STEM Education Centers: Creating the Ecosystem for Reform in Undergraduate STEM Education

• In Event: 25.038 - Contemporary Considerations of STEM in Organizations of Higher Education

Abstract

With the growing engagement of universities and colleges in STEM education reform, and with the proliferation of STEM education centers, SECs, assisting universities to achieve these STEM education reforms, this research contributes to our understanding of the mechanisms through which these middle-level structures have impact. Individual centers were studied using a systems approach, and data was collected across administrative levels. Our cross-site analysis describes the ways in which these centers support institutional goals for undergraduate STEM education and relates these to areas of national priority. Our results suggest that the ability of centers to link STEM education research with teaching and learning initiatives within an institution provides a breadth of impact and attention across organizational levels.

Authors

• Deborah Carlisle, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

• Gabriela C. Weaver, University of Massachusetts - Amherst