Widening Implementation of Evidence-Based Pedagogies in STEM Education (WIEP-STEM)

FUNDED BY:
Department of Education – 
Institute of Educational Sciences
Minority Science & Engineering Improvement Program

PROJECT DURATION:
09/01/2014-09/31/2014

RESEARCH TEAM:

• Primary Investigator
  

          Xiaobo Peng (PI), 
          Suxia Cui (Co-PI),
          Lin Lii (Co-PI),
          Yongpeng Zhang (Co-PI),
          Prairie View A&M University
          
          Bugrahan Yalvac (Co-PI), 
          Texas A&M University

          Deniz Eseryel (Co-PI), 
          NC State University

• Research Assistants
  

          T. Fulya Eyupoglu
          
          

Project Overview
As the world becomes more flat with the advancements in sciences and technology, the role of Science, Technology, Mathematics, and Engineering (STEM) practitioners in the society becomes more prominent than ever. In today’s global economy, the demand for highly skilled STEM practitioners is raising. STEM positions are among the well-respected and well-paid positions in the US as well as in the global market. 

Traditionally, ethnic minorities, particularly minority women, and younger generation of the recent immigrants are under-represented in the STEM fields in US. This adds up to the existing socio-economic gap between the men and women, and between the minorities and the European-Americans in the society. To minimize the gap between the minority students’ socio-economic status and others as well as the gender differences, there are systematic efforts undertaken by the US agencies (e.g., National Science Foundation, US Department of Education). These federal agencies have spent billions of dollars on more than 200 programs to improve undergraduate education in STEM. The ultimate goal is to achieve a justice social system by providing equal opportunities to the female students and the minority student population.

The primary goal of this project is to increase the number of minority students, particularly minority women, in STEM fields by transforming the culture of STEM education in a selected campus in US with four STEM university faculty. The project has the following specific objectives:

1. Transforming the perception of STEM faculty on the adoption of evidence-based pedagogies;
   
2. Activating participating STEM faculty’s self-reflection and meta-cognition in evidence-base pedagogies by fully engaging them in educational design and research; 
   
3. Improving students’ learning in the first two year of college;
   
4. Increasing the number of minority students, particularly minority women, in STEM fields.    

Related Publications & Presentations: 

• This study is still in progress. More details will be provided as soon as available.