Promoting Student STEM Skills Through Inquiry Instruction

Dr. Gordon Uno

Professor of Plant Biology and David Ross Boyd Professor of Botany
Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology
The University of Oklahoma

“Active Learning” is all the rage in STEM these days, but what does it really involve and how can you do it? Or for those who already incorporate active learning methods, how can you do more of it and have an even greater impact on your students? The goal of the workshop is not only to familiarize and inspire participants with active learning techniques, but also to provide participants with the specific knowledge and tools they need to incorporate active learning and inquiry instructional methods in their courses. The workshop is designed to be broadly applicable with examples and application across STEM disciplines.

In two half-day sessions, learn more about evidence-based, active-learning methods and other high-impact practices that improve critical thinking and quantitative reasoning skills, promote a deeper conceptual understanding, and lead to longer student retention of content information. In the morning, participants will directly engage with methods, activities, and strategies for active learning that are applicable within all STEM fields. We will also explore what is happening on the on the national scene with regard to science education reforms. In the afternoon session, we will engage with additional methods and discuss barriers to implementation and develop strategies for adapting, integrating, and sustaining active learning and inquiry-based instructional methods within an existing course.

Friday evening, workshop participants are welcome to a reception and dinner at a Middlebury commons house, as a way for participants interested in active learning to get to know one another. We see this workshop and dinner as a start to developing a learning community at Middlebury that can provide support as faculty work to incorporate new active learning strategies and methods in their classrooms.