Collaborative Research: Creating Assessments for Student Understanding of Core Chemistry Ideas in Introductory Biology

协作研究：为学生对生物学入门中的核心化学思想的理解进行评估

• 批准号: 1708589
• 负责人: Sonia Underwood
• 金额: $ 15.05万
• 依托单位: Florida International University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-09-01 至 2020-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1708589&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Creating; Assessments; Student

To address biological problems, students must apply and integrate chemistry principles with biology principles, yet existing science assessments in introductory biology courses often encourage rote memorization and assess factual recall. The recently published Framework for K-12 Science Education report from the National Research Council offers a way of thinking about science education aimed at positively affecting students' abilities to use their knowledge and make connections across disciplines. This vision integrates three dimensions: 1) disciplinary core ideas (what students really need to know); 2) crosscutting concepts (themes across science disciplines); and 3) scientific practices (how students should use their knowledge). The integration of these dimensions is referred to as "three-dimensional learning". Instead of assessing factual recall, assessments should probe students' abilities to use scientific practices (e.g., analyzing and interpreting data) in the context of disciplinary core ideas (e.g., using the structure of a compound to predict how the substance behaves) and crosscutting concepts (e.g., conservation of energy and matter) to make sense of phenomena, but writing such assessments is difficult. There is a need for assessments that emphasize three-dimensional learning in introductory biology courses to support students in developing an integrated understanding of science. To address this need, the objective of this two-year collaborative project between Michigan State University (MSU) and Florida International University (FIU) will be to develop, test, and evaluate the effectiveness of assessment items that integrate chemistry and biology disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and scientific practices, and focus on making sense of phenomena. Evidence-centered design will be used to develop constructed-response assessment items of three-dimensional learning for undergraduate introductory biology courses at both MSU and FIU in the context of the following research question: In what ways do students use their chemistry knowledge to explain biological phenomena? Three-dimensional assessments will be designed that incorporate scientific practices, crosscutting concepts, and chemistry and biology disciplinary core ideas. Follow-up student interviews and administration of the items in introductory biology courses will serve to validate the items, explore student learning, and inform revisions to the items. The following three outcomes are expected for this study: a set of reliable and validated items including scoring rubrics that probe three-dimensional learning at the interface of chemistry and biology, knowledge of how these items impact students' abilities to learn, and documentation of a process for creating three-dimensional items about interdisciplinary ideas. By developing the items and rubrics in collaboration with both MSU and FIU, the unique student populations will be leveraged at each institution in service of making the assessments applicable to a broad audience. This research is significant because the developed items will serve as tools to better help researchers and instructors understand how students do or do not connect their chemistry and biology knowledge, which is imperative for explaining scientific phenomena and addressing multidisciplinary challenges, such as improving human health and environmental sustainability.

为了解决生物学问题，学生必须将化学原则与生物学原则应用和整合，但是在入门生物学课程中现有的科学评估通常会鼓励死记硬背的记忆并评估事实召回。美国国家研究委员会（National Research Council）最近发表的K-12科学教育报告框架提供了一种思考科学教育的思考方式，旨在积极影响学生利用知识并跨学科建立联系的能力。该愿景整合了三个维度：1）纪律核心思想（学生真正需要知道的）； 2）横切概念（跨科学学科的主题）； 3）科学实践（学生应如何利用自己的知识）。这些维度的整合称为“三维学习”。评估应评估学生在纪律核心思想的背景下（例如，使用化合物的结构来预测物质的行为）和交叉概念（例如，能量和物质的保存来理解现象，但很难撰写这种评估是困难的，而不是评估事实召回的能力（例如，使用科学实践（例如，分析和解释数据））（例如，使用化合物的结构来预测物质的行为）。有必要进行评估，强调入门生物学课程中的三维学习，以支持学生发展对科学的综合理解。为了满足这一需求，密歇根州立大学（MSU）和佛罗里达州国际大学（FIU）之间的这项为期两年的合作项目的目标是开发，测试和评估评估项目的有效性，这些评估项目的有效性是整合化学和生物学核心核心思想，交叉概念，科学实践，并专注于使现象的理解。在以下研究问题的背景下，以证据为中心的设计将用于在MSU和FIU的本科生物学课程的三维学习的构建响应评估项目中：学生以哪些方式利用他们的化学知识来解释生物学现象？将设计三维评估，以结合科学实践，横切概念以及化学和生物学纪律核心思想。在入门生物学课程中的后续学生访谈和管理项目将有助于验证这些项目，探索学生学习并为项目提供修订。这项研究的预期是以下三个结果：一组可靠且经过验证的项目，包括在化学和生物学界面上探测三维学习的评分，了解这些项目如何影响学生学习能力，并记录创建有关跨学科思想的三维项目的过程。通过与MSU和FIU合作开发这些项目和专栏，将在每个机构中利用独特的学生群体，以使评估适用于广泛的受众。这项研究很重要，因为开发的项目将作为更好的工具来帮助研究人员和讲师了解学生如何或不连接其化学和生物学知识，这对于解释科学现象并应对多学科挑战至关重要，例如改善人类健康和环境可持续性。

项目成果

Impact of Ocean Acidification on Shelled Organisms: Supporting Integration of Chemistry and Biology Knowledge through Multidisciplinary Activities

海洋酸化对带壳生物的影响：通过多学科活动支持化学和生物学知识的整合

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c00981
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Journal of Chemical Education
• 影响因子: 3
• 作者: Roche Allred, Zahilyn;Shrode, Alec D.;Gonzalez, Jeffrey;Rose, Aaron;Green, Abigail I.;Swamy, Uma;Matz, Rebecca L.;Underwood, Sonia M.
• 通讯作者: Underwood, Sonia M.