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The United States lags behind other nations in professional proficiency in the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) (Bergeron & Gordon, 2017; DeJarnette, 2012; Jordan, 2014; National Science Foundation, 2015). Institutions of higher education must find solutions to improve the quality and teaching practices of STEM educators (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2013; Committee on Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Public Policy, 2016). Derting et al. (2016) noted, “Faculty professional development programs are critical components of efforts to improve teaching and learning in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines…” (p. 1).
Following from these observations, this paper reports on an Observation Protocol (OP) for online professors and development of a research-based professional development program grounded in research-based instructional strategies (RBIS) (Borrego, Cutler, Prince, Henderson, & Froyd, 2013; Froyd, 2008). The population will be undergraduate online STEM faculty at Franklin University, Columbus, Ohio.
Research-Based Instructional Strategies
Since the late 20th century, leading educational researchers, such as Gagne (1985) and Merrill (2002), have observed that active learning strategies lead to more engaged learners and, therefore, improved learning will take place. Such strategies are vital for STEM-based instruction (Avery, 2013; Borrego et al., 2013; Dede & Eisenkraft, 2016). Investigators (Borrego et al., 2013; Freeman et al., 2014; Froyd, 2008) have advanced the acceptance of active learning strategies teaching in undergraduate STEM courses through extensive research identifying the characteristics of these strategies (Early, Rogge, & Deci, 2014). The strategies include approaches such as inquiry learning, problem based learning, and collaborative learning, thus providing much needed support for the veracity of these strategies. As a result of this clarifying research, undergraduate STEM faculty are being challenged to integrate more active strategies into their STEM courses (Borrego & Henderson, 2014) rather than many commonly used passive strategies (Bonura, Bissell, & Liljegren, 2016).