Professional Development for Science Faculty

Professional Development for Science Faculty and Its Impact on Student Learning

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:

Ali Sezer, Ph.D.
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.

Kyle Fredrick, 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.

Sarah L. Meiss, 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
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Products:

Building Effective Communities for Students, Educators, and Everyone in Between. AAAS-IUSE March Workshop, Virtual, March, 2024
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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.