Impact of Evidence-Based Teaching Practices on SVSM Nanoscale Science Course and Transforming STEM Teaching and Learning Academy

Quality STEM education in secondary and post-secondary schools is vital to the advancement of knowledge and technology for the United States. Quality STEM education is found where evidence-based teaching practices are implemented in the classroom. This dissertation focuses on two programs and their impact on their participants with the goals of providing quality STEM education. The STEM Academy is a faculty learning community with goals to support faculty members in implementing new evidence-based teaching practices at UNC Charlotte. The second program is Summer Ventures in Science and Mathematics (SVSM) Nanoscale Science course for high school students in North Carolina. The data for investigating the experiences of the participants in the STEM Academy was collected through semi-structured individual interviews as well as focus groups. The transcripts of these were thematically coded to find consensus on the benefits of the STEM Academy and the barriers to implementing new evidence-based teaching practices. The data for investigating the impact of the SVSM Nanoscale Science course and its revisions was collected through the grading of student final papers using a rubric specific to the Big Ideas in Nanoscale Science (BINS) and the experimental design process. Also, students were given the Student Attitudes towards STEM (S-STEM) survey at the beginning and end of the course. The results of the STEM Academy interviews and focus groups yielded 11 themes; six describing benefits and five describing barriers identified by the participants. These results can help to reform and grow the STEM Academy for future participants to meet its goals of supporting faculty members in implementing evidence-based teaching practices in STEM classrooms at UNC Charlotte. The results of grading the student final papers from the SVSM Nanoscale Science course showed significant improvements to writing research questions, designing experiments, and writing conclusions about their findings for students in the second cohort compared to the first cohort. These findings indicate the revisions to the course had a positive impact on student outcomes. The S-STEM survey results show the students maintained or slightly improved their positive attitudes towards STEM after participating in the SVSM course.
Key words: Nanoscale Science, Evidence-Based Teaching Practices, Faculty Learning Community