Seven Universities led by Northwestern University have won $3.1 million in a federal grant to research and develop a program that changes the way how STEM courses are taught at the undergraduate level.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has funded the project, “Inclusive Learning and Teaching in Undergraduate STEM Instruction,” which aims to provide training to university faculty members in changing their way of teaching STEM courses that are more inclusive to diverse populations.
The project led by Bennett Goldberg, the director of the Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching at Northwestern University, aims to train more than 500 faculty members and 4,000 STEM doctoral and postdoctoral scholars in new and inclusive teaching practices.
“Through this project, current and future STEM educators will learn inclusive teaching methods that will reduce disparities between genders and among underrepresented minority groups; improve students’ sense of belonging, self-efficacy and STEM identity; and ultimately diversify the national STEM workforce,” the university said in the release.
The other seven universities whose educators and scholars will participate in the project are Des Moines Area Community College, Marshalltown Community College in Iowa, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Boston University, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Michigan and the University of Georgia.