http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification 720 https://escholarship.org/uc/isee_pdp20yr_impacts/rss Recent eScholarship items from Impacts and Future Directions Sat, 27 Jun 2026 04:27:34 +0000 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/12g5j62m The Professional Development Program (PDP) was a highly impactful and innovative program that was run by the Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators for twenty years, from 2001–2020. The program trained early-career scientists and engineers to teach effectively and inclusively, while also developing participants’ skills in leadership, collaboration, and teamwork. In this paper, we summarize important aspects of the PDP and some of the program’s major outcomes, describe legacies of the program, and share recommendations based on two decades of experience. A large section of this paper details aspects of the PDP that we consider essential to the program but that might not be apparent from other documentation of the program. Recommendations for others interested in professional development of STEM graduate students and postdoctoral scholars are: 1) invest in establishing program culture; 2) prepare participants pursuing all STEM career paths for inclusive teaching; 3) focus... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/12g5j62m Wed, 12 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Hunter, Lisa Metevier, Anne J Kluger-Bell, Barry Seagroves, Scott Quan, Tiffani K McConnell, Nicholas Barnes, Austin Brown Pacheco, Candice Raschke, Lynne Palomino, Rafael Porter, Jason https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5mv3k3p7 The Akamai Internship in Hawai‘i and the Professional Development Program (PDP) address key issues of sustaining a diverse, equitable, and inclusive STEM workforce in industry and academia. Established in 2002, the Akamai program builds capacity to overcome the brain-drain workforce problem that Hawaiʻi faces by connecting local undergraduate students with internship opportunities in the STEM industries on the islands of Maui and Hawaiʻi. The PDP provides opportunities for graduate students, early-career scientists and industry leaders to learn effective andragogical practices for teaching science and engineering to the next generation at the undergraduate level. A unique, grounding aspect of the Akamai program across all cohorts is a week-long course preparing interns to work with their local industry partners and build an inclusive community. The course is co-led by Akamai program staff and PDP alumni in collaboration with PDP design teams who run complementary inquiry learning... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5mv3k3p7 Thu, 6 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Chu, Devin S Barnes, Austin Sueoka, Stacey Irvine, Lelemia https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4tk1v31p The role of facilitator, and facilitation strategies, are components that sometimes get overlooked as important in promoting collaborative interactions, such as with group work. Being able to work effectively in a group is a required skill for most disciplines, in particular for those in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. It is also central throughout the Professional Development Program (PDP) developed and run by the Institute of Scientist and Engineer Educators (ISEE), starting with group formation and leading all the way up to the final culminating activity. As such, PDP teams are taught facilitation strategies. Keeping in mind a group’s goals and what their measures for accountability are, the facilitator should be able to give constructive feedback and actively assess the team’s progress on the go. In this process, the facilitator can identify early on issues that can then be addressed before they become pathological. In this paper, we discuss... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4tk1v31p Thu, 6 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Beceiro-Novo, Saul Azucena, Oscar Carrión, Cynthia N https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7np735s7 The ISEE PDP program offers vital support to graduate students that is often missing in the U.S. doctoral training tradition. This panel will explore some of the advantages and uses of the ISEE methodology in a variety of educational and also professional settings. First, we explore the relationships between learner identities and outcomes, including the benefits of “facilitation for equity” in the classroom, to facilitate research discussions, and beyond. Second, the paper delves into “backward design” as a method for establishing learning outcomes, curricular plans, and translating theory into practice. Finally, we discuss how ISEE concepts can help all learners of all ages and backgrounds to navigate their career goals and vision, including teaching educators and researchers how to use goal-oriented curricular development. While each vignette approaches the subject from different angles and professions, the structured planning and theory behind curricular design holds true... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7np735s7 Wed, 5 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Lovell, Robin J Egerer, Monika Montgomery, Ryan Olimpi, Elissa M https://escholarship.org/uc/item/41q869sh Much of the ISEE Professional Development Program (PDP)’s long-term value arises from participants transferring teaching approaches they develop in the course of designing and facilitating a PDP inquiry activity to other contexts throughout their careers. PDP participants encounter frameworks such as the inquiry framework and the equity and inclusion focus areas, and are encouraged explicitly to become informed consumers of further scholarship on teaching and learning. Many participants resonate especially with the PDP’s emphasis on equity and inclusion in STEM teaching, and meld lessons from the PDP with their lived experiences as well as other scholarship on equity-minded or culturally responsive educational practices. Our panel shares four perspectives on extending lessons from the PDP to new contexts: mentoring students and developing interactive lessons in molecular biology, designing astronomy activities from a culturally relevant and culturally responsive standpoint, incorporating... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/41q869sh Wed, 5 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 McConnell, Nicholas J Casey, Caitlin M Macho, Jocelyn M O'Donnell, Christine https://escholarship.org/uc/item/30r3j4qs Ostensibly, the main goal of the ISEE Professional Development Program (PDP) is to teach scientists and engineers how to be intentional, inclusive educators by experiencing and designing inquiry-based learning activities. However, the PDP program has many indirect, positive effects on its participants as well, including building community and a sense of STEM identity, fluency to understand and discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion topics, and recognizing the importance of psychological safety in learning, academia, and industry. We present four narratives from past participants with underestimated minority identities, who discuss how the PDP program had a positive impact on their growth as scientists and engineers. In each case, the PDP provided critical tools, knowledge or support that enabled their success as graduate students and into their respective career and life journeys. