Faculty Professional Development on Inclusive Pedagogy Yields Chemistry Curriculum Transformation, Equity Awareness, and Community

Persons excluded due to ethnicity or race (PEERs) leave STEM at disproportionate rates; therefore, efforts to engage undergraduate PEERs are critical to creating a diverse STEM workforce. Through a Howard Hughes Medical Institute funded Inclusive Excellence grant (HHMI-IE), the REALISE (REALizing Inclusive Science Excellence) program was developed with the goal to increase student retention and success. As part of this project, an extensive faculty development program, including a backward course design module, workshops on microaggressions and implicit bias, and teamwork training, was created to help faculty implement inclusive pedagogy strategies. There were 33 faculty members who participated in the trainings within faculty learning communities (FLCs) and were further supported with STEM-Education (STEM-Ed) reading groups, faculty mixers, minigrants, and engagement from the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL). Evaluation of 10 faculty members' change narratives and reflective prompts revealed that low-stakes opportunities such as STEMEd reading groups had the most influence for instituting learner-centered classroom practices, and the workshops on microaggressions and implicit biases prompted faculty to create opportunities to build respectful relationships with students. Here, we share lessons learned from our program evaluation so that others can successfully implement inclusive pedagogy in chemistry.