Abstract: The current study used Blomquist’s Project Management Self-Efficacy assessment to collect data about student’s perceived project management competence before taking a graduate level project management course. The research utilized the PMSE assessment to measure actual and retrospective pre-course project management self-efficacy. No industry is immune to the need for skilled project managers. Our question is “how do you know…they know…what they say they know?” In recent years, PMI’s focus was The Project Economy. In the new project economy individuals need to transform ideas into reality and deliver value to stakeholders by collaborating in teams to successfully complete projects and support organizational value streams. Findings showed that individuals with previous project management experience were more likely to overestimate their skillset before taking the class than those without previous project management experience. This gap in project management skill insight puts employers at risk for missed opportunities and unrealized cost savings. Through the application of project management tools and templates, the students learn project life-cycle approaches used in industry today and demonstrate application through completion of actual projects in a team-based setting. The real-world application of ideas allows students to bridge the gap between their conceptual knowledge and their ability to effectively manage a project.

This study examines the outcomes of a four-year faculty learning community (FLC) that aimed to transform departmental ethics curriculum by supporting Earth Sciences faculty members as they ethically inquired into their teaching of ethics and refined existing courses in alignment with an Integrated Community-Engaged Learning and Ethical Reflection (ICELER) framework. We present ethnographic case studies that unpack processes through which three faculty members transformed undergraduate courses. We assembled case studies by triangulating interview data, course artifacts, and faculty reflections. We examine how faculty (1) built awareness around teaching ethics, (2) took responsibility for and made judgments about teaching ethics, (3) experimented by designing and implementing ICELER-inspired courses, and (4) interrogated the outcomes of their ethics teaching, utilizing findings to enhance awareness and revise courses. The paper closes by introducing a model detailing how instructors inquire into ethics teaching and how model components might inspire future educational practice and research.

Thinking With Algebra (TWA) is a National Science Foundation Project (DUE 2021414) to develop a post-secondary curriculum for intermediate algebra. TWA focuses on six elements that align with building algebraic fluency with conceptual understanding, a mixed review approach, small-group work, and whole-class discussion (Feikes, et al., 2021). Using an equity lens (Oppland-Cordell et al., 2023), TWA is designed for students, including underrepresented students, who need additional mathematical supports at the college level. Seventeen college math instructors attended a workshop on the lessons and pedagogy in order to use TWA in their college courses. Feedback from instructors participating in the TWA first-year faculty workshop indicated that the curriculum was used in many different ways to help prepare students for college algebra and other STEM courses.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the college experience. Concurrently, social justice movements highlighting systemic racism and police brutality were taking place.We explored the extent to which undergraduate students from a private university felt both positive and negative emotions due to the dual pandemic. Methods:Undergraduate students reported the extent to which they felt 19 emotions due to COVID-19 in August 2020 (n = 944) and January 2021 (n = 321). In August 2020, participants also indicated the extent to which they felt the same emotions due to the civil unrest occurring in response to systemic racism and police brutality. Results: Participants felt a wide range of emotions in response to the dual pandemic. Students felt more positively about the civil unrest compared to COVID-19 in August 2020. Despite vaccine availability, negative emotions regarding COVID-19 rose in January 2021. Conclusions: The implications of the ongoing effects of the dual pandemic are discussed.

The Thinking With Algebra (TWA) curriculum, a National Science Foundation Project (DUE 2021414), applies a sociopolitical equity framework (Gutiérrez, 2012) to strengthen student participants' mathematics achievement outcomes and mathematics identity development. Instructor and student data indicate improvements in these two dimensions. This project also expands knowledge about creating equitable math learning environments that support underrepresented students' mathematical success.

