Professional development of STEM-H faculty: Implications of a cross-disciplinary workshop series for improving research on student learning

Abstract

A growing number of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and health sciences (STEM-H) faculty are interested and find value in learning how to conduct research in the education setting of their discipline. Recent funding initiatives have been announced that aim to expand education research efforts and capability with discipline faculty in order to properly evaluate and ultimately improve STEM-H education. This study explores the impact of an innovative professional learning workshop series for faculty in university STEM-H disciplines who are interested in learning how to study their teaching and its impacts more rigorously.STEM-H faculty came to the workshop series with a variety of motivations, including to better understand and evaluate their teaching practices, to acquire better methods of studying and sharing what they learn, and to improve their education research skills overall. Our interdisciplinary research team collected data through open-ended pre- and post-series surveys, and individual 6-month post-series interviews. We engaged in consensual qualitative analysis to extract themes. Findings indicated STEM-H faculty left the workshop series with (1) deepened perspectives of education research complexities, (2) stronger insights and awareness about key components of education research, and (3) identified actionable next steps to pursue their individual education research goals. We explore potential follow-up steps as we build and institutionalize education research support structures to sustain this interest.