1) The study examined the sustainability of lesson study (LS) practices for professional development at a Hispanic-serving institution to improve outcomes in STEM gateway courses. 2) Over three years, LS practices were adapted to virtual formats and expanded to include more faculty and courses. Teacher leadership emerged and organizational routines were established. 3) Perceptions of the importance of academic literacy among faculty and students improved, indicating cultural shifts toward infusing literacy into STEM teaching and learning.

1. Promises of Sustainable LS
Practices as a Professional
Development Tool in
Tertiary Contexts
Juliet Langman, Jorge Solís, Lina Martin Corredor,
Nguyen Dao, Hector Castrillon-Costa, Andrew Walton,
Janeth Martinez-Cortes
WALS 2021

2. WALS 2021
- Overarching goal of NSF Grant: to enhance learning outcomes through
Lesson Study. Specific approach: focus on the intersection of academic literacy
and core competencies.
- Persistent low passing rates in STEM gateway courses, with underrepresented
minority students lower than others.
- Aim to increase support for Hispanic students at Hispanic-Serving Institution in
STEM disciplines to increase diversity in the STEM workforce.
Introduction: Impetus for Research
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context
Passing Rate for Gateway Courses
HSI Status Engineering Science/Math
Hispanic & Low Income 56.9% 55.9%
Non-Hispanic 61.1% 61.9%
Net Difference -4.2% -6.0%

3. WALS 2021
Aim: Examine Sustainability
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context

4. LA-STEM Framework
WALS 2021
Connecting previous work on STEM education and
literacy drawing on analytical frameworks (discourse
analysis, ethnography, educational policy) applied to a
new context (Fies & Langman 2011; Garza & Langman, 2014; Langman
& Hansen-Thomas, 2017; Solís, 2017; Solís, Bravo, & Mosqueda, 2017;
Solís, Kattan, & Baquedano-López, 2009)
LA-STEM Framework:
Rooted in the belief that literacy skills support
success across all academic disciplines and are a
necessity for minority students learning STEM
concepts (Lee, Quinn, and Valdés, 2013; Téllez, Moschkovich, and
Civil, 2011).
Academic Literacy:
The language of schooling required to develop and
display expertise in particular disciplines
(Gee, 2012; Langman & Thomas, 2017; Schleppegrell, 2004).
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context

5. Definition:
Colleges are federally designated as HSIs if they have high enrollment (at least
25%) of Latinx undergraduate students (Title V, Higher Education Act 1998).
UTSA as a Hispanic-Thriving Institution:
Promote Latinx students’ success and leadership to benefit our community
through an educated workforce, innovative research, businesses and social
programs (UTSA, 2020)
WALS 2021
The Context - Hispanic Serving Institutions
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context

6. WALS 2021
Sustainability of PD in HSI Context
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context
Cole, 2011;
Gonzales et al., 2013
Nunez et al.,
2010
Flores & Leal,
2020
Cuella, 2014; Nunez
et al., 2010; Garcia &
Okhidoi, 2015

7. WALS 2021
Sustainability in Lesson Study Context
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context
Hargreaves & Fink,
2003; Galosy &
Gillespie, 2013; Lim et
al., 2018
Hunter & Back, 2010;
Ono & Ferreira, 2010;
Galosy & Gillespie,
2013; Lewis & Perry,
2014; Burghes &
Robinson, 2010

8. WALS 2021
1. What evidence in teaching practice of faculty in diverse
classroom contexts suggests the development of teacher
leadership over time?
1. How are organizational routines for Lesson Study adapted
over time to support student learning, as well as continued
engagement and expansion of faculty members?
1. To what extent have faculty learning opportunities
focused on infusing academic literacy been established
and sustained in diverse classroom contexts?
Research Questions
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context

9. WALS 2021
Research Design & Data Sources
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context
RQ Unit of Analysis Data Sources Method
1 Teacher
leadership/Sustained
design of lessons
Video-recorded lessons
Lesson artifacts
3-year documentation of 2 Engineering
lessons:
1. Laplace Transform
2. Mass Spring System
2 Organizational routines
through PLCs
Audio-recorded meetings
Syllabus artifacts
3-year documentation of change in
departmental culture & routines
1. Recitations
2. TA’s reflections
3 Learning
opportunities/Changed
perception of academic
literacy
Audio-recorded meetings
Faculty survey
Student survey
3-year documentation of perceptions of
academic literacy & change in teaching
orientations:
1. Sustainability & end-of-cycle meetings
2. Evaluation reports
3. Student feedback