This is a reach paper based on motivational theory as it relates to faculty members in higher education. The Covid-19 Pandemic had many devastating effects worldwide, specifically across the United States. The Pandemic not only impacted physical health, safety, and the economy, but as a result, many suffered from mental instability stemming from depression and stress. Faculty in Higher Education, like many others serving our communities, were not shielded from the effects of Covid-19. They had no choice but to adapt and continue serving students. Traditional in-person classes seemed to move to an online platform overnight, placing an additional workload on faculty acclimating to new methodologies and technology associated with online delivery. Many colleges and universities were also struck with financial concerns, a consequence of diminished enrollment, having to reduce overall budgets impacting the availability of resources. Now that the immediate danger has subsided, colleges, universities, and their faculty members are left with the residual effects and looking to understand the new norm. This study endeavored to answer the question, of what motivates faculty members in higher education and to assess, given the current post-pandemic conditions, whether or not those motivational factors are in place. To identify motivators and assess the perception of current conditions within an urban university, a survey was sent out across multiple schools targeting 12 key areas: • Financial Rewards (pay and benefits) • Fair and Equitable Promotion Opportunities (process and support) • Continuous Development • Administration Support (management and resources) • Recognition • Work-Life Balance • Operating Conditions • Inclusion/Sense of Belonging • Meaningful Work • Job Security • Professional Achievement • Status A total of 52 questions modeling employee motivational theories and Maslow's Hierarchy were included in the survey resulting in 65 respondents. The accumulated data was used to rank the motivators based on their level of importance established by participants and to demonstrate if the needs of faculty were being met. **Round table discussion if accepted by FDD

Ethics is central to scientific and engineering research and practice, but a key challenge for promoting students’ ethical formation involves enhancing faculty members’ ability and confidence in embedding positive ethical learning experiences into their curriculums. To this end, this paper explores changes in faculty members’ approaches to and perceptions of ethics education following their participation in a multi-year interdisciplinary faculty learning community (FLC). We conducted and thematically analyzed semi-structured interviews with 11 participants following the second year of the FLC. Qualitative themes suggested that, following two years of FLC participation, faculty members (1) were better able to articulate their conceptualizations of ethics; (2) became cognizant of how personal experiences, views, and beliefs informed how they introduced ethics into their curriculum; and (3) developed and lived instructional principles that guided their ethics teaching. Results thus suggested that faculty members benefitted from exploring, discussing, and teaching ethics, which (in turn) enabled them to see new opportunities and become confident in integrating ethics into their courses in meaningful ways that aligned with their scholarly identities. Taken together, these data suggest faculty became agents of change for designing, implementing, and refining ethics-related instructional efforts in STEM. This work can guide others interested in designing faculty learning communities to promote instructional skill development, faculty members’ awareness of their ethical values, and their ability and agency to design and integrate ethics learning activities alongside departmental peers in an intentional and continuous manner.

Thinking With Algebra (TWA) is a curriculum development project for college students needing introductory/intermediate algebra. Unique guiding principles of the project are a focus on algebraic structure, mixed review, equity, and a classroom approach emphasizing small-group work and whole-class discussion (Feikes et al., 2022). Results are derived from a survey given to one class of fifteen students taking an intermediate algebra summer course. The paper shares both Likert and open-ended responses. Data demonstrates that the students believed that the TWA curriculum was beneficial.

CHANGING INSTITUTIONAL CULTURE ONE REPORT AT A TIME: APPLYING A CHANGE MODEL TO WRITING ASSIGNMENT TUTOR TRAINING IN STEM (WATTS)

Given the ongoing socio-ecological crises, higher education institutions need curricular interventions to support students in developing the knowledge, skills, and perspectives needed to create a sustainable future. Campus farms are increasingly becoming sites for sustainability and environmental education toward this end. This paper describes the design and outcomes of a farm-situated place-based experiential learning (PBEL) intervention in two undergraduate biology courses and one environmental studies course over two academic years. We conducted a mixed-method study using pre/post-surveys and focus groups to examine the relationship between the PBEL intervention and students' sense of place and expressions of pro-environmentalism. The quantitative analysis indicated measurable shifts in students' place attachment and place-meaning scores. The qualitative findings illustrate a complex relationship between students' academic/career interests, backgrounds, and pro-environmentalism. We integrated these findings to generate a model of sustainability learning through PBEL and argue for deepening learning to encourage active participation in socio-ecological change.

