Project team members from the Teaching TRIOS initiative, led by Professor of Mathematical Sciences Sarah Bleiler Baxter, gathered on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on Thursday, September 19, to discuss plans to implement the project across the university. Continue the process. Earn degrees in basic and applied science. Bryler Baxter, Tennessee STEM Education Center Director and Chemistry Professor Gregory Rushton, and Biology Professor Grant Gardner will receive $1.2 million from the National Science Foundation to lead research projects on improving education in STEM science fields. obtained a grant. Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. (Photo submitted)
A trio of Middle Tennessee State University professors has been awarded a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to advance research to improve education in STEM fields, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Principal researchers Sarah Bleiler Baxter (Professor of Mathematical Sciences), Gregory Rushton (Director of the Tennessee STEM Education Center and Professor of Chemistry), and Grant Gardner (Professor of Biology) said, “Through the promotion of strengths-based education, He is leading a research project titled “Promoting a STEM Education Culture.” reflexes. ”
“This has been a 10-year effort of practice, piloting, and modification…and now we’ve finally reached a large-scale project at the federal level,” Breiler-Baxter said. “As researchers, we sometimes get rushed and think that our work isn’t good enough because it doesn’t get funded or recognized right away.
“But this shows that you can start very small, with a single department or a single committee, and grow it into a big project.”
Launch of Teaching TRIOS
MTSU professors need to evaluate their colleagues. Bleiler-Baxter and her colleagues aim to develop a peer assessment program that will lead to growth in the educational culture of STEM departments within the School of Basic and Applied Sciences. In particular, it aims to help STEM teachers develop a sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in their teaching practices.
It began as a project within the mathematics department that Bryler-Baxter led when she was an assistant professor. She chaired the department’s Teaching Advancement Committee and, with support from faculty colleagues, helped launch the Teaching TRIOS program during the 2014-2015 academic year.
Teaching TRIOS is an acronym for Time-Sensitive, Reciprocal, Inclusive, Actionable, and Strength-Based. The “S” of the trio was launched shortly after the program was piloted.
What we want to do is go into each other’s classrooms and really look for the strengths that the other person brings to instruction, and then debrief and try to learn from that and unpack those strengths.” Bryler Baxter said.
They chose this acronym to respect faculty time, allow junior faculty to observe senior faculty, include full-time instructors, part-time faculty, and graduate teaching assistants in the program, while still meeting requirements for peer observation. This is because they wanted a program that met the requirements for peer observation. Open up the department for further growth.
The initiative started small within the Department of Mathematics, but has grown to incorporate various STEM departments across the university.
The latest $1.2 million grant will directly involve the university’s six STEM departments and 60 faculty members within those departments over five years, Breiler-Baxter said.
Program implementation
In the first year of the grant, Bryler-Baxter, Rushton, and Gardner will focus on two main goals.
Their first goal was to build relationships with professors in STEM departments on the MTSU campus, and the three lead faculty members didn’t want to limit themselves to departments they were familiar with, Breiler said. Baxter said.
“We want to go into those departments, meet the faculty and build relationships, talk to the deans and really get to know the local context and what their goals are for the department. Professor Breiler-Baxter said.
Their second goal is to better understand the educational culture within STEM departments on campus by collaborating with graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to collect baseline data.
Then, in the fall of 2025, the three professors will begin implementing the Teaching TRIOS initiative in six different departments within CBAS.
“There will be three faculty members from each of the six departments, and there will be 18 faculty members participating, so those are what we would call early adopters,” Breiler-Baxter said. “They are typically very innovative within their departments, eager to try new things, bring new ideas to their colleagues, and drive cultural change.”
After Bryler-Baxter, Rushton, and Gardner selected the selected faculty, they spent a year developing the leadership skills of the professors so they could bring those skills to the department and drive change within the department. We plan to make it possible to function as the main body of
Bleiler-Baxter said she plans to expand the process by working toward getting up to half of the university’s STEM faculty to participate in TRIOS.
Although the program may begin at MTSU, this grant will allow this effort to spread nationally and even internationally through the dissemination of research-based models.
Role of each teacher
Professor Bleiler-Baxter will be working with a variety of colleagues across the university, including key idea champions in the Department of Mathematical Sciences such as James Hart, Jeremy Strayer, Ginger Rowell, Chris Stevens and Rachel Leander. I have been working with teachers on TRIOS education for 10 years. Donald Nelson is retired.
She, Rushton and Gardner collaborated on previous projects in the Teaching TRIOS initiative in 2020-2021 with a $50,000 grant from the Tennessee Board of Regents’ Student Engagement, Retention and Success Initiative.
Commenting on this current project, Professor Bryler-Baxter said, “Her expertise is in general faculty development, Grant’s expertise is in faculty culture and graduate teaching assistant development, and Greg Rushton’s expertise is in faculty culture and graduate teaching assistant development.” It’s about leadership and leadership development.”
All three professors also teach doctoral degrees in mathematics and science education. program.
“What we want to achieve is for students to feel like they can grow as instructors, and that they have access to the tools and community to support that growth,” Breiler-Baxter said.
Other project team members include:
Aspen Malone, Project Coordinator, Tennessee STEM Education Center. Alyssa Freeman, Graduate Research Assistant, Mathematics and Science Education PhD Program; Cory Wang, Graduate Research Assistant, Mathematics and Science Education PhD Program; Cassandra Mohr, Postdoctoral Researcher, Discipline-Based Education Research Program in STEM Postdoctoral preparation and refinement. Mary Foley, Postdoctoral Researcher, Postdoctoral Preparation and Refinement in STEM for Field-Based Education Research Programs. Andrew Puente is a postdoctoral researcher who prepares and refines postdoctoral positions in STEM for discipline-based educational research programs.
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