Designed by STEM faculty for STEM faculty.

Our STEM-X Course was developed in late 2020 to address STEM faculty’s expressed need to improve their competency and confidence in creating STEM environments that were culturally inclusive to all students. While our Certificate in College Teaching & Learning course had many STEM faculty participants, alumni felt they needed an additional STEM-only space to discuss the challenges and pressures of teaching STEM content. That year, during the Covid shutdown, we gathered a group of STEM instructors from two and four year Hispanic Serving Institutions across the country to advise us on the development of this course, and contribute examples of teaching excellence in STEM in HSIs-examples that we still use in the course today.  

Research-based.

We wove research on STEM in diverse learning environments into the course, so that faculty would also increase their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), or, how to break down their content in ways that make it more accessible and clear, improving course rigor and engagement. To become more culturally competent, faculty also are exposed to the anthropological ideas of cultural choque (Anzaldua, 1987),  Academic Validation theory (Rendon, 1994), as well as how to teach across cultural strengths (Chavez and Longerbeam, 2016). We also explore the research findings on utility-value interventions (Harackiewicz, 2016), which are particularly relevant to apply to experiential learning often found in STEM such as laboratory exercises, field research and community-based CURES.

Fostering Familismo.

STEM-X uses a cohort professional learning model by grouping participants into Casas (clusters, similar to Harry Potter Houses), led by a STEM-X alumni and a practicing STEM instructor. The small group promotes a sense of familismo and community, even in our asynchronous course modality. Through the Casa model, participants are able to meet and dialogue with others who teach similar courses, and exchange ideas informally. In addition, Casa Leads provide individualized peer to peer feedback on assignments submitted by their Casa family, offering suggestions about implementation and offering strategies they have used in their own classrooms.