Advancing Learning through Evidence-Based STEM Teaching is an open, online course (MOOC) designed to provide graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and other aspiring faculty in STEM disciplines with an overview of effective college teaching strategies and the research that supports them. This course is also suitable for other interested university staff, faculty, and administrators. The goal of the eight-week course is to equip the next generation of faculty to be effective teachers, thus improving the learning experience for the thousands of students they will teach. The course draws on the expertise of a variety of STEM faculty, educational researchers, and staff from university teaching centers, many of them affiliated with the CIRTL Network. Participants will learn how to engage students in active learning in classrooms using strategies such as peer instruction and problem-based learning, develop methods to help their students think more like experts in their fields using inquiry-based labs and similar activities, turn their classrooms into learning communities through cooperative learning and using the diverse perspectives of their students, and use approaches like flipped classrooms that make it possible to build active and collaborative learning into their classes. Formats include video content and transcripts, readings, discussion forums, quizzes, and peer-graded assignments where you will plan teaching and learning activities relevant to your discipline.

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Instructors

L.J. McElravy, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Brian Rybarczyk, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Course Schedule

This 8-week course is entirely asynchronous, meaning there are no regularly scheduled weekly meetings. Each week instructors will release new materials for students to access via the EdX platform. The course starts the week of Monday, January 30.

MOOC Centered Learning Communities (MCLCs)

Students enrolled in the MOOC have the option of taking part in an MCLC on their local campus. These MCLCs provide students with a face-to-face learning community designed to deepen their understanding of MOOC course materials. Please see the CIRTL MOOC website to find out which campuses are offering MCLCs, and who to contact to take part in your local MCLC.

Workload

Your instructors estimate participants will need to spend 4-5 hours per week on coursework.

Registration and Enrollment

This course has no enrollment cap. Students who register for this course will be redirected to the EdX platform to complete their registration.

Accessibility

We strive to be inclusive of anyone interested in participating in our activities. If you have specific accessibility needs, please contact us at info@cirtl.net in advance so that we may make the necessary accommodations.

Learning Outcomes

Associate: Evidence-Based Teaching

• Describe and recognize the value of realistic well-defined, achievable, measurable and student-centered learning goals.
• Describe several known high-impact, evidence-based effective instructional practices and materials and recognize their alignment with particular types of learning goals.

Associate: Learning Community

• Describe and recognize the value of learning communities, and how they impact student learning.

Associate: Learning-through-Diversity

• Describe the impact of diversity on student learning, in particular how diversity can enhance learning, and how inequities can negatively impact learning if not addressed.
• Describe and recognize the value of drawing on diversity in the development of teaching plans (including content, teaching practices and assessments) to foster learning.
• Describe several learning-through-diversity (LtD) techniques and strategies.