Science &
Math General
Education
Division III
Third Open Meeting
Brief Review
Brief Review
 Survey
of DPU SM faculty regarding SM
gen ed requirements
Brief Review
 Survey
of DPU SM faculty regarding SM
gen ed requirements



General dissatisfaction with current
requirement
Based on lack of goals & concern whether
courses provide exposure to scientific
method
General consensus on goal of teaching SM
skills rather than set of “facts”
Brief Review
 Survey
of DPU SM faculty regarding SM
gen ed requirements
 Two Div III open meetings and creation of
Working Group
Brief Review
 Survey
of DPU SM faculty regarding SM
gen ed requirements
 Two Div III open meetings and creation of
Working Group

Consensus on initial SM gen ed goals
(TOSLS): 2 broader goals


Understand methods of inquiry that lead to
scientific knowledge
Organize, analyze, and interpret quantitative
data and scientific information
Brief Review
 Survey
of DPU SM faculty regarding SM
gen ed requirements
 Two Div III open meetings and creation of
Working Group
 Assessment of incoming students’
scientific literacy skills this year (TOSLS)
Brief Review
 Survey
of DPU SM faculty regarding SM
gen ed requirements
 Two Div III open meetings and creation of
Working Group
 Assessment of incoming students’
scientific literacy skills this year
 Active-learning workshop with Ed Prather
Brief Review
 Survey
of DPU SM faculty regarding SM
gen ed requirements
 Two Div III open meetings and creation of
Working Group
 Assessment of incoming students’
scientific literacy skills this year
 Active-learning workshop with Ed Prather
 SM advising document (salmon colored
paper)
Brief Review






Survey of DPU SM faculty regarding SM gen
ed requirements
Two Div III open meetings, Brown Bags, and
creation of Working Group
Assessment of incoming students’ scientific
literacy skills this year
Active-learning workshop with Ed Prather
SM advising document
WISER website (inc. previous meeting notes)
Moving forward
Moving forward
 We
each have a 3-year Faculty Fellowship
to continue facilitating this project
Moving forward
 We
each have a 3-year Faculty Fellowship
to continue facilitating this project
 Transparency with other divisions (Chairs
Meeting Oct. 9 at Pres. Casey’s house)
Moving forward
 We
each have a 3-year Faculty Fellowship
to continue facilitating this project
 Transparency with other divisions (Chairs’
Meeting Oct. 9 at Pres. Casey’s house)
 We are writing an NSF-IUSE grant proposal
with Michael Roberts for money to
continue this project
NSF---IUSE grant proposal
NSF---IUSE grant proposal


Category: Institutional & Community
Transformation—Exploration
Up to $250,000 over 2 years
NSF---IUSE grant proposal




Category: Institutional & Community
Transformation—Exploration
Up to $250,000 over 2 years
Due Oct. 24!
Met with Rockman for external assessment
NSF---IUSE grant proposal

What we hope to accomplish:







Learning Community on Science/Math education
Clear Division 3 Gen Ed Goals
Departmental Goals for SM courses
Workshops on course transformation
Pilot the “Big Ideas” class (designed around
divisional goals)
Implement meaningful assessment in classes and
university-wide
Share model with other divisions & schools
NSF---IUSE grant proposal
 Money






for:
Reading groups
Divisional meetings
Workshops on teaching strategies
Departmental Retreats
Development of “Big Ideas” course
Conference attendance
Goals for this year
Goals for this year
 Strengthen


our Learning Community
Reading Group
Share ideas for new course activities
Goals for this year
 Strengthen
our Learning Community
 Departmental retreats/discussions


Departmental Learning Goals for SM
courses
Departmental Learning Goals for majors
Goals for this year
 Strengthen
our Learning Community
 Departmental retreats/discussions
 Pilot a “Big Ideas” course for SM general
education-2014/2015

Michael will talk about later
Goals for this year
 Strengthen
our Learning Community
 Departmental retreats/discussions
 Pilot a “Big Ideas” course for SM general
education-2014/2015
 Collect assessment data
Goals for this year
 Strengthen
our Learning Community
 Departmental retreats/discussions
 Pilot a “Big Ideas” course for SM general
education-2014/2015
 Collect assessment data

Which is where we need help for the
upcoming IUSE grant…
Assessment (30 minutes)
 Attitudinal

& Affective measures
Pretest and posttest
4
examples at your tables
 Peruse & discuss with tablemates


Are we interested in self-efficacy/affect
and/or perception of nature of science?
Can you envision any of these being useful
in your class or helpful to this project?
 Share
feedback with larger group
Assessment (30 minutes)
 Are
we interested in self-efficacy/affect
and/or perception of nature of
science?
 Can
you envision any of these being
useful in your class or helpful to this
project?
SMQ: Science Motivation
Questionnaire (pink sheet)
 30
items
 Can substitute discipline name for
“science”
 5 subscales





Intrinsic motivation & personal relevance
Self-efficacy & assessment anxiety
Self-determination
Career motivation
Grade motivation
SMQ: Science Motivation
Questionnaire (pink sheet)
 Pros



