Facilitating and Assessing the Development of Scientific Habits of Mind: Course Transformation using Assessable Learning Objectives and Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE)
Eugenia Etkina and Charles Ruggieri

In this talk we will discuss the importance of articulating assessable learning objectives for our courses, ways to assess whether objectives are met, and steps we can take to help students achieve these objectives. Specifically, we will share the story of course transformation of the E&M and Modern Physics courses within the introductory calculus-based physics sequence using the instructional approach of Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) to show how it connects to the learning objectives valued by faculty. The course changed from a traditional structure to one that includes ISLE-based labs. The lab, which had previously been a separate course, is now central to the course structure, and this happened from a bottom up change strategy. Over 10 faculty and staff members worked together on the transformation. We discuss the process of developing learning objectives, from which emerged a shared recognition of the central role that ISLE laboratory experiences play in meeting the learning objectives the faculty articulated as being important. We outline the steps we undertook transforming the labs, share student learning data, lessons learned, and future plans. We will discuss the essential features of transformation progress: (1) administrative support and PER champion(s), (2) close collaboration of instructors and curriculum designers, (3) weekly professional development, and (4) a flexible grading system which encourages students to revise and resubmit work based on instructor feedback.