathryn Miller, Washington University in St. Louis; Gary Reiness, Lewis & Clark College; Jim Swartz, Grinnell College
This workshop is designed to train faculty in implementation of socially-relevant modules that convey foundational concepts in introductory STEM courses as part of motivating, engaging, promoting the success of, and retaining students. Participants will create a product to implement themselves and be equipped to present the workshop to others.
Certificate Program in Ethics in STEAM Research with Indigenous Communities and Lands
Karletta Chief, The University of Arizona; Dominique David-Chavez, Colorado State University; Ángel A. Garcia Jr., James Madison University; Darryl Reano, Florida International University; Steven Semken, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
This is a certification program introducing ethical frameworks for collaborative STEAM research with Indigenous communities and/or on Indigenous lands. This certificate is designed for academic researchers, student researchers, funding program managers, and similar professionals (referred to here collectively as researchers). The certificate is based on Indigenous governance and rights-based metrics for integrity.
This project was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant DGE-1747486. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.