Assessment of strategies to build a welcoming STEM classroom environment for all students

Abstract

We have designed, implemented and assessed a series of pedagogical strategies that seek to improve the climate of large introductory STEM courses and promote accessibility to students from all groups and backgrounds. These strategies rely on deliberately fostering collaboration among students, rather than competition, and promoting a culture that rewards effort and personal growth. We have collected and analyzed students' responses to our approach in a large introductory physics course over several semesters. We report that our strategies are successful in building a course community, in which students, regardless of demographic, perceive a welcoming atmosphere and feel supported and cared for by their classmates and instructors.