NSF Org:	DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education
Recipient:	UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
Initial Amendment Date:	August 18, 2020
Latest Amendment Date:	October 13, 2020
Award Number:	2021494
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Jennifer Ellis jtellis@nsf.gov  (703)292-2125 DUE  Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU  Directorate for STEM Education
Start Date:	October 1, 2020
End Date:	September 30, 2022 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$299,906.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$299,906.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2020 = $0.00
History of Investigator:	Bryan Dewsbury (Principal Investigator) bdewsbur@fiu.edu Carolyn Sandoval (Co-Principal Investigator) Tess Killpack (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	University of Rhode Island 75 LOWER COLLEGE RD RM 103 KINGSTON RI  US  02881-1974 (401)874-2635
Sponsor Congressional District:	02
Primary Place of Performance:	University of Rhode Island 120 Flagg Road, CBLS 483 Kingston RI  US  02881-0001
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	02
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	CJDNG9D14MW7
Parent UEI:	NSA8T7PLC9K3
NSF Program(s):	IUSE
Primary Program Source:	04002021DB NSF Education & Human Resource
Program Reference Code(s):	8209, 9150, 9178
Program Element Code(s):	199800
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.076

ABSTRACT

This project aims to serve the national interest in excellent undergraduate STEM education. It will do so by engaging undergraduate STEM instructors in cultivating inclusive climates in their STEM classrooms. Specifically, the project intends to address the need for a more relationship-oriented approach to STEM teaching. Such an approach can increase students' academic performance and sense of belonging, particularly for students from historically disenfranchised backgrounds. To support these changes, the project will engage two cohorts of 24 undergraduate STEM instructors in a year-long residency. These STEM instructors will be selected from across the nation and from different institutional types. The residency will be based on the Deep Teaching conceptual model developed by the primary investigator. Deep Teaching emphasizes self-awareness, empathy, and reflective teaching. The residency model also will apply the philosophy that developing inclusive curricula is difficult, ongoing, and successful only when done in the context of a supportive community. The residency will begin with preparatory reading and reflection, followed by an immersive five-day workshop during the summer. At the workshop, the STEM instructors will explore the role of self-awareness in inclusive practices, design context-specific projects to complete in the following academic year, and design a structure to support implementation of the projects during that time. In the academic year following each workshop, the project will continue to provide the instructor cohort with community support and accountability via a virtual Deep Teaching mentoring network. Ultimately, the project seeks to create a community of scholars who engage deeply in ongoing, intentional work to transform STEM courses toward more inclusive teaching practices.

The specific aims of the project are to: 1) Build a community of scholar-educators committed to developing and evaluating their inclusive teaching practices; 2) Meaningfully transform faculty participant mindsets in the direction of equity-based pedagogies; 3) Assist faculty participants in expanding knowledge and requisite skills pertaining to inclusive teaching practices; and 4) Support participants in the design, implementation, and assessment of an inclusive pedagogy project in their own classrooms and the dissemination of their findings to a broader academic audience. The research aspect of the project will incorporate a cognitive frames approach to investigate the ways in which faculty mindsets migrate from diversity, to deficit, to equity-minded pedagogies. This research will take a qualitative analysis approach using data gathered from reflective journals and course artifacts. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

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