ACT-STEM is a five-year, NSF-funded initiative headed by Dr. Bleiler-Baxter that seeks to improve the culture of teaching within STEM departments to better support the needs of an increasingly diverse student population. We are located at Middle Tennessee State University and are a collection of researchers with broad interests in STEM Education.
The primary focus of this project is implementing a two-year professional development program for a broad category of instructional faculty within higher education (e.g. teaching faculty, research faculty, adjuncts, and graduate teaching assistants). We seek to foster a teaching culture that is collaborative, inclusive, and growth-oriented through three key theoretical frameworks: self-determination, positive psychology, and diffusion of innovation.
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July 11, 2025
The ACT-STEM team attended the 2025 Transforming Institutions Conference in St. Louis, where they presented research on teaching methods, departmental culture, and Self-Determination Theory . Team members shared posters, led discussions, and highlighted strategies for team growth and faculty empowerment, with Aspen Malone presenting her first conference poster on building productivity through a growth mindset . They returned to TSEC with new tools, ideas, and a strong focus on incorporating student feedback to drive institutional change and foster a culture of growth at MTSU .
As the weather warms up, we want to let you know that ACT-STEM has not been cooling down! This semester the ACT-STEM team has presented at several conferences, including the Research on Undergraduate Mathematics Education (RUME) conference in Alexandria, VA and locally at MTSU Research Symposiums. We plan to keep showing off the hard work of our productive team, so be sure to keep an eye out for us at conferences near you!
This project is funded by the National Science Foundation Award #2337168
In partnership with the MTSU Interdisciplinary Mathematics and Sciences Education Research Ph.D. program and the Tennessee STEM Education Center (TSEC)