In 2022, the National Science Foundation awarded PennWest-California $1,228,857 to fund a program that will help PennWest-Cal science faculty meet the needs of students taking their science courses. The grant has been used to implement a type of professional development known as a learning community. The entire 21-member science faculty is participating, and meet every few weeks to discuss how to best meet their students’ science learning needs. This project reflects PennWest-California faculty’s commitment to student success in science courses, and their dedication towards a scientific-literate student population. The three-year project, titled "Research-based Professional Development for Science Faculty and Its Impact on Student Learning," is under the direction of Dr. Louise Nicholson of the Department of Biology, Dr. Kyle Fredrick of the Department of Geosciences; Dr. Min Li of the Department of Chemistry, and Dr. Peter Cormas, of the Department of Education. Read more about the project here.
Meet the faculty and researchers who are partaking in this project:
Carol I. Bocetti, Ph.D.
Chad Kauffman, Ph.D.
Chadwick Hanna, Ph.D.
Daniel B. Harris, Ph.D.
David G. Argent, Ph.D.
Jesse A. Eiben, Ph.D.
Kimberly Woznack, Ph.D.
Louise Nicholson, Ph.D.
Mario Majcen, Ph.D.
Mark Tebbitt, Ph.D.
Matthew Price, Ph.D.
Michelle Valkanas, Ph.D.
Min Li, Ph.D.
Robert Whyte, Ph.D.
Steven D. Brooks, Ph.D.
Summer Arrigo-Nelson, Ph.D.
Swarndeep Gill, Ph.D.
Thomas Mueller, Ph.D.
Peter C. Cormas. Ph.D.
Sy Doan, Ph.D.
Elizabeth D. Steiner, M.S.
Read and hear media releases about the project here:
AAAS-IUSE Workshop video: Implementing Learning Communities for Science Faculty
WESA 90.5-NPR: Large NSF STEM grant awarded to PennWest-Cal
Herald Standard: National Science Foundation gives PennWest California $1.2 million grant
Products:
Better Together: The Development of Cross-Disciplinary Faculty Learning Communities in Higher Education. Annual meeting of the Pittsburgh Section of the American Chemical Society, Pittsburgh, PA, November, 2024.
Increasing Student Engagement and Building Community using Mock Town Halls: A Case Study. Annual meeting of The Geological Society of America, Anaheim, CA, September, 2024.
Implementing Learning Communities: Findings from Year One. Annual meeting of the Earth Educators’ Rendezvous, Philadelphia, PA, July, 2024.
Implementing Learning Communities for Science Faculty. IUSE Summit, Washington, D.C., June, 2024.
Building Effective Communities for Students, Educators, and Everyone in Between. AAAS-IUSE March Workshop, Virtual, March, 2024
Facilitating Learning Communities for Science Faculty. Annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA) - Northeastern Section
Meeting, Manchester, NH, March, 2024.
Implementing and Evaluating Professional Development for Science Faculty that Impacts
Student Learning of Science. Annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST),
Denver, CO, March, 2024.
A Professional Development Framework for Higher Education Science Faculty That Improves
Student Learning. BioScience, 2001, biab050. doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biab050
Professional Development for Higher Education Science Faculty that Improves Student
Learning. Annual meeting of the Earth Educators’ Rendezvous, Pasadena, CA, July, 2023.
Download Project Data Here:
Website Data and revised instruments
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under
Grant No. 2142295.