NSF Award Aids Stain's Research on STEM Teaching

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02/15/2016 Added

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A University of Nebraska-Lincoln researcher is helping faculty become better instructors with the goal of improving students’ education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, collectively known as STEM. Marilyne Stains earned CAREER award from the National Science Foundation to support her research.

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[00:00:00.166](energetic music)
[00:00:03.406]Chemistry can be challenging,
[00:00:05.746]but a good professor makes a difference.
[00:00:08.466]What my goal is is to sort of develop
[00:00:10.606]an independent thinker that can
[00:00:11.953]go out and be productive in the workforce eventually.
[00:00:14.213]So, I really want to push them to think on their own
[00:00:16.893]and start to develop logical reasoning skills
[00:00:18.813]and approach problems with confidence.
[00:00:20.833]They rely on their peers...
[00:00:22.033]With funding from
[00:00:23.372]the National Science Foundation,
[00:00:25.070]University of Nebraska Lincoln researcher
[00:00:26.950]Marilyne Stains developed workshops
[00:00:29.530]that help UNL faculty identify strategies
[00:00:32.730]for effective teaching.
[00:00:34.730]For example, Just-in-Time teaching
[00:00:36.969]encourages professors to make changes
[00:00:39.229]based on student response to questions
[00:00:41.470]about the material covered in class.
[00:00:44.250]The Just-in-Time is like I'm going to
[00:00:46.529]adjust my class within two, three hours before I teach
[00:00:50.089]based on the responses I've seen from students.
[00:00:52.650]Asking students questions before they come to lecture
[00:00:54.730]on material that they were assigned to read,
[00:00:56.530]learning about misconceptions that they may have
[00:00:58.150]about that material, and then tailoring your lecture then
[00:01:01.010]specifically towards those misconceptions.
[00:01:03.610]A new NSF career award
[00:01:05.910]will allow Stains to expand her research
[00:01:08.310]into faculty teaching methods.
[00:01:10.570]The ultimate goal is to transform
[00:01:12.490]how science is taught in the class
[00:01:15.930]so the students learn better, have better
[00:01:18.273]attitude toward science, and so stay in the field longer.
[00:01:22.413]Many college students drop out
[00:01:24.812]of science, technology, engineering,
[00:01:26.953]and math coursework, the so-called STEM fields.
[00:01:30.433]We need to be able to provide a better environment,
[00:01:32.872]a better learning experience in these freshman,
[00:01:35.753]sophomore-level STEM courses so that the students
[00:01:38.213]can stay on so we can increase our STEM workforce,
[00:01:41.273]but also so that they are more literate,
[00:01:43.272]so that when they are citizen, they can make decisions
[00:01:46.213]surrounding science, they are mode educated.
[00:01:49.065]Stains will collect video
[00:01:51.465]of faculty in the UNL classroom
[00:01:53.405]and across the country, along with interviews and surveys.
[00:01:57.224]In the interview, we're getting into
[00:01:59.205]a little bit more of their
[00:02:00.464]thinking processes about teaching,
[00:02:02.104]and then in the survey, we're looking more
[00:02:04.725]at influences, so does your department norms
[00:02:08.665]around teaching influence how you teach?
[00:02:10.864]Is the reward system at your institution
[00:02:13.304]impact how you think about your teaching?
[00:02:15.804]Information will help improve
[00:02:17.684]UNL workshops and inform STEM faculty
[00:02:20.844]education nationally.
[00:02:22.385]The grant will also be used to develop
[00:02:24.464]a teaching specialization for
[00:02:26.277]UNL chemistry graduate students.
[00:02:28.857]It's the right formula for stronger learning and retention.
[00:02:32.697](percussive music)

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NSF Award Aids Stain's Research on STEM Teaching

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