Good reliability & validity
Fairly widely used
Pretty brief
 Cons


One of the subscales is not as strong
Assesses motivation, but not epistemology
or perceptions of science
TOSRA: Test of Science
Related Attitudes (blue sheet)
 70
items
 7 subscales







Social implications of science
Normality of scientists
Attitude to scientific inquiry
Adoption of scientific attitudes
Enjoyment of science lessons
Leisure interest in science
Career interest in science
TOSRA: Test of Science
Related Attitudes (blue sheet)
 Pros



Comprehensive
Commonly used
Can select subscales
 Cons



Long
Developed for younger audience
Some items may be outdated
ACS: Attitudes & Conceptions
in Science (yellow sheet)
 26
items
 Includes some discipline-specific items
 3 subscales



Attitudes toward learning science
Attitudes toward science
Conception of science
ACS: Attitudes & Conceptions
in Science (yellow sheet)
 Pros


Pretty brief
Measures both attitudes towards science
and conception of science
 Cons



Some subscales have few general science
items
Attitudes towards science scale is weaker
Not widely used
SAI II: Scientific Attitude
Inventory (green sheet)
 60
items
 6 subscales






Beliefs about whether science laws can
change
Limitations of science
Scientific dispositions
Science as theoretical vs. practical
Value of public understanding of science
Interest in a science career
SAI II: Scientific Attitude
Inventory (green sheet)
 Pros


Commonly used
Measures epistemology as well as
motivation
 Cons



Negative items could be difficult to answer
Long
Originally validated for high school students
Additional measures
 RISC—Research
on the Integrated
Science Curriculum




Managed online at Grinnell
Faculty questionnaire to complete first
78 items
Self-ratings, including experience with
certain science and learning tasks, opinions
about self and science
Additional measures
 VNOS
(Views of Nature of Science)
Questionnaire
 VOSI (Views of Scientific Inquiry)
Questionnaire
 VASI (Views of Scientific Inquiry)
Questionnaire

All open-ended format and responses need
to be scored.
Additional measures
 There
well.
are discipline-specific measures as
 Consider
using smaller classroom
assessments throughout the semester
(e.g., Angelo & Cross)
“Big Ideas” class
“Big Ideas” class
 Address
science literacy learning goals
from multiple disciplines/contexts
(transfer)
 Engaging
courses that non-majors want to
take and faculty want to teach (the FYS
of STEM dreams)
“Big Ideas” class
 What’s
the big idea?
 Model
for team-teaching the course
What’s the big idea?
 Thematic
 Pivotal
courses
ideas
 Contemporary
issues
What’s the big idea?
 Thematic
courses
 Water
 Science
of Consciousness
 Climate Change
 Complex Systems
What’s the big idea?

Examples at Otterbein College (geared to
upper level, lacking explicit learning goals)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Origins (Paleontology/ Molecular Biology)
The Atom (Chemistry/ Physics)
Why sex? (Ecology/ Molecular Biology)
Exobiology (Physics/ Microbiology)
Water (Ecology/ Chemistry)
Biological Sciences-Plagues and Pandemics
Earth Science & Society- Coral Reef Resources
Earth Science & Society-Energy Resources
Energy and Society
What’s the big idea?
 Pivotal
Ideas
 Evolution
+ Classical mechanics/Quantum
mechanics + Cognitive Revolution + …
What’s the big idea?
 Contemporary
 Climate
Issues
change + Epigenetic effects + …
What’s the big idea?
Please take 10 minutes to discuss the Big
Ideas courses that would most excite you
and excite students.
Then each table will report their favorite
ideas.
“Big Ideas” class
 What’s
the big idea?
 Model
for team-teaching the course
Model for team-teaching the
course
 Modules
5
faculty, 5 sets of X students, rotate
Model for team-teaching the
course
 Modules
5
faculty, 5 sets of X students, rotate
 Lecture
 All
+ “labs”/discussion
faculty and students meet together, e.g.
once a week
 Each faculty also meets for a lab/discussion
section with a separate subset of students
Model for team-teaching the
course
 Modules
5
faculty, 5 sets of X students, rotate
 Lecture
+ “labs”/discussion
 All
faculty and students meet together, e.g.
once a week
 Each faculty also meets for a lab/discussion
section with a separate subset of students
 Alternative
model?
Model for team-teaching the
course
Please take 5 minutes to discuss possible
models for team-teaching the course.
Then we’ll ask if there was a consensus for
one of the aforementioned models, or
whether an alternative model gained
traction.
“Big Ideas” class
 Want
to be involved in further
development of these ideas and piloting?
Suggestions?
 Interest



in Learning Community?
Topics?
Frequency (1, 2, 4 x month)?
Time (lunch, day of week)?
 Other
topics we should be exploring?
 Departmental
concerns?
WISER site
 http://www.depauw.edu/academics/ce
nters/ctl/wiser/
 Calendar

of events
Notes from all meetings
 Educational
Resources
 Student Information