2017 Opening Retreat, Workshop, and Meeting Details

SPRING DISCUSSION + MEETING: 4/10/2018

Part 1: Panel discussion with students about connections across Core courses and connections between Core and options

Part 2: Update on recent student feedback and overall discussion with faculty

• Slides
• Notes

FALL/WINTER 2017 WORKSHOP + MEETING: 12/5/2017

Guest speaker, Prof. Gina Frey (Wash. U. St. Louis), led a workshop and demonstration on Incorporating and Facilitating In-class Group Work. 

• Workshop Slides
• Student Role Cards

Following the workshop, Core/Pseudo-Core Faculty, Freshman Advisors, and Head TAs met to examine and discuss student responses and strategies:

• Meeting Slides and Notes

SUMMER 2017 RETREAT: 9/13/2017

MORNING:

Opening discussion: Who are Caltech students and how do they learn? 
Welcome and presentation/discussion about recent student data, including admissions, surveys, and the broader context of trends observed in "Generation Z" college students in the US.

• Slides PDF (includes supplemental sides not shown during the session)

Guest Speaker: Noah Finkelstein, Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Co-director of the CU Center for STEM Learning and of the national Network of STEM Education Centers. 

• Talk + Workshop Description and Full Bio
• Slides PDF (includes supplemental sides not shown during the session)

AFTERNOON:

Continued workshop with Noah Finkelstein.

• Slides PDF (includes supplemental sides not shown during the session)

RESOURCES AND LINKS

Caltech:

• Center for Teaching, Learning, & Outreach: for consultation and advice about implementing active learning and interactive engagement techniques, training TAs and Learning Assistants, choosing educational technologies (clickers, etc.), collecting data about student learning, feedback on teaching and learning, and other questions.
• Caltech Center for Diversity: for consultation and advice about supporting diverse students, training/workshops for faculty and TAs, Safe Zone LGBTQ Ally Training Program, and more.
• Significant national publications on university STEM education, 2011-present. Noah mentioned several, including those on reward structures for teaching in research universities, guides/research on iactive learning, and reports on diverse student success in STEM.

External resources, recommended by Noah Finkelstein:

• Science Education Initiative, CU Boulder. Huge collection of resources including detailed guides and advice on course transformation, learning goals, assessment, and more.
• Videos showing use of clickers and group work, from CU Boulder and the University of British Columbia.
• Methods of promoting student engagement and buy-in, from CU Boulder and PhysPort.org
• Interactive, online simulations for physics, math, chemistry, biology, and earth science, from PhET at University of Colorado.
• Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS), designed to capture student beliefs that shape and are shaped by the classroom experience; versions available for physics, chemistry, and biology.

Articles of interest to participants:

• Meta-analysis, "Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics." Freeman et al., PNAS 2014. Article.
• "Values Affirmation" mentiond by Noah Finkelstein: Miyake et al., Science 2010. Article / Supplement with detailed prompts and methods. This is one example of a "psychological intervention" addressing social belonging, stereotype threat, and other aspects of academic experience that contribute to achievement gaps. Such interventions should be implemented with careful attention to context and methods. For a broader overview, see the following overviews:
  • Psychological insights for improved physics teaching (Aguilar, Walton, & Weiman, 2014, Physics Today)
  • Addressing achievement gaps with psychological interventions. (Yeager, Walton, & Cohen, 2013, Phi Delta Kappan)