10. WALS 2021
Overview of Practices over time
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context
Year 2 Year 3
Course Fall 2019 Spring 2020
(COVID)
Fall 2020 Spring 2021
Laplace
Transform
Lesson initiation
F2F delivery
LS faculty
Lesson adaptation
Virtual delivery
Recitation instructors
(TAs) and LS faculty
Lesson revision
Virtual delivery
New and returning faculty and
TAs
Mass
Spring
System
Lesson initiation
F2F delivery
LS faculty
Lesson adaptation
Virtual delivery
LS faculty
Lesson revision AND
Lesson adaptation for upper-
level course
Virtual delivery
New and returning LS faculty,
TAs

11. WALS 2021
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context
Sustaining Learning Communities through Teacher Leadership
Redesigned
Syllabus;
Established clear
connection
between Lecture
and Recitation
Planned semester
long TA training –
shifted some LS
lessons to
recitation sessions
taught by TAs
Expanded reach of LS
with new faculty,
continuing faculty
participating in LS
Adapted LS lessons for
upper-level courses
TAs leading the
redesigned lessons in
both lower- and upper-
level course
Summer
2019
Fall 2021

12. Laplace Transform
Sustained Design of LS Lessons
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context
How the LT lesson has
been sustained and
adapted from Fall 2019
(left) to Fall 2020 (right)

13. Mass Spring System
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context
Sustained Design of LS Lessons
F2F lesson with realia
in lower-level course
(Spring 2020)
Virtual lesson using PHET
in lower-level and adapted
for upper-level course
(Fall 2020)
Redesigned handout
for upper-level course
(Spring 2021)

14. WALS 2021
“I notice, in particular with the Lesson Study, that it was unlike any other class or
any other recitation that I had before. It was a space in which the students could
interact with each other and discuss and at the same time, you could as a TA,
interject and direct their thinking into understanding the concept and that
approaching that was, unlike the the conventional class where you speak and it's not
like our roundtable conversation like we had in the lecture
[...]
by showing that we care about their learning showing not by the concept that we
showed to them, but by actively discussing with them, I think that I got a better
response with them and also they gave me feedback whether they were
understanding better or not.”
(Recitation TA, Sustainability Meeting, Fall 2021)
PLCs at work for
sustainable organizational routines
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context

15. WALS 2021
PLCs’ Effects on Perceptions of Academic Literacy
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context
Faculty Perception of
Academic Literacy
Quotes
EGR Discourse feature
(language use)
Student interactions
“... we need to push our students in the direction of knowing how
to write technical ideas. That will basically help them to develop
reports in the future [...] it's also convenient that they know
how to read special words like technical words [...] So all of
these words are supposed to be part of the learning process. If
they don't find the right words, that means that they are not
learning the technical term, they are not able to associate with a
mathematical procedure to solution process“
(FH, LS Meeting, Fall 2020)
“To me [...] have some active learning like the spring mass
systems where we actually physically had them there [...]
That's much more engaging than just reading about it [...]
that's the key is how do we get them either through some online
tool or physically in person or somehow to do active learning
instead of passive.”
(HM, LS Meeting, Fall 2020)

16. WALS 2021
Students’ Perception of Academic Literacy
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context
Engineering student’s
perspective of EGR
2323 course delivery
during Fall 2019
(Year 2, Evaluation
Report, N=201)
Source:
Vazquez Cano, M. (2020) Transforming STEM undergraduate education: Year 2 evaluation report.
Portland, OR: Education Northwest.

17. WALS 2021
1. Continued shifts regarding the faculty’ perspectives, pedagogical knowledge,
and pedagogical practices/habits vis a vis academic literacy infusion.
Evidence of awareness and application of Academic Literacy in curriculum
design, teaching, and learning
1. Growth in learning opportunities and adaptation of a reform through application
with new faculty and in new courses
Evidence of change in departmental culture and organizational routines
1. Emergence of teacher leaders
In Engineering
Sustained Lesson Study Practices
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context

18. WALS 2021
1. Where and how can the Lesson Study Model and adaptations of the
model be used to expand curricular access to marginalized
university students and in particular Chicanx/Latinx students? What is
being sustained?
1. What is the nature and focus of sustaining educational reforms at
the tertiary level? For example, shiftings in faculty engagement may
require reorganization and expectations for faculty review and workload
policies.
Enduring Questions
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context

19. Transforming STEM
Undergraduate Education
through Academic Literacy,
Mentoring and Professional
Development project is
funded by the National
Science Foundation’s
Improving Undergraduate
STEM Education: Hispanic-
Serving Institutions (HSI
Program).
Grant #1832388
Contact
Information
LA STEM Team
● LA_STEM@utsa.edu
Website
● https://engineering.utsa.edu/
buildingcapacity/
WALS 2021
Promises of Sustainable LS in Tertiary Context