An inclusive Research and Education Community (iREC) model to facilitate undergraduate science education reform

Authors

• Denise L. Monti, Hicks Honors College, University of North Florida, Jacksonville
• Julia C. Gill, Metropolitan Policy Department, Brookings Institution
• Tamarah L. Adair, Baylor University
• Sandra D. Adams, Montclair State UniversityFollow
• Yesmi Patricia Ahumada-Santos, Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa
• Isabel Amaya, University of Michigan Medical School
• Kirk Anders, Gonzaga University
• Justin R. Anderson, Southeastern Louisiana University
• Mauricio S. Antunes, University of North Texas
• Mary Ayuk, Howard University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-20-2024

Journal / Book Title

Frontiers in Education

Abstract

Over the last two decades, there have been numerous initiatives to improve undergraduate student outcomes in STEM. One model for scalable reform is the inclusive Research Education Community (iREC). In an iREC, STEM faculty from colleges and universities across the nation are supported to adopt and sustainably implement course-based research – a form of science pedagogy that enhances student learning and persistence in science. In this study, we used pathway modeling to develop a qualitative description that explicates the HHMI Science Education Alliance (SEA) iREC as a model for facilitating the successful adoption and continued advancement of new curricular content and pedagogy. In particular, outcomes that faculty realize through their participation in the SEA iREC were identified, organized by time, and functionally linked. The resulting pathway model was then revised and refined based on several rounds of feedback from over 100 faculty members in the SEA iREC who participated in the study. Our results show that in an iREC, STEM faculty organized as a long-standing community of practice leverage one another, outside expertise, and data to adopt, implement, and iteratively advance their pedagogy. The opportunity to collaborate in this manner and, additionally, to be recognized for pedagogical contributions sustainably engages STEM faculty in the advancement of their pedagogy. Here, we present a detailed pathway model of SEA that, together with underpinning features of an iREC identified in this study, offers a framework to facilitate transformations in undergraduate science education.

Comments

Additional authors: Baliraine, Frederick; Bates, Tonya C.; Beyer, Andrea R.; Bhalla, Suparna; Bouklas, Tejas; Bullock, Sharon K.; Butela, Kristen A.; Byrum, Christine; Caruso, Steven M.; Chong, Rebecca; Chung, Hui-Min; Conant, Stephanie B.; Condon, Brett; Crump, Katie E.; D'Elia, Tom; Dennis, Megan K.; DeVeaux, Linda C.; Diacovich, Lautaro; Diaz, Arturo; Duffy, Iain; Edwards, Dustin; Fallest-Strobl, Patricia C.; Findley, Ann; Fisher, Matthew R.; Fogarty, Marie P.; Frost, Victoria Jane; Gainey, Maria D.; Galle, Courtney S.; Gibb, Bryan; Golebiewska, Urszula; Gramajo, Hugo; Grinath, Anna S.; Guerrero, Jennifer; Guild, Nancy; Gunn, Kathryn E.; Gurney, Susan; Hughes, Lee E.; Jayachandran, Pradeepa; Johnson, Kristen; Johnson, Allison; Kanak, Alison E.; Kanther, Michelle L.; King, Rodney A.; Kohl, Kathryn; Lee-Soety, Julia; Lewis, Lynn O.; Lindberg, Heather; Madden, Jaclyn A.; Martin, Breonna J.; Mastropaolo, Matthew D.; McClory, Sean; Merkhofer, Evan C.; Merkle, Julie A.; Mitchell, Jon; Mussi, María Alejandra; Nieto, Fernando; Nissen, Jillian; Nsa, Imade Yolanda; O'Donnell, Mary G.; Overath, R. Deborah; Page, Shallee T.; Panagakis, Andrea; Parra Unda, Jesús Ricardo; Pass, Michelle B.; Perez Morales, Tiara; Peters, Nick T.; Plymale, Ruth; Pollenz, Richard; Reyna, Nathan S.; Rinehart, Claire A.; Rocheleau, Jessica; Rombold, John S.; Rossier, Ombeline; Rudner, Adam D.; Rueschhoff, Elizabeth E.; Shaffer, Christopher D.; Smith, Mary Ann V.; Sprenkle, Amy B.; Sunnen, C. Nicole; Thomas, Michael A.; Tigges, Michelle M.; Tobiason, Deborah; Tolsma, Sara Sybesma; Torruellas Garcia, Julie; Uetz, Peter; Vazquez, Edwin; Ward, Catherine M.; Ware, Vassie C.; Washington, Jacqueline M.; Waterman, Matthew J.; Westholm, Daniel E.; Wheaton, Keith A.; White, Simon J.; Williams, Elizabeth C.; Williams, Daniel C.; Wisner, Ellen M.; Biederman, William H.; Cresawn, Steven G.; Heller, Danielle M.; Jacobs-Sera, Deborah; Russell, Daniel A.; Hatfull, Graham F.; Asai, David J.; Hanauer, David I.; Graham, Mark J.; Sivanathan, Viknesh

DOI

10.3389/feduc.2024.1442318

Montclair State University Digital Commons Citation

Monti, Denise L.; Gill, Julia C.; Adair, Tamarah L.; Adams, Sandra D.; Ahumada-Santos, Yesmi Patricia; Amaya, Isabel; Anders, Kirk; Anderson, Justin R.; Antunes, Mauricio S.; and Ayuk, Mary, "An inclusive Research and Education Community (iREC) model to facilitate undergraduate science education reform" (2024). Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 571.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/biology-facpubs/571

Rights

© 2024 the Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).

Published Citation

Monti, D. L., Gill, J. C., Adair, T. L., Adams, S. D., Ahumada-Santos, Y. P., Amaya, I., ... & Sivanathan, V. (2024, August). An inclusive Research and Education Community (iREC) model to facilitate undergraduate science education reform. In Frontiers in education (Vol. 9, p. 1442318). Frontiers Media SA.