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Abstract Title: A case study of cultural change: learning to partner with students
Abstract Type: Contributed Poster Presentation
Abstract: This work presents a case study of a team of students and faculty working to increase the diversity of their department through cultural change. We focus on the perspective of the two faculty change leaders organizing this team, who received training and continued support by Departmental Action Leadership Institutes (DALIs). DALIs are workshops led by the Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) team that prepare faculty members to lead change efforts in their local departments by forming teams based on the Departmental Action Team (DAT) model. Concurrent to change leaders' participation in DALI, the DAT pursues a change effort to address internal issues relating to undergraduate education.

In this work, we look at how one DAT approaches the practice of ``Students as Partners'' (SaP), a pedagogical practice that re-positions the relationship between educators and students in the endeavor of learning. While most efforts of SaP illustrated in the literature center curriculum, assessment, teaching, and research as areas of collaboration, this particular DAT used SaP in their efforts to increase the enrollment and retention of underrepresented students in their department. Through a series of interviews with change leaders and observations of DAT meetings, we document the pre-existing and emerging departmental cultures of partnering with students Additionally, we describe the culture of SaP on the DAT that appears to be operating as the transition between these pre-existing and emerging cultures . Finally, we discuss the elements present that enabled a potentially productive attempt at cultural change through SaP.
Session Time: Poster Session 1
Poster Number: I-13
Contributed Paper Record: Contributed Paper Information
Contributed Paper Download: Download Contributed Paper

Author/Organizer Information

Primary Contact: Fatima Abdurrahman
University of Maryland
Oakland, CA 94704
Co-Author(s)
and Co-Presenter(s)
Chandra Turpen (she/her/hers) University of Maryland
Diana Sachmpazidi (she/her/hers) University of Maryland