The ICAP Center launches with workshops

One challenge in getting students to engage with complex subjects —  such as science, technology, engineering, math and medicine —  lies in how these topics are taught and received at the cognitive level.

The recently-launched ICAP Center for Teaching and Learning at ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College aims to address this need at post-secondary institutions by helping faculty develop effective, active learning approaches that support deeper understanding. The ICAP Center is focusing on STEMM faculty as part of its mission to contribute toward greater persistence among students of diverse backgrounds. 

The ICAP Center, which is based on decades of rigorous, evidence-based research, is completing its first phase of training for ASU faculty, with the intent to expand nationally and globally next year. ASU faculty can sign up for two upcoming workshops in October:

• Oct. 10: Sign up using this form (to access, users must be signed in to Google via their ASU account).
• Oct. 30: Sign up using this form.

Currently, the ICAP Center is providing training to about 75 faculty at ASU to encourage them to develop their own active learning STEMM lesson plans using the ICAP framework. From this group, the center will be working with a select group of faculty to track the impact of these plans on student learning in the classroom. In 2025, the center will expand its offerings nationally and globally, and start to create a clearinghouse of active-learning activities for STEMM subjects.

The ICAP Center’s approaches are based on application of the evidence-based ICAP theory,  which stands for Interactive, Constructive, Active and Passive modes of learning. It is led by ASU Regents Professor Michelene “Micki” Chi, whose development of the ICAP theory has set the standard for helping educators identify effective learning opportunities that support deeper understanding.

Chi is an internationally acclaimed cognitive and learning science researcher who was awarded the 2023 Yidan Prize for Education Research for her groundbreaking work in active learning. 

“One of our goals is to help educators understand how they can apply the ICAP theory effectively by making small but significant adjustments in how they teach in ways that support active learning and deeper understanding of subject matter for students,” she said. “Through the ICAP Center, we are expanding our outreach and getting positive feedback from instructors who want to further their use of the ICAP theory in ways that will help scale our research, resources and application of active learning approaches at a global level.”

Funding for the ICAP Center comes from the Yidan Prize project funds. The center’s mission includes advancing research in the field of active learning through collaborations with education-focused institutions and organizations and scaling access to these approaches through a combination of toolkits and approach examples, in-person training and online learning modules

Visit the ICAP Center’s new website to learn more: https://icap.education.asu.edu/