The CIRTL NSF GRFLC is an NSF-funded Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) initiative to broaden CIRTL’s national impact by supporting STEM teaching and learning professional development for GRFs. CIRTL network co-leaders from Drexel University, Adam Fontecchio and Jennifer Stanford, who are the Director and Co-Director of The Center for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning Excellence (CASTLE), spearheaded this initiative. 

CASTLE Affiliates Dr. Monica Ilies and Dr. Chris Weyant are recipients of recent Provost Awards.

The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) has awarded Dr. Adam Fontecchio, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of CASTLE at Drexel University, the 2021 ASEE Benjamin Garver Lamme Award.

The Drexel University Center for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning Excellence (CASTLE) and the Greater Philadelphia Region Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (Philadelphia AMP) collaborated during Fall 2020 to support learning about and enthusiasm for STEM research experiences among undergraduate students traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields. CASTLE hosted a 5-week online Introduction to Research Workshop, supported by Philadelphia AMP. Eighteen (18) undergraduate students in diverse disciplines from Delaware State and Cheyney Universities participated in the workshop.

This summer, Drexel University’s Office of Research and Innovation funded projects by 22 faculty and staff across the university from its Rapid Response Research and Development Fund, which was designated for urgent action, short-term projects focused on racial equity. Learn more about the funded projects out of the College of Arts and Sciences, and how the researchers are tackling issues from bystandership among police officers to inclusive teaching practices.

CASTLE has selected three faculty members, Jaimie Dougherty, Alonzo Flowers and Jeff Popyack, to serve as Faculty Fellows this fall quarter. CASTLE also welcomes back returning Faculty Fellows; John DiNardo, Mesha Hunte-Brown, Jeremy Johnson, Christy Love, Jim Mitchell, Dimitrios Papadopoulos and Steve Weber.

Congratulations to Christopher Weyant, the 2020 recipient of The Evidence-Based Teaching Award in Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Education (STEM). This award, funded by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, is given yearly to a full-time faculty member in a STEM department who uses pedagogical strategies that have been demonstrated in the literature to be effective for teaching students; or who has developed an innovative approach that they are evaluating in their own classrooms.

Through the CASTLE Faculty Fellows Program, CASTLE endeavors to assist the Drexel community in promoting teaching excellence to foster student learning and to ensure high value learning experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Congratulations to the recipients of CASTLE Remote Teaching Grants, supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute! The goal of these grants is to support development and implementation of remote STEM teaching initiatives and active learning pedagogies for the summer 2020 term. We are excited to hear and help recipients to share the outcomes of these remote STEM teaching initiatives!

CASTLE has selected six faculty members to serve as Faculty Fellows for the Summer 2020 term, with support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. CASTLE Faculty Fellows will support Drexel faculty who teach undergraduate STEM courses in implementing effective online/remote teaching and learning to ensure high value learning experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CASTLE welcomes Faun Rockliffe to the position of Assistant Director of Assessment. Faun's roles include the development of assessment instruments for the evaluation of STEM courses, educational programs, and initiatives; coordination of data collection, analyses, report and publication writing; providing grant writing support, and working with grant program directors to develop, maintain, and conduct assessment activities and plans to allow for effective program evaluation.

Dr. Adam Fontecchio, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and Director of the Center for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning Excellence (CASTLE), has been named a co-principal investigator on a $275K grant from The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations to support, “Research on Experiential STEM Curricula for Authentic Learning Experiences (RESCALE)."

In 2016, the Center for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning Excellence (CASTLE) was awarded funding through the Office of the Provost’s DARE initiative to study experiential learning opportunities such as cooperative education, undergraduate research, and study abroad. The Experiential Learning through the Cooperative Education Lifecycle project brought people together from six colleges and three additional academic units at Drexel to engage in the systematic collection of data towards answering research questions about experiential learning. CASTLE has leveraged this work to attain additional funding from the Colonial Academic Alliance and The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

As part Computer Science Education Week and the Hour of Code activities planned for this week, TechGirlz shared findings from a new survey of its program participants and their parents. Conducted in partnership with Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business, this marks the first time a survey has matched responses from girls and their parents in order to gain a deeper understanding of the role parents play in female engagement in technology.

