Products / Reflections / … UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES? NW-PULSE @ NW Biology instructors Conference 2017 LEVERAGING NEW PARTNERSHIPS TO REIMAGINE STEM IN ALASKA Alaska Pacific University Leslie Cornick, Nathan Wolf, Jennifer Witter VISION – Implement data-driven course assessment and curriculum change to improve learning outcomes for students from rural and indigenous communities.. MAIN GOAL– Entered strategic partnership with Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium to develop culturally relevant curriculum and learning opportunities across environmental science and health programs. Photos should be at least 300dpi, but not more than 5-12 mgs each. Your poster is set to be enlarged 200% so do not change the page size to fit another poster size. Posters (3’ x 4’) will be printed at WWU using the same purchase order at the same time. Please email your poster as a PPT file to by Joann Otto at WWU by Friday, April 21, 2017, by 5 pm. Please contact Joann Otto (Joann.Otto@wwu.edu) with questions about poster printing. Also please put your institution “logo” on your poster. Please note that this template is provided to simplify your effort to prepare a poster for the NW Biology meeting. You can change the font size, colors, column widths, add photos, institutional logos, graphics, etc. This template can also be used as a starting point and you can be as creative as you want in your poster. However, we would like to have all of the posters the same size and we will be printed at the same time, at the same print shop in order to easily pay for printing with one purchase order. ACTIONS BARRIERS & CHALLENGES Products / Reflections / … Financial constraints to supply course materials and labs Limited capacity and lack of dedicated time due to understaffing Biology curriculum is currently being re-designed 1 full semester of data examining familiarity and retention of core competencies has been collected RESOURCES & ALLIES SUSTAINABILITY APU philosophy on experiential education was practiced by faculty to develop and deliver new curricular components Experts in culturally-relevant curriculum design and delivery contributed ideas Students provided active feedback on the success of new curricular components and delivery through conversation and assessment University structure is currently being re-evaluated to allow for increased autonomy between program areas Increased use of curriculum assessment tools that examine retention of core competencies within and between classes Regional and national networks will provide inspiration and information on teaching techniques and assessment methods With our new partners at ANTHC we now have the capacity to serve students from all over the state to provide new opportunities for STEM education in rural Alaska. UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES? STRENGTHS & LEVERAGE Acute awareness of the need for additional temporal, intellectual, emotional, and financial investment in the program. FUTURE GOALS Partner experts in culturally relevant curriculum design and environmental health New leadership that understands and supports relevant and community-driven education Continue iterative steps to implement, practice, and assess new curriculum and delivery methods to improve learning outcomes for rural and indigenous students This work was supported in part by an NSF RCN UBE award # 1345033.