Keep your friends close and your colleagues nearby: The hidden ties that improve STEM education

J. P. Mestre, G. L. Herman, J. H. Tomkin, and M. West

Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning 51(1), 42-49, 2019.

Using a Communities of Practice model, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has implemented Evidence Based Instructional Practices (EBIPs) across large-enrollment introductory STEM courses in 13 science and engineering departments impacting over 17,000 students yearly. A social network analysis of the spread of EBIPs at Illinois indicates that faculty mentors embedded in departmental Communities of Practice were the catalysts for the rapid spread of reforms. Encouraging a “teach the way you do research” approach resonates with professors at a research university in terms of adopting and refining evidence-based reforms. Cultural change among many faculty members appears to have taken hold as evidenced by number of educational publications by STEM faculty members, federal education proposals written and funded, and sustainability of the innovations after initial funding ended.

DOI: 10.1080/00091383.2019.1547081

Full text: MeHeToWe2019.pdf