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/30r3j4qs Wed, 5 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Lui, Lauren M Roth, Danica L Roybal-Jungemann, Gabriel Irvine, Lelemia https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1vh495wp Transitioning from graduate student roles in academia to professional careers in industry and government affords ISEE’s Professional Development Program (PDP) alumni the opportunity to apply lessons and techniques learned at the PDP to new environments with new goals. In mission-focused government roles, PDP alumni apply their expertise in inquiry-style teaching to mentor junior staff and develop projects that meet governmental requirements, while preserving STEM learner identities. Alumni find that the principles of inquiry-style teaching have applicability across professional development spectrums — from mentoring high school interns through training postdoctoral researchers and managing teams of diverse career stages. In industry, where fast-paced corporate goals drive innovation, alumni have found that PDP principles in developing explicit content and practice learning outcomes have helped them develop unique roles within their companies. Additionally, across both industry... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1vh495wp Wed, 5 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Mayfield, Kimberley Holloway, Alexandra Jacox, Michael G Martin, Stephen https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8sp532b4 To create and achieve awesome things in the world together, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) professionals need to be able to lead effectively. Leadership can be thought of as “a process of social influence through which an individual enlists and mobilizes the aid of others in the attainment of a collective goal” (Chemers, 2001). In the Institute for Scientist & Engineers Educators’ Professional Development Program (PDP), STEM graduate students and postdocs learned, practiced, and reflected on leadership skills and strategies explicitly. Design Team Leaders (DTLs) practiced leading their teams, all participants facilitated inquiry (led their students in learning), and some (in later years) learned through the inclusive leadership PDP strand. In this panel paper, we reflect on what we learned from these experiences and discuss how we apply PDP leadership training daily in our work beyond the PDP. We review key principles about inclusive leadership, such... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8sp532b4 Sat, 1 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Strubbe, Linda Bosinger, Mia Stauffer, Heidi L Tarjan, L. Max https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4m80g97s In addition to educating participants about inquiry instruction, equity and inclusion in STEM, and assessment, the Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators’ (ISEE’s) Professional Development Program (PDP) is intentionally designed to provide opportunities for participants to return in subsequent years to observe (shadow), practice, and train in a variety of roles (e.g., design team leader, discussion group leader, apprentice facilitator, apprentice instructor). Returning participants not only receive instruction to guide them in these roles, but also receive feedback from core team designers and experienced facilitators and instructors while conducting and after performing these roles. Panelists will discuss one or more roles they engaged in as a PDP participant and how these experiences shaped their approaches to learning, teaching, and working with others as part of their professional careers. Topics to be covered will include leadership, facilitating dialogues and group... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4m80g97s Sat, 1 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Martinez, Raquel A Silvia, Devin W Rice, Emily L Porter, Jason https://escholarship.org/uc/item/13c3x5vb A significant focus of the ISEE Professional Development Program (PDP) is identifying authentic STEM practices, so that educators and scientists can develop and assess these practices as intentionally as they would scientific content knowledge. In addition to the classic inquiry-based learning activities, PDP alumni also find themselves using and teaching these STEM practices in other contexts. Many PDP participants have benefited from recognizing "STEM practices" as its own category of specific skills and knowledge, allowing them to build these practices into their work intentionally, rather than simply expecting these skills to develop naturally as a by-product of learning STEM content. We present four instances where PDP lessons have been put to work by alumni of the program in this manner, either in teaching and mentoring students, performing real-world scientific research, or both. First, we consider two instances of alumni using their PDP training to inform the way they... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/13c3x5vb Sat, 1 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 West, Colin G Honig, Susanna E Lui, Lauren M Raschke, Lynne https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0sq6r7pd The Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators (ISEE) Professional Development Program (PDP) has led to the generation of several activities geared toward training in astronomical instrumentation. These include activities developed for the Center for Adaptive Optics summer school and the AstroTech Instrumentation Summer School. The goal of these activities has been to provide the participants with hands-on experience to convey challenging concepts in instrumentation. The inclusion of practices from PDP led to activities that prioritized inquiry-based approaches over the more traditional formulaic lab-based training and activities. Our panel will review the design of these activities and discuss approaches that increase the likelihood of achieving the learning goals. We will also discuss ways in which these activities can help encourage students with little previous experience in instrumentation to consider additional studies in instrumentation. Finally, we will reflect on... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0sq6r7pd Sat, 1 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Do, Tuan Lu, Jessica R Lanz, Alicia Konopacky, Quinn https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0mb4644g In this paper, we explore how core principles of the mentoring training offered by the Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE) Professional Development Program (PDP) have been adopted by PDP alumni and applied in different contexts. The core themes of the mentoring work conducted by ISEE, which are Inquiry, Equity & Inclusion, and Assessment, form an extensible basis for PDP participants to use as they develop their own mentoring programs. The panel/paper is structured to briefly identify core components of mentoring in the PDP model and then discuss how former PDP participants have applied these in a variety of other venues. With the goal of broadening access & persistence in STEM, the PDP emphasized: the role of ownership and agency, the practice of explanations, the creation of opportunities for recognition, providing formative assessment, and a recognition of and introduction to STEM culture. The PDP has had a unique way of “staying with” participants... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0mb4644g Sat, 1 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Severson, Scott Dunkin, Robin Walker, Samantha