Implementation of a Curricula Intervention to Enhance Imaginative and Collaborative Capacity Among Graduate STEM Students

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 1:45 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Interdisciplinary Collaborations: STEM Research Across Graduate and Postdoctoral Programs (Table 11)

Abstract

This paper reviews findings from an evaluation of a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) project aimed at enhancing STEM students’ creative and collaborative capacities. Fieldnotes of observations of seminars, end-of-semester reflections from 38 students, and transcripts of semi-structured interviews with three instructional faculty and 33 graduate students who participated in seminars in the 2023-24 academic year were analyzed. Findings indicate that STEM graduate students’ understandings of creativity and collaboration expanded as a result of engaging in the IGE activities. While this study focused on the outcomes for STEM students, students’ accounts indicated that these activities have potential broader application to facilitating the development of creative and collaborative capacities among students in other disciplines.

Authors

• Kathryn J. Roulston, University of Georgia

• Kwame Owoahene Acheampong, University of Georgia

• Mark Callahan, University of Georgia

• Nate Nibbelink, University of Georgia

• Elizabeth G. King, University of Georgia

• Brian Haas, University of Georgia