Hi Dr. Duran,

I'm afraid we cannot share this information here. But here is the graduation rate of our school: https://www.utsa.edu/ir/content/dashboards/student-graduation-rates.html  
I hope this helps :)

Best regards,

Thanks in any way, Nguyen.  --Mesut

Hi Brian,

Academic literacy is defined as the language of schooling, or more explicitly, the set of language practices, both oral and written) required to develop and display proficiency or expertise in a particular discipline (Gee, 2012; Langman & Thomas, 2017; Schleppegrell, 2004). In the case of STEM, academic literacy involves not only words, but the complex multimodal language of graphs, charts, formulas and diagrams, as well as the language used to talk about these conceptual tools. 
Teaching academic literacy explicitly as a component of teaching content can help university students struggling with STEM content to make connections with previously learned materials and real-world applications (Schleppegrell, 2010; Wolf et. al, 2016). Therefore, our project, with a focus on academic literacy, highlights the functions for which language is used in the classroom and beyond. A core component of developing proficiency in a STEM field is the ability to engage in the functions of defining, describing, explaining, and analyzing complex content in the STEM areas, through the interpretation and use  of appropriate language. In this sense, the focus on academic literacy does not differ from the core competencies that are expected from our STEM (under)graduates, but rather compliments them.

I see, thank you for the helpful explanation. Have you found that this explicit focus on literacies allows participating students to more effectively make connections across courses they are taking or have taken?

Hi Lawanda,
Please find here the link to our school's student demographics: https://www.utsa.edu/ir/content/dashboards/student-demographics.html. I hope this helps :)

Also, there have been several models designed to transform university-level STEM education focus on a shift to problem-based learning, just-in-time mathematics, and connection to application, all of which align with the LA-STEM framework (e.g., Cukrova, Bennett & Abrahams, 2018; Klinbeil & Bourne, 2015). The teaching Excellence Framework in the UK (Cukrova, Bennett & Abrahams, 2018) promotes a focus on scaffolding students to independent learning activities through a project-based learning approach that entails careful attention to the academic literacy components associated with developing knowledge and displaying knowledge (Bunch & Kibler, 2015). These points are also true for Hispanic students attending HSIs. The lack of fit between the type of preparation of students, the expectations of faculty, and the connection of coursework to past mathematics experience and future workplace experience, leads to undesirable retention rate.

Our project combines a redesign of the curriculum, in particular with respect to pedagogical approaches taken in the classroom that connect past experiences, current content and future applications related to STEM literacy, with a strong wrap-around model of mentoring and advising for undergraduates. Therefore, those integrated models do provide an easier entry point into the STEM community :).

Thanks Neela. Yes we started and designed our project before COVID but had to adjust our lesson study meetings and interactions accordingly in 2020-2021. There have been challenges such as creating interactive activities and reading how ideas are communicated live. However, zoom meetings have offered other benefits like ease of attending meetings and recording conversations. Overall, however, its been difficult disentangling how this work has affected students engagement given that overall again most students are faring much worse academically.

Thank you for your response, Jorge.  I wish you and your team the best on this project.

Thank you Julie! see below for some work that has been presented recently. However, please email us and I'd be happy to send you conference paper and more information. We adapt our lesson study approach to tertiary contexts by examining this context differently than K-12 contexts but also looking specifically at academic literacy and how learning is organized interactively. email LASTEM@utsa.edu

Langman, J., Solís, J., Dao, N., Martin-Corredor, L., Walton, A. & Costa, H. (2021). Poster: Engaging faculty in curricular change in a tertiary engineering context: examining faculty engagement in lesson study. AERA Annual Meeting. Virtual conference.

Langman, J., Solís, J., Dao, N., Martin-Corredor, L., & Garza Garza, K. (2021). Paper: Translanguaging for stem learning: exploring tertiary learning contexts at a hispanic-serving institution. Association for Applied Linguistics Annual Convention. Virtual Conference.

Langman, J., Solís, J., Dao, N., Martin-Corredor, L., Walton, A. & Costa, H. (2020). Paper: Challenges and opportunities for supporting stem teaching and learning during covid-19. World Association of Lesson Studies (WALS) International Conference. Virtual conference.

Langman, J., Solís, J.L., Martin-Corredor, L., & Dao, N. (2020). Paper: Adapting lesson study to support tertiary STEM student success: Examining faculty and teaching assistant roles. Symposium: Implementing lesson study for professional development in higher education, Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) (SIG: Lesson Study). Virtual conference.

Dao, N., Martin-Corredor, L., Langman, J., Solís, J., and Gonzalez, I. (2019). Poster: Building student success: academic literacy in stem lesson study at the tertiary level. Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), Portland, OR., November 15.       

Langman, J., Solís, J., Millwater, H., Joseph, J. Martin-Corredor, L., and Dao, N. (2019). Paper: Building student success: engaging in stem lesson study at the tertiary level. World Association of Lesson Studies (WALS) International Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands, September. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and watching our video.

Thank you Alexander and Jonee for your interest in our work.

Some of our measures include pre and post lesson implementation questions, as well as test grades using specific questions related to topics addressed during our collectively designed lessons. In particular, we look into student efficacy and sense of belonging using pre and post course surveys (i.e., at the beginning and end of the semester). Additionally, we conduct student interviews and collect student surveys asking questions such as "how prepared do you feel to use this information as an engineer in the future?".

I hope this helps! Please, let us know if you have additional questions. 

Thank you Alexander and Jonee for your interest in our work.

Some of our measures include pre and post lesson implementation questions, as well as test grades using specific questions related to topics addressed during our collectively designed lessons. In particular, we look into student efficacy and sense of belonging using pre and post course surveys (i.e., at the beginning and end of the semester). Additionally, we conduct student interviews and collect student surveys asking questions such as "how prepared do you feel to use this information as an engineer in the future?".

I hope this helps! Please, let us know if you have additional questions.