Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Document Type
Chapter
Publication Date
2018
Abstract
Over the past 20 years, numerous institutions and groups have repeatedly called for changes in undergraduate STEM education in the United States in order to develop a stronger, more diverse STEM workforce, to foster a more scientifically literate society, and to improve equitable access to education for all. To achieve these goals, substantial improvements in areas as broad as instruction, mentoring and advising, and departmental climate must be made. Our ability to change can be supported by a better understanding of how educators, departments, and institutions change and how professional development opportunities foster and support productive change. This theme chapter considers how future geoscience education research can address issues of change in institutions of higher education and professional development that will promote high-quality geoscience education. Specifically, it identifies and describes three grand challenges that connect to the following components: the individual geoscience instructor, the departments and programs in which geoscience instructors teach, and the broader communities in which these departments operate.
Recommended Citation
Bitting, Kelsey; Arthurs, Leilani; Chapman, LeeAnna; Macdonald, Heather; and Manduca, Cathy (2018). "Research on Institutional Change and Professional Development". In St. John, K (Ed.) (2018). Community Framework for Geoscience Education Research. National Association of Geoscience Teachers. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.25885/ger_framework/11
