Content area
Full Text
About the Authors:
James T. Laverty
* E-mail: [email protected]
Current address: Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, United States of America
Affiliation: CREATE for STEM Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5788-8539
Sonia M. Underwood
Current address: Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and STEM Transformation Institute, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, United States of America
Affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
Rebecca L. Matz
Affiliation: CREATE for STEM Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
Lynmarie A. Posey
Affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
Justin H. Carmel
Affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
Marcos D. Caballero
Affiliations CREATE for STEM Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
Cori L. Fata-Hartley
Affiliation: College of Natural Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
Diane Ebert-May
Affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
Sarah E. Jardeleza
Current address: University Analysis, Reporting, and Assessment, Salisbury University, Salisbury, Maryland, United States of America
Affiliation: CREATE for STEM Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
Melanie M. Cooper
Affiliations CREATE for STEM Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America, Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
Introduction
From “A Nation at Risk” to “the Gathering Storm” to “Engage to Excel”, there is a clear need to improve STEM education for both the preparation of future STEM professionals and for the development of a scientifically literate citizenry [1–4]. In response to these reports, several national level initiatives in K-12 and higher education were devised and implemented. For example, three sets of science education standards were developed for K-12 science education, the most recent being the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) [5–8]. While there is not a coherent approach to the design and implementation of curriculum reform in higher education, there are a number of influential reports. The recent “Discipline-Based Education Research”...