The Notre Dame Center for STEM Education, housed in the Institute for Educational Initiatives, was founded in 2013 to make a lasting impact in STEM education through its research and the translation of evidence-based findings into programs that have broader impacts on student interest in, identity with, and learning of the STEM disciplines. The Center collaborates with researchers and practitioners at Notre Dame and across the nation to help all students innovate, engage, and excel in the STEM disciplines. The work of the Center especially targets students from under-represented populations and students in Catholic schools.

Faculty and staff in the Center are integrally involved in the major functions of a University – research, service, and teaching. Every member of the Center is somehow involved in one or more of the Center’s research or evaluation clusters (currently focused on STEM Teacher Leadership, STEM Integration, Core Instructional Practice, the Integration of Catholic Social Teaching and STEM, and outcomes from our professional formation programs). All members have service responsibilities in one of our two anchor teacher formation programs: The Trustey Family STEM Teaching Fellows and the Advanced Placement Teacher Investment Program. In addition, faculty have various undergraduate and graduate level teaching responsibilities.

The Center for STEM Education is located in Carole Sandner Hall, at the heart of campus behind the Main Building and the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

Mission  

The University of Notre Dame Center for STEM Education believes that all young people, especially those from underserved communities, deserve a high-quality STEM education in order to shape their own futures and those of the communities in which they live. Through research and professional formation, the Center improves STEM teaching and learning in both Catholic and public schools.

 

Vision

To be a premier, transformative Center that engages in research and professional formation to advance the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Core Beliefs

WE BELIEVE THAT…

• STEM education can be a force for good by building the capacity of young people to explore, understand, and create within the natural, material, and built world.

• STEM education should promote the dignity of each individual through rigorous and meaningful learning opportunities that are attentive to their existing and developing identities.

• Working with and forming teachers as instructional and organizational leaders is a powerful mechanism for promoting equity and social change through STEM education.

• Diverse and evidence-based research as well as the wisdom of practice are central elements of high-quality professional formation advancing the field of STEM Education.