Six STEM Teaching Examples That Pair Digital Tools with Evidence-Based Practices

Faculty interested in digitally enabled teaching often face a design question before they face a technology question: What teaching practice should the tool support? A polling tool, simulation software, quiz tool inside the LMS, online chat room, or scheduling platform can move familiar pencil-and-paper activities to a digital environment, but what principle of effective teaching does it serve? The value of digital technology depends on how the instructor connects a tool to an evidence-based teaching practice.

Any faculty seeking creative ideas from peers on how to bring digital learning technologies into the classroom so that they support effective teaching has an abundance of choice. Transform Learning is a resource devoted to showing how digitally enabled, evidence-based teaching practices (DE-EBTs) have the potential to improve student success. A key principle of DE-EBTs is to use technology not just for its own sake but where it can extend or amplify what the science of teaching and learning shows about effective pedagogy.

The instructional examples library section of Transform Learning is built by visitors to the site. User-submitted pages feature a short description of the assignment, assessment, or other activity and how a digital tool was incorporated to support students. Users can browse all the examples in the library or sort by criteria such as the subject they teach, which evidence-based practice they want to incorporate, or which part of their course design they are working on.

The individual descriptions in the library show how innovative faculty use DE-EBTs to make learning accessible to more students, to accommodate students’ busy work and family responsibilities, to connect academic learning to students’ personal interests, and to build belonging. Some of the most interesting examples show how instructors use technology to do more of what they believe is effective — more active learning or formative assessment, for example — without necessarily increasing their workload.

The library is growing so quickly that this is the third article in which we are able to feature a selection. (See sidebar.) In these six examples of DE-EBTs, some appear to be more technology driven, using a digital tool to solve the problem of how to teach a concept that may have been out of reach otherwise. Digital simulation software is a common theme in those examples. Other examples are led more by a desire to rethink how instructors interact with students, using technology to create more time for personalized learning and peer collaboration. And of special interest is one example that reaches outside of the classroom and shows how DE-EBTs can make office hours more effective.

Probability simulations that test intuition with repeated trials

Dylan Lasher, an Adjunct Mathematics Instructor at Olympic College in Washington, uses statistical modeling software to help introductory statistics students examine probability problems such as the Birthday Paradox (which uses the likelihood of two people having the same birthday to show how counterintuitive compounding probability can be). Students first make an informal prediction about how large a group must be before two people likely share a birthday, then compare that intuition with a calculation on the software.

Calculating a problem like that would not be possible during a class meeting, but the digital tool makes the exercise practical. Students use provided code to run thousands of trials quickly and then visualize the results. The activity supports active learning and metacognition by giving students a way to compare intuition, calculation, and simulation, then explain where their assumptions did or did not match the results.

An online simulation that connects linear equations to electrical circuits

Fox Williams, a former Every Learner intern, teaches electrical theory and math to women pursuing careers in construction. She uses a Google Form and an online circuit construction kit to help students apply linear equations to Ohm’s law. Students calculate the current and then build the circuits in the simulation to test whether their calculations match the virtual model.

The simulation gives students a way to see the meaning behind the numbers and check their work through a practical application. It also gives Williams a way to view responses in real time and provide immediate feedback when students complete the activity. The digital tool supports active learning by making a lab-style experience available to students who may not have access to physical lab kits at home.

Online practice exams that clarify the test experience

Jennifer Byall, a mathematics instructor at Southeast Technical College in South Dakota, uses practice exams in the same courseware system students will use for the actual exam. She creates a modified copy of the exam with new values and a slightly different number of questions, and students can complete the practice version as many times as they want. The courseware scrambles questions, changes values, and grades attempts automatically.

This is an example of giving students repeated low-stakes practice with the material without requiring the instructor to create and grade multiple versions by hand. The digital learning tool also supports instructional transparency by helping students understand the exam format, time limits, wording, and the process for entering answers before the assessment with higher stakes. It also supports metacognition by helping students identify areas where they need more practice.

In-class polling in large calculus courses

Shay Fuchs, a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Toronto Mississauga, uses a flipped class structure in his first-year Calculus for Life Sciences course with large lecture sections. Students complete readings before class and then use class time for think-pair-share discussions and activities that address central concepts and common misconceptions. One key element to make this flipped model work is a quick knowledge check to begin the class meeting, and that is made possible by digital polling tools.

This example shows how Fuchs uses digital polling to support active learning and retrieval practice. Poll results give students immediate feedback on their understanding, and they give Fuchs information to use to adjust the lesson in real time. Fuchs also uses pre- and post-class assignments through digital platforms, giving students additional practice with feedback before and after class.

An online discussion board that supports belonging after an exam

When Aaron Wong, Professor of Mathematics at Nevada State University, returns grades on the first exam in his precalculus course, he asks students to respond to Francis Su’s The Lesson of Grace in Teaching, a talk that encourages separating grades from a sense of self worth. He then has students use the LMS to post a short response, read classmates’ comments, and reply to peers.

This reflection and discussion activity gives Wong a way to emphasize that grades measure a student’s performance on a specific task, not their worth as a person. The digital format keeps the assignment low-stakes, gives students another way to hear from classmates, and supports belonging by making reflection and respectful peer response part of the course routine.

Smart scheduling that makes math help easier to access

Sometimes the key digital tool in support of learning is not involved directly in instruction. April Crenshaw, formerly Associate Professor and Interim Mathematics Department Head at Chattanooga State Community College (now Every Learner Everywhere’s Instructional Design Implementation Manager), used a digital scheduling system to help students connect with support outside class. The system gave students a clearer way to find available times, schedule help, and reduce the friction that could keep them from using instructor support.

The digital tool supported belonging and self-regulated learning by making help-seeking more practical, encouraging students to connect with guidance before confusion became harder to address. Students still had to recognize when they needed support and take action, but the scheduling system made that step more visible and easier to complete.