Loss of students post-freshman Biology • 80% underrepresented• 60% for all others

US needs 1 million new STEM degrees for the next decade to maintain global leadership (PCAST, 2012)

1 Trillion dollars (est) has been spent on educational reform with little full-scale change

–There are already numerous stellar programs that concentrate on changing individual faculty members’ pedagogy (e.g. SENCER, SABER, PKAL, ACUBE, ABLE, HHMI Summer Institutes)

–PULSE holds promise for effecting change of critical masses of faculty in every department

• Judy Awong-Taylor, Associate Dean, Professor of Biology, Georgia Gwinnett College, GA.

• Richard Cardullo, Distinguished Teaching Professor and Divisional Dean of Life Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA.

• Ellen S. Goldey, William R. Kenan Professor of Biology and Chair of Biology, Wofford College, SC.

• Rick Gonzalez, Professor and Chair of Biology, University of San Diego, CA. • April Hill, Clarence E. Denoon Professor of Science, University of

Richmond, VA. • Melanie Lee-Brown, Associate Professor and Chair of Biology, Guilford

College, Greensboro, NC. • Mary A. Smith, Professor and Chair of Biology, North Carolina A&T State

University, NC.

• Develop self-assessment rubrics to aid departments in evaluating their progress vis a vis V&C reform

• Train V&C Ambassadors to work as departmental facilitators

• Develop certification for departments whose curriculum aligns with V&C

• Develop and offer online and regional workshops• Provide resources & networking opportunities for

faculty and departments

1. Integrate core concepts & competencies throughout curriculum

2. Focus on student-centered learning3. Promote a campuswide commitment to

change4. Engage the Biology community in the

implementation of change

• Core competencies can apply to all STEM disciplines, not just biology

• What are these core competencies?

1. ABILITY TO APPLY THE PROCESS OF SCIENCE2. ABILITY TO USE QUANTITATIVE REASONING 3. ABILITY TO USE MODELING AND SIMULATION4. ABILITY TO TAP IN TO THE INTERDISCIPLINARY NATURE OF SCIENCE5. ABILITY TO COMMUNI CATE AND COLLABORATE WITH OTHER DISCIPLINES6. ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

• Identify strategies to implement V&C recommendations into individual course(s)

• Identify strategies to implement (or ratchet-up) V&C recommendations in program/department

• Identify leverage points with other significant institutional events such as national accreditation organizations

• Identify ONE collaborative action with regional colleagues.

www.pulsecommunity.org