Three California State University campuses in the San Joaquin Valley will work together on developing innovative teaching practices to improve student academic performance and retention in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Fresno State, CSU Bakersfield and Stanislaus State received a combined $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to form a regional team of science and math experts, including lecturers and social-science researchers, to think outside the box when it comes to teaching STEM.

They will participate in intense creative-thinking “Ideas Labs” with nationally recognized math and science mentors to design a more interactive curriculum for lower-division chemistry and mathematics classes, which tend to be stumbling blocks for students seeking to graduate with a STEM degree. Then, the team will apply the practices to their coursework and center it around research on real-world problems in the San Joaquin Valley, starting with air pollution.

“This is unique and transformative in that it’s beyond one campus, serving an entire region,” said Dr. Christopher Meyer, dean of Fresno State’s College of Science and Mathematics. “It’s great to work with our partners in Bakersfield and Stanislaus on collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches to facilitate student success in STEM. We’re really excited about this, since it has the potential to benefit thousands of students in chemistry and math at the three CSU campuses.”

Each university will focus on a discipline that presents the greatest challenge for its own students. Fresno State will focus on chemistry and math. CSU Bakersfield will focus on chemistry, and Stan State will focus on math. Emerging best practices and innovations will be shared across the three campuses.

Visit Fresno State News to read more.