The Center for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning Excellence (CASTLE) received the Drexel University President's Award for Diversity and Inclusive Community for Faculty and Professional Staff on Monday, November 5th. This award recognizes and honors significant contributions that promote awareness
of and respect for diversity, create opportunities for intercultural engagement, and build upon Drexel's founding principle of inclusion.

Meghan Barrett, a PhD candidate in Drexel University’s Department of Biology within the College of Arts and Sciences, is sharing her passion for… bugs … with undergraduates and the world. 

 Early bird course registration - exclusively for participants from CIRTL member institutions - runs today through September 3rd

More Drexel University undergraduate students will have the opportunity to earn teacher certification in science and mathematics thanks to the National Science Foundation’s Robert Noyce Scholarship program, which recently awarded Drexel’s School of Education a 5-year, $1.2 million grant. The new grant will allow 24 Drexel students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in a major related to science, technology, engineering or mathematics to earn pre-service teacher certification in middle grades (4-8) science or mathematics through Drexel’s DragonsTeach Middle Years program.

Freshmen and sophomore biology students at Drexel can take the elective BIO 213, which introduces them to independent, novel research and a hands-on learning opportunity working with fruit flies.

On May 16, 2018 CASTLE hosted a Summit in coordination with Institutional Advancement. The Summit brought together thought leaders from industry, foundations and education who share CASTLE’s mission.

The mission of Drexel’s Center for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning Excellence (CASTLE) could not be accomplished without the support of our affiliated faculty members, professional staff and students. Please join us in recognizing their commitment to furthering CASTLE’s mission and their excellence in teaching that exemplifies Drexel University.

Congratulations to CASTLE’s two Co-Directors, Dr. Jason Silverman and Dr. Jennifer Stanford. Silverman received a promotion from Associate Professor to Professor and Stanford received tenure status and a promotion from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. The Board of Trustees granted these approvals  in May. This is a well-earned accomplishment and CASTLE is honored to celebrate their success in their academic careers.

DragonsTeach Master Teacher Marlene Hilkowitz and Nicole Naranjo, a DragonsTeach Student, presented at the 12th Annual UTeach Conference at the University of Texas at Austin. Their session was titled, “Implementing Thinking Strategies to Shift from Teacher to Student Centered Classrooms in Apprentice Teaching.”

Drexel University’s School of Education is partnering with the School District of Philadelphia to support Drexel’s Philadelphia Teacher Residency program, which will provide salaries, benefits and scholarships to aspiring STEM teachers.

On Saturday, April 28, 2018, seven CASTLE Ambassadors volunteered at the Philadelphia Science Festival to teach hands-on STEM lessons to the community. These undergraduate STEM majors delivered lessons dedicated to demonstrating and understanding the concept of sound. 

On Friday, April 20, 2018 the DragonsTeach Student Organization (DTSO) hosted an Earth Day Fair for 3rd-5th grade students at Greenfield Elementary School. Eight undergraduate STEM majors organized STEM activities such as “cloud in a jar” and “oil spill clean-up” to help younger students understand different environmental processes. Greenfield students were also able to discover their carbon footprint and contribute to a large banner with a pledge to care for the environment.

The CASTLE seminar series is focused on continuous improvements in STEM education teaching and learning. Dr. Adam Fontecchio, Director of CASTLE, invites speakers from a variety of institutions to lead conversations on local, regional and national trends in the transformation of STEM education. The seminar is open to all who are interested in STEM education.

STEM education leaders, Adam Fontecchio, PhD, Professor of Computer and Electrical Engineering, and Director of Drexel University’s (CASTLE), and Jennifer Stanford, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biology, Co-director of CASTLE joined David Delaine, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering Education, Ohio State University, to lead a panel presentation at the 2018 National SxSWEdu Conference on March 5, 2018.

