PRIMERS

(Promoting Research-based Instructional Methods for Enhancing and Reforming STEM Education)

What is the PRIMERS project?

PRIMERS is a five-year National Science Foundation (NSF) funded grant. The primary goal of the projectNational Science Foundation Logo is to help undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) instructors move towards more learner-centered instruction that fosters active learning by leveraging an existing evidence-based professional development (PD) program.

Recognizing that there is no single “one size fits all” PD program, the secondary goal of the PRIMERS project is to create, test, and implement different versions of the existing PD program that are sensitive to differences between institutions of higher education and their varied institutional contexts and to develop models for sustainability that will permit these versions of the program to persist and their institutions beyond the life of the PRIMERS project.

Participating Institutions

  • University of Colorado at Boulder (CUB)
  • Front Range Community College (FRCC)
  • University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) – Learn more

          

CU Boulder logo          

      FRCC logo

    University of Texas Rio Grande Valley logo

Institutional Characteristics

Characteristic CUB FRCC  UTRGV
Public institution X X X
Two-year institution   X   
Four-year institution   X    X
Premier research institution  X    
Major-Hispanic serving institution – transitioning from teaching to research focus       X
Has a physical center for teaching & learning PD      X 
Has instructional coaches that work one-on-one with instructors 		   X   
Has distributed programming for teaching & learning PD  X