Student Tribune
Reasearch Article by Professors Amanda Colosimo, Jessica Barone, and Lisa Flick
Geology Professors Amanda Colosimo and Jessica Barone, following grant work
focused on trends in success rates in STEM through SAGE2YC (Supporting and
Advancing Geoscience Education at Two-Year Colleges), collaborated with Biology
Professor Lisa Flick to produce "Better together:
Using course outcome data and learning communities to foster institutional
change". Professor Colosimo spearheaded the writing of this
article with Professor Barone and Professor Flick as co-authors. Please
see the abstract below and click on the title above for the complete
article:
Inspired by the SAGE 2YC project, we, the authors, examined course
outcome data by demographics, which led to engagement of faculty across campus.
Although our introductory-level geology course had one of the highest “C
or better” rates in the institution, when we examined course success by
demographics, significant racial inequities emerged. As part of our mission to
reduce inequities college-wide, we encouraged faculty across our institution to
examine their own course success rates and adopt pedagogical techniques that
have demonstrated results at minimizing or eliminating inequities in course
outcomes. We engaged faculty in a departmental equity group, a panel of
cross-college departmental equity groups, a workshop series for STEM
instructors, and a college-wide workshop on syllabus revision.
Interdisciplinary faculty learning communities can effectively create systemic,
bottom-up change by engaging faculty across disciplines to identify inequities
within their sphere of influence.
This research article has been published in the Wiley Online Library within
New Directions in Community Colleges Journal Volume 2022, Issue 199 "Catalyzing
Change: STEM Faculty as Change Agents".
Please join me in congratulating Amanda, Jessica, and Lisa on looking
closely at who succeeds in their courses, taking steps to reduce the
inequalities they discovered, and sharing their approach with faculty at MCC
and beyond.
Kaminsky, Margaret
STEM and Health
07/27/2022