Collaborative Research: Faculty as Change Agents: Transforming Geoscience Education in Two-year Colleges

合作研究：教师作为变革推动者：改变两年制大学的地球科学教育

• 批准号: 1524623
• 负责人: Janet Hodder
• 金额: $ 23.25万
• 依托单位: University of Oregon Eugene
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-01 至 2020-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1524623&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Faculty; Change; Agents

Two-year colleges (2YCs) play crucial roles in meeting the Nation's geoscience and STEM workforce needs and in increasing public scientific literacy. Nationally, 2YCs enroll over 45% of all U.S. undergraduates and serve a large number of women, minority, and first-generation college students. The 2YC teaching environment is one of the most challenging as community colleges are primarily open-access institutions that serve an extremely diverse student body; teaching loads are heavy; there is an increasing use of adjunct faculty; and support is limited for participation in faculty professional development activities. The latter issue is particularly crucial since such activities are widely recognized as the source for many innovative teaching methods shown to be critically important for improving student learning. This faculty professional development project will build a national network of self-sustaining local communities of 2YC geoscience faculty and administrators who use evidence-based strategies to improve all students' academic success and facilitate professional pathways into the STEM workforce. A program of interconnected and mutually supportive research and evaluation that is fully integrated in the project will advance knowledge and understanding of the effectiveness of a professional development model for full-time and adjunct geoscience and STEM faculty in 2YCs. The project goals are to 1) implement high-impact evidence-based instructional and co-curricular practices that support the academic success of all students and promote professional pathways into geoscience; 2) build a sustainable national network of 2YC leaders who catalyze change at multiple levels from their courses to institutions in their local regions and within the community of practice; and 3) investigate models of professional development for full-time and adjunct 2YC geoscience faculty that promote the cycle of innovation, where faculty learn from the research of others, make changes in their own practice, and share what they have learned with the education community. The project's professional development program will prepare two cohorts of 2YC geoscience faculty teams to implement evidence-based instructional and co-curricular practices at their institutions. The first cohort includes twenty-four (24) full-time and adjunct faculty from seventeen (17) institutions in ten regions in the United States. National workshops, virtual professional development opportunities (e.g., journal clubs, webinars, implementation and discussion groups), and on-line resources will support faculty in implementing changes on their campus. Inclusion of administrators in the project will provide support for systemic change at each institution. The faculty teams will expand the reach of the project by engaging additional two-year and four-year institutions in their regions using a combination of workshops and follow-on activities. Virtual professional development opportunities will serve as a mechanism for increasing the reach of the project and on-line resources will provide persistent resources for the full geoscience and broader STEM communities. The project team anticipates that six-hundred (600) full-time and adjunct 2YC faculty and fifty (50) four-year college and university faculty will be engaged in professional development activities over the course of the project and that the project will impact an estimated 250,000 2YC students enrolled in geoscience courses.

两年制学院 (2YC) 在满足国家地球科学和 STEM 劳动力需求以及提高公众科学素养方面发挥着至关重要的作用。在全国范围内，2YC 招收了超过 45% 的美国本科生，并为大量女性、少数族裔和第一代大学生提供服务。 2YC 的教学环境是最具挑战性的环境之一，因为社区学院主要是开放式机构，服务于极其多元化的学生群体；教学任务重；越来越多地使用兼职教师；对参与教师专业发展活动的支持也很有限。后一个问题尤为重要，因为此类活动被广泛认为是许多创新教学方法的源泉，而这些创新教学方法对于提高学生的学习至关重要。该教师专业发展项目将建立一个由 2YC 地球科学教师和管理人员组成的自我维持的当地社区的全国网络，他们使用基于证据的策略来提高所有学生的学业成功并促进进入 STEM 劳动力的专业途径。完全融入该项目的相互关联、相互支持的研究和评估计划将增进对 2YC 全职和兼职地球科学和 STEM 教师专业发展模式有效性的认识和理解。该项目的目标是 1) 实施高影响力的循证教学和课外实践，支持所有学生的学业成功并促进进入地球科学的专业途径； 2) 建立一个由 2YC 领导者组成的可持续的全国网络，推动从课程到当地机构以及实践社区内的多个层面的变革； 3) 研究全职和兼职 2YC 地球科学教师的专业发展模式，以促进创新循环，教师从他人的研究中学习，改变自己的实践，并与教育界分享他们所学到的知识。该项目的专业发展计划将培养两批 2YC 地球科学教师团队，在其机构中实施循证教学和课外实践。第一批包括来自美国十个地区十七 (17) 个机构的二十四 (24) 名全职和兼职教师。国家研讨会、虚拟专业发展机会（例如期刊俱乐部、网络研讨会、实施和讨论小组）和在线资源将支持教师在校园内实施变革。将管理人员纳入该项目将为每个机构的系统变革提供支持。教师团队将通过研讨会和后续活动的结合，吸引所在地区其他两年制和四年制机构的参与，扩大该项目的影响范围。虚拟专业发展机会将作为扩大项目影响范围的机制，在线资源将为整个地球科学和更广泛的 STEM 社区提供持久的资源。项目团队预计，六百 (600) 名全职和兼职 2YC 教员以及五十 (50) 名四年制学院和大学教员将在项目过程中参与专业发展活动，并且该项目将影响估计有 250,000 名 2YC 学生注册了地球科学课程。