While many studies have explored individuals' feelings related to recent national events, none have explored the relationship of individualism and collectivist leanings caused by these events on the individuals emotions related to those events. For this research we specifically focus on the COVID-19 Pandemic and the January 6 Capitol Insurrection. Data were collected from college students at a small, private midwestern private university over a 10-day period at the end of January and the beginning of February 2021. A Qualtrics survey was sent to 1,041 students who had completed a similar survey 5 months earlier related to their feelings about the COVID-19 pandemic. We used a subsample (N=314 students; 74.2% female; 83.4% White; 0.6% freshman, 24.5% sophomores, 34.7% juniors and 29.3% seniors) who provided complete data. Measures included horizontal ("We are the same, high freedom, equality") and vertical ("I am different, Authority ranking, high freedom") individualism as well as horizontal ("We are the same, share, less freedom") and vertical ("I am different, sharing, authority ranking") collectivism. Participants also provided data on the positive and negative affective responses to COVID-19 and to the January 6 Capitol Insurrection. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the direct effects between individual and collectivism and the affective responses to each event (all standardized; Stata v. 17.0). Global fit was evaluated using the chi-square test and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). Local fit was addressed using the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) and the Tucker Louis Index (TLI). We also investigated group differences by gender (male/female) and race (minority/white) where significant overall direct effects were observed. Fit indices (Chi-sq[df]: 60.99[31], p<.001; RMSEA[90% CI]: 0.046[0.035-0.076); CFI: 0.972; TLI: 0.905) suggested the specified model provided a good fit to the data. Higher COVID VI was associated with higher positive (B=0.12) and negative (B=0.15) affective reactions to COVID (B=0.12). Higher Capitol HI and HC were both associated with higher positive (both: B=0.21) and higher negative (B=0.12-0.23) affective reaction to the capitol riots. Higher COVID VI was associated with lower negative affective response (B=-0.16) to COVID. We observed no gender or race/ethnicity differences in these significant effects. Students who felt more strongly that people were the same (horizontal individualism and horizontal collectivism) were more likely to have both strong positive and negative emotions to the Janury 6th insurrection. For COVID-19 negative feelings, students whose feelings towards COVID were more individualistic had mixed results. Those who believed people are different (vertical individualism) were more likely to have lower negative feelings towards COVID-19 while those who believed people are the same (horizontal individualism) had greater negative feelings. These data have implications for scaffolding young adult support in advance of future socio-political emergencies.

This study measured the impact of teacher professional development (PD), designed to support grades 3-5 integrated science activities in Indiana, United States and enhance mathematics and language arts learning experiences. To determine whether students of the Indiana Science Initiative (ISI) teachers benefitted, we conducted a matched comparison study of 1546 classrooms using multi-level modeling to identify the effect of teachers on their students' science, English Language Arts, and math state assessment scores. Results show that when teachers participated in multiple years of ISI and attended PD recently, their students had statistically higher standardized test scores than the comparison group in science as well as mathematics and ELA. (c) 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

In this WIP study, our primary objective is to begin identifying what faculty perceive as important for ethical practice in biomedical engineering. We analyzed two primary data sources to address this objective. First, we analyzed curricular artifacts developed by five biomedical engineering faculty members at a single large Urban Midwestern University in the USA. Second, beginning with codes established by Katz, we analyzed interviews with these same five faculty members to identify ethical considerations salient to faculty mental models. Through these analyses, we identified nine ethical considerations which draw attention to aspects of engineering practice that faculty deem of ethical import. Moreover, these considerations were evident in both curricular artifacts and interviews. The considerations included: Economic; Environmental; Interpersonal; Legal; Organizational; Personal; Professional; Societal; Technological; and Theoretical. We provide descriptions of these considerations along with associated extracts from the curricular artifacts and interviews. These findings can benefit instructors by helping make evident the many and significant ethical considerations salient to engineering. In the future, we aim to more purposefully triangulate the alignment between faculty mental models and the ethical considerations they prioritize in their instruction.