Bridging the Research to Practice Gap with Faculty Change Agents and Student Ambassadors

Program Abstract: In an era when the value of higher education is questioned while the STEM retention challenges persists, new debate has started whether AI is taking over humans’ jobs. In the middle of this turmoil, a faculty group forms an accountability group while transforming their teaching practices grounded on the presenter’s innovative instructional framework. This framework is stemmed from cognitive science and social emotional learning. This interdisciplinary, non-hierarchical faculty group foster scholarly identity by receiving grants, serving at the panels, and conducting peer-observations. An effort becomes more impactful when this framework is taught as a course to support retention in STEM. The student ambassador program involves l conducting research review on affective-domain challenges and presenting their work. This work can be transferable to: 1) foster sense of belonging for teaching faculty in research-intensive institutions, 2) promote the instruction of evidence-based STEM study strategies to students, 3) create community with diverse identities.