Extending a Coherent Gateway to STEM Teaching & Learning

In 2013 MSU was awarded one of eight grants, from the Association of American Universities (AAU), that were intended to catalyze transformation in STEM education at research universities. This project, “Creating a Coherent Gateway to STEM Teaching and Learning,” focused on the gateway courses in biology, chemistry and physics because of their pivotal role in retention of students in STEM. Our goal was to use three-dimensional learning (3DL), a vision originally laid out by the Framework for K-12 Science Education, as a common framework around which transformation would be focused. In this presentation we will discuss the rationale and theoretical basis for the transformation, provide examples of transformed materials and learning activities, and show the results of four years of transformation across three disciplines.