How syllabi relate to outcomes in higher education: An evaluation of syllabi learner-centeredness and grade inequities in STEM

Fostering equity in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs can be accomplished by incorporating learner-centered pedagogies, resulting in the closing of opportunity gaps (defined in this research as the difference in grades earned by minoritized and non-minoritized students). We assessed STEM courses that exhibit small and large opportunity gaps at a minority-serving, research-intensive university, and evaluated the degree to which their syllabi are learner-centered, according to a previously validated rubric. We specifically chose syllabi as they are often the first interaction a student has with a course and can serve to establish expectations for course policies and practices. We found that STEM courses with more learner-centered syllabi had smaller opportunity gaps. The syllabus rubric factor that most correlated with smaller opportunity gaps was Power and Control, which reflects the Student's Role, Outside Resources, and Syllabus Focus. This..., This dataset is composed of rubric scores for 50 course syllabi of STEM classes in a research-intensive university with a large population of minoritized students as well as some institutional data (here defined as African-American, Latinx, Pacific Islander, and American Indian). We wanted to examine the relationship between racial grade gaps (here labeled as opportunity gaps) and the degree of learner-centeredness of the syllabi since course syllabi are good representations of classroom pedagogy according to the previous literature. The 50 syllabi were evaluated with a previously validated and peer-reviewed rubric designed by Cullen and Harris in 2009 and published in Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education journal. The rubric measures the degree of learner-centeredness of syllabi. It has 13 items categorized under 3 factors plus the number of pages of the syllabi. We have modified the rubric to be on a 5-point scale (0-4). Zero represents the lowest degree of learner-centerednes..., , # How syllabi relate to outcomes in higher education: An evaluation of syllabi learner-centeredness and grade inequities in STEM

[https://doi.org/10.7280/D1NH6N](https://doi.org/10.7280/D1NH6N)

## DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION

### Eslami\_2022\_How\_Syllabi\_Relate\_to\_Outcomes\_in\_Higher\_Education.csv

Number of variables: 26

Number of cases/rows: 50

Variable names with descriptions and/or their values in parenthesis:

small_opportunity_gap; delta_GP (average grade point difference between minoritized and non-minoritized students in a STEM course); additional_item_Length_of_Syllabus (number of pages for each syllabus);

For the definition of rubric items, refer to the rubric designed by Cullen & Harris in 2009 published in Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education journal; Rubric items are scored on a 5-point scale (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4): rubric_item_Accessibility_of_Teacher; rubric_item_Learning_Rationale; rubric_item_Collaboration; rubric_item_Teachers_Role; rubric_item_Stud...