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Evaluation is a key component of the Initiative.
AAU is assisting member universities in tracking the progress of their reform efforts in addition to evaluating the overall impact of the STEM Initiative.
To document cross-institutional effects, AAU collected data from all project sites over a three-and-a-half-year period. Common data collection included a survey of instructor attitudes and practices in participating departments; department chair narratives on policy and practice to assess teaching in the promotion and tenure process; and campus and department level assessment of learning spaces.
AAU collected annual reports and conducted two site visits at each of the eight project sites to allow for a more qualitative evaluation of project implementation and progress. In total, AAU met and talked with 325 individuals across the eight project sites. Information from site visits, common data collection, and project site reports are among the sources used to provide much of the detailed analysis found in Section 2.
In partnership with Adrianna Kezar, Professor, Rossier School of Education and Co-Director, Pullias Center for Higher Education at theUniversity of Southern California, AAU has examined the role that a national higher education association can play in promoting and scaling systemic institutional reforms in undergraduate teaching and learning. Read a summary of the project.