An Introduction to Evidence-Based Undergraduate STEM Teaching is a massive 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. Past participants are overwhelmingly satisfied with the course (nearly 90% of Summer 2019 students were satisfied or extremely satisfied).

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. Topics include key learning principles, such as the role of mental models in learning and the importance of practice and feedback; fundamental elements of course design, including the development of learning objectives and assessments of learning aligned with those objectives; and teaching strategies for fostering active learning and inclusive classroom environments. Formats include video content and transcripts, readings, discussion forums, quizzes, and peer-graded assignments where participants will plan teaching and learning activities relevant to their disciplines.

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Course Schedule

This 8-week Massive Open Online Course takes place from Monday, September 26 through Sunday, November 20.

Workload

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

Registration and Enrollment

Registration opens in late August. No cap.

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.
• Describe several assessment techniques 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.
• Describe several techniques for creating a LC within a learning environment, including strategies that promote positive interdependence between learners so as to accomplish learning goals.
• Describe several techniques and issues of establishing LCs comprising a diverse group of learners.

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.