Skip to main content

Webster Presents BRITE Research at EnFUSE in Washington, D.C.

Share on:

Posted on Wednesday, May 18, 2016

This semester, Dr. Sandra Webster, professor of psychology and 2012 distinguished faculty award recipient, participated in the Envisioning the Future of Undergraduate STEM Education (EnFUSE): Research and Practice Symposium in Washington, D.C.

The symposium was jointly sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Division of Undergraduate Education.

“The EnFuse symposium brought together over 500 top university-level STEM educators in the nation,” said Webster. “It was an honor to be included among them and a great opportunity to learn about the best practices and directions for future of education.”

Webster presented her research, "From Pivot to Prototype: Behavioral Research Instruction Through Experiments (BRITE)," which she brought from NSF’s Innovation Corps for Learning.

During the academic year, Webster took proven methods of instructing students through student-initiated experiments down a level to a single class interactive module. Her presentation highlighted the prototype tested in four classes. The module BRITE Lite prepared students to understand behavioral experiments.

“In the experimentation with BRITE Lite, the students were engaged, learned content, used critical thinking and developed positive science attitudes,” said Webster.

Webster also served as a session leader for, "Making Change Happen: Promoting Productive use of Evidence-Based Practices," producing a list of recommendations for how to move beyond dissemination of STEM education research to propagation of proven, effective teaching methods.

Webster's collaborators on the BRITE project are recent Westminster College graduate Alexander Bennett, Anthony Zuccolotto and Destiny Babjack, of Psychology Software Tools.

For more information about the symposium, contact Webster at websters@westminster.edu. More information on the BRITE project can be obtained at BRITE.us.com.