Abstract
In an attempt to address declining persistence rates of university STEM majors (Science, Teaching, Engineering, and Math), concerns regarding retention rates and waning STEM faculty participation in faculty development, we report on a year-long professional development program called the STEM Professional Academy to Reinvigorate the Culture of Teaching (SPARCT) that focuses on evidence-based teaching practices. Expected SPARCT outcomes include: (1) improving evidence-based practices in the introductory STEM classroom, (2) developing professional peer-observation strategies for the STEM classroom, (3) enhancing scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) by SPARCT faculty, (4) developing long-term Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) in STEM instruction, and (5) enhancing student learning in introductory STEM courses. In this article, we describe the features of SPARCT and discuss findings from our first three years as aligned with the outcomes over three cohorts of SPARCT participants (2014-2016). By engaging at least 25% of Florida Gulf Coast University's STEM faculty during the three years, SPARCT is creating a community of STEM scholars with self-efficacy in using evidence-based teaching practices, reinvigorating interdisciplinary connections, developing learning threads, and increasing the community's potential to transform the teaching culture of the university.
