Students looking to avoid this slumber party should be interested in the Association of American Universities’ (AAU) STEM Initiative Hub. AAU hopes that the Hub platform will inform students, improve education, foster innovation, and combat that stubborn tenured Prof. The Hub platform will allow AAU’s 60 US and two Canadian Universities to publicize success stories, challenges, and curriculum changes.
AAU President Hunter Rawlings says, "As institutions take steps to improve their use of evidence-based teaching practices, AAU hopes these examples will serve as a resource for all colleges and universities working to improve undergraduate teaching and learning in STEM.”
By using the Hub, students will be able to see what universities have been doing to improve the quality of their engineering education. These improvements can make a big difference when deciding between schools. The idea is that schools who implement interactive teaching and continual teaching improvement will be stamping out the 20-year-old lectures.
Gabriela Weaver, a Purdue professor says, "Purdue has been a leader in STEM education innovation for many years.” She adds, “We are excited to be able to support the AAU STEM Initiative effort with the development of its hub for its pilot and member sites to network on their successes and challenges … Building these networks will help accelerate the pace of making 'innovative' practices the new normal in higher education."
Here’s hoping this AAU initiative will let future engineering students skip the caffeine.
Source Purdue.