Student transformation through STEM: A research symposium

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In the Understanding Knowledge, Curriculum and Student Agency (UKSA) and the Graduate Experience of Employability and Knowledge (GEEK) projects a group of researchers from three countries, England, South Africa and the United States, tracked the progress of students enrolled in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at two institutions per country through their undergraduate degree programs (UKSA project) and three years into their post-graduate lives (GEEK project). Across both projects, funded by through the Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE), we engaged with our participants once a year for seven years to learn about how they were developing professional identities as they engaged with their disciplinary knowledge and, how they were drawing on the knowledge and experiences gained at university as they moved into the next phase of their lives. In this symposium we provide an overview of our key findings as it relates to three core aspects of these projects – participants study practices while pursuing their degrees, their relation to knowledge while at university and beyond, and their reflections on their roles in society.

Facilitator: Dr. Marie Paretti
1 – 1:05pm
Marie Paretti
Welcome and introduction to symposium

1:05 – 1:15pm
Nicole Pitterson
Overview of project and introduction of team members

1:15 – 1:45pm
Alaa Abdalla and Benjamin Goldschneider
PhD graduates’ reflections on working on a large international collaborative project

1:45 – 1:55pm
Q & A

2 – 2:15pm
Jenni Case
Researching students’ study practices

2:15 – 2:30pm
Mags Blackie
Researching students’ relation to knowledge

2:30 – 2:45pm
Nicole Pitterson
Researching students’ relation to society

2:45 – 3pm
Q & A

3:05 – 3:35pm
Juan Ortega Alvarez
Invited response – The role of curriculum in shaping students’ identity and professional choices

3:35 – 4pm
Marie Paretti
Open group discussion and closing