Facilitating change in undergraduate STEM: A multidisciplinary, multimethod metasynthesis mapping a decade of growth

Research shows that evidence-based, student-centered teaching methods improve learning, retention, and equity in undergraduate STEM education. However, despite major investments, these methods remain underused in U.S. higher education. A previous NSF-funded project reviewed STEM education change initiatives from 1995 to 2008, and the findings, published on 2011, have influenced efforts to transform undergraduate STEM instruction. This talk presents preliminary findings from an NSF-supported metasynthesis of literature published from 2011 to 2023. Using an innovative combination of machine learning and human qualitative coding, we analyzed 242 articles (from an initial set of 9,262) to explore recent strategies for improving STEM instruction. This updated review highlights shifts in change strategies since the earlier study and reflects new developments in the field. Our findings contribute to the literature on systemic change in STEM education and offer insights into the methodologies used for conducting large-scale metasynthesis studies.