“Multisite longitudinal educational studies are challenging because each institution has a unique educational structure, experiential opportunities, and data systems,” adds William Mongan, Teaching Professor and Associate Department Head for Undergraduate Affairs with the Department of Computer Science. “By collaborating on these challenges, we enable the study of educational effectiveness through experiential learning spanning the disciplines across several institutions. That study will identify best practices and inform effective development of our curricula.”

CASTLE Instructor of the Week aims to identify top notch STEM instructors around Drexel and recognize them for their hard work. The nomination form can be found on Facebook @CASTLEatDrexel.

CASTLE Instructor of the Week aims to identify top notch STEM instructors around Drexel and recognize them for their hard work. The nomination form can be found on Facebook @CASTLEatDrexel.

CASTLE Instructor of the Week aims to identify top notch STEM instructors around Drexel and recognize them for their hard work. The nomination form can be found on Facebook @CASTLEatDrexel.

CASTLE Instructor of the Week aims to identify top notch STEM instructors around Drexel and recognize them for their hard work. The nomination form can be found on Facebook @CASTLEatDrexel.

CASTLE’s Director, Dr. Adam Fontecchio, and CASTLE’s Co-Director, Dr. Jennifer Stanford, have been invited to give a talk at the SXSW.EDU conference on March 5, 2018.  Along with their colleague Dr. David Delaine from The Ohio State University, they will be presenting a talk entitled “Modernizing Learning Using Experiential Education.” 

N. John DiNardo, Professor of Physics and Special Advisor to the Provost will be joining CASTLE as a Professor in Residence for a one-year sabbatical. Dr. DiNardo will be contributing to several CASTLE Initiatives including DARE-ExCEL, CIRTL, PROFESS, the Lockheed Martin Leadership Program and a research study which tracks experiential learning outcomes across three CAA campuses.
 

CASTLE Instructor of the Week aims to identify top notch STEM instructors around Drexel and recognize them for their hard work. The nomination form can be found on Facebook @CASTLEatDrexel.

Experiential Practices in Education Research and Teaching in STEM (ExPERTS) is a new fellowship program supported by the  Chappell-Culpeper  Family Foundation, Colonial School District, Roxborough High School and CASTLE. ExPERTS  introduces vertical mentoring into the model of the previously-funded National Science Foundation  STEM GK-12  program at Drexel. 

CASTLE Instructor of the Week aims to identify top notch STEM instructors around Drexel and recognize them for their hard work. The nomination form can be found on Facebook @CASTLEatDrexel.

On Friday, November 3^rd the CASTLE Leadership team consisting of Adam Fontecchio, Jason Silverman, and Jennifer Stanford, as well as affiliated faculty member Kevin Smith presented a facilitated discussion session entitled “STEM Curricula for Authentic Learning Experiences (SCALE)” at the AAC&U Transforming STEM Higher Education Conference in San Francisco, CA. 

CASTLE Instructor of the Week aims to identify top notch STEM instructors around Drexel and recognize them for their hard work. The nomination form can be found on Facebook @CASTLEatDrexel.

CASTLE Instructor of the Week aims to identify top notch STEM instructors around Drexel and recognize them for their hard work. The nomination form can be found on Facebook @CASTLEatDrexel.

CASTLE Instructor of the Week aims to identify top notch STEM instructors around Drexel and recognize them for their hard work. The nomination form can be found on Facebook @CASTLEatDrexel.

CASTLE Instructor of the Week aims to identify top notch STEM instructors around Drexel and recognize them for their hard work. The nomination form can be found on Facebook @CASTLEatDrexel.

The first ever Philly Phage Phestival was held in the PISB Atrium on Saturday October 21^st. The festival brought together students from three universities and faculty and staff from 14 regional institutions to celebrate all things related to the SEA-PHAGES program.

