Johns Hopkins supports innovative instructional ideas in STEM education

Johns Hopkins University Provost Robert Lieberman has announced 13 grant recipients for the second round of funding of the university's Gateway Science Initiative, designed to support innovative instructional ideas in the STEM education disciplines—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The awards, which range from $6,000 to $210,000, will allow the principal investigators and their collaborators to develop and implement their ideas and assess the results, Lieberman said.

Ten grants were awarded during the initiative's first round of funding in December 2011. The second request for proposals generated 21 submissions, which were reviewed by the 19-member Gateway Science Initiative Faculty Steering Committee co-chaired by Steven David, vice dean for undergraduate education and professor of political science, and Marie Diener-West, director of the Master of Public Health Program and professor of biostatistics.

The initiative defines gateway science courses as those that establish the fundamental knowledge base required for subsequent or more specialized subject area study and research. Disciplines include biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, statistics, and bioinformatics with a basic natural science or quantitative focus in fields such as economics, medicine, nursing, and public health.

Johns Hopkins will hold its third annual Symposium on Excellence in Teaching and Learning in the Sciences on Jan. 13-14, an event that coincides with the inaugural Science of Learning Symposium. The events will highlight cognitive learning research and examine the practical application of techniques, programs, tools, and strategies that promote gateway science learning.