CASTLE has a new co-op! Brandon Yam is a second year computer-engineering student at Drexel University. He is the current CASTLE co-op and oversees the daily operations of CASTLE. He is involved with the DragonsTeach Program and is working with other programs such as PROFESS and CIRTL. 

Socialization Linked to Persistence in Physics Students

Drexel SEA-PHAGES student wins national T-Shirt Design Competition

CASTLE celebrates and recognizes excellence in teaching at Drexel University. 

Supported by a $1.2 million grant from the Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP), Drexel University’s School of Education will create a new pipeline of dual-certified, Middle-Years teachers, trained specifically for the challenges of Philadelphia classrooms. 

The CASTLE team is pleased that Meredith Casino recently joined us as a new Program Coordinator for CASTLE.

The DragonsTeach STEM Teacher Education program is excited to announce a new series of Winter Professional Development events. 

This event offers a casual environment for faculty to share ideas about STEM teaching and learning; while enjoying refreshments.

The CASTLE team is pleased that Paul Lazrow recently joined us as the new Program Manager for the M.S. in Mathematics Teaching and Learning program as well as the Academic Advisor for DragonsTeach STEM Teacher Education program. 

We thought long and hard about what sustains us. What we can do, and must do, and in fact do each day, is roll up our sleeves and get to work to reaffirm our mission to support the improvement of STEM education at all levels within higher education at Drexel University. 

The Center for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning Excellence (CASTLE) is excited to welcome Frederic Bertley, PhD, of The Franklin Institute for the second event in the CASTLE Seminar Series.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow Alison Moyer understands the power of the passage of time. In the years since her undergraduate studies at Drexel University, Alison has worked on a dig in Patagonia to uncover the world’s most massive dinosaur, earned a PhD from NC State in molecular paleontology, and, most recently, returned to her alma mater as a researcher and STEM educator herself.

The is a new program aimed to provide Drexel faculty with an opportunity to discuss effective teaching practices in their classrooms.

The Center for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning Excellence (CASTLE) is excited to welcome Frederic Bertley, PhD, of The Franklin Institute for the second event in the CASTLE Seminar Series.

Course registration available for upcoming DragonsTeach courses. 

CASTLE offers new course with foundations in evidence-based teaching and learning. 

To help fulfill Drexel’s commitment to training the next generation of highly skilled students in the engineering fields, the Center for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning Excellence (CASTLE) hosted the inaugural Bridging UTeach and Engineering Workshop from November 9 through 11th.

DragonsTeach Wins President’s Award for Civic Engagement for their commitment to engaging and collaborating with the local Philadelphia community. 

We look forward to hosting a monthly seminar series this Fall! More information will be forthcoming. 

Drexel University received 41 DARE applications and we are thankful that our DARE, Experiential Learning through the Cooperative Education Lifecycle (ExCEL), was one of the five selected.

Four hundred local fourth, fifth and sixth grade students will have the opportunity to become urban scientists with resources made possible through a new, three-year $1.17 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

Welcoming our new Senior Director of Operations for CASTLE 

Introducing our new Program Coordinator for CASTLE 

February has been filled with ice, snow and slate-gray skies. It can be easy to forget that spring is just around the corner. Here are some campus developments that will help put you in a green state of mind.

Starting this winter, more than 100 middle-school students from Philadelphia schools and community groups will try their hand at being video game designers, with an opportunity to play their games on one of the biggest screens imaginable: a 29-story building covered with LEDs. Drexel University’s Entrepreneurial Game Studio is working with young game designers-in-the-making to come up with new games for Brandywine Realty Trust’s Cira Centre office building, an edifice that has twice played host to the largest architectural video game display in the world.

The United States needs more science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers. And Drexel has a wealth of bright students studying in those same fields. Now, a new program will connect Drexel’s strength with the nation’s need.

Rarely does news about college course delivery bubble up out of the higher education press to the front pages of worldwide media. But that’s what’s happened with massively open online courses, or MOOCs, online classes taught to hundreds or even thousands of students at a time around the world. MOOCs might save universities, doom them or disappear, depending on whom you ask.