Collaborative Research: Promoting instructional change in introductory STEM courses through Faculty Learning Communities focused on the transition from high school to college

合作研究：通过专注于从高中到大学过渡的教师学习社区，促进 STEM 入门课程的教学变革

基本信息

批准号：
1712074
负责人：
MacKenzie Stetzer
金额：
$ 15.49万
依托单位：
University of Maine
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：
2017-08-01 至 2021-07-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1712074&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Collaborative Research Promoting instructional change

项目摘要

Recent national reports note that fewer than half of first-year undergraduate students who start in STEM fields have graduated with a STEM degree six years later. Most of this attrition occurs between the first and second year of college, and students often cite instructional practices used in introductory college courses as a prominent reason for leaving. Furthermore, students from backgrounds that are underrepresented in STEM fields, including first-generation college students, leave STEM majors at higher rates than their classmates. Emerging data suggest that the instructional practices used in introductory college STEM courses differ significantly from those used in high school science classes and that incoming college students hold expectations that are often not well aligned with actual college teaching practices. This project is important because it is addressing directly the teaching practices differences in high school and college and how to ameliorate the negative impact on students. Building on these earlier findings, this project will develop Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) at the University of Maine and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in which faculty who teach introductory STEM courses will meet regularly over the course of a year. Participating faculty will examine data about instructional differences in high school and college; discuss student transitions with high school teachers; and explore emergent data that provide insight into why students, especially those who are first-generation, struggle during the first semester of college. These groups will develop materials about instructional transitions that can be used in a variety of courses and will respond to questions from first-year undergraduate students regarding how to achieve success in STEM fields.In conjunction with the formation of FLCs at two universities, this project will conduct research to understand how the FLCs affect participants' teaching beliefs and course practices as well as how the FLCs ultimately impact students in introductory classes. This research will use a multi-methods approach that includes qualitative interviews with FLC participants, video recording and observational scoring of participants' teaching practices, collection of survey data on student perceptions of their learning environments, and measurement of student academic performance. This project will also use online surveys to ask students about their expectations regarding the teaching practices used in undergraduate courses and differences they perceive between high school and college STEM courses. By developing and researching FLCs focused on the transition from high school to college, this project will produce a model for how to design FLCs focused on introductory STEM courses; an understanding of the conditions and experiences that enable faculty to change their instructional practices and how these changes impact students; and materials that instructors, first-year advisors, and administrators can use to help students with instructional transitions.

最近的《国家报告》指出，六年后，在STEM领域的一年级本科生中，只有不到一半的人毕业于STEM学位。这种流失的大部分发生在大学的第一年和第二年之间，学生经常引用大学入门课程中使用的教学实践，这是离开的重要理由。此外，来自STEM领域的背景的学生（包括第一代大学生）以比同学更高的比率。新兴的数据表明，入门学院STEM课程中使用的教学实践与高中科学课上的教学实践有很大不同，并且即将到来的大学生的期望通常与实际的大学教学实践不符。该项目很重要，因为它直接解决了高中和大学的教学实践差异，以及如何改善对学生的负面影响。在这些早期发现的基础上，该项目将在缅因州大学和内布拉斯加林肯大学建立教师学习社区（FLC），其中教授介绍性STEM课程的教师将在一年的时间内定期开会。参加教师将检查有关高中和大学教学差异的数据；与高中老师讨论学生过渡；并探索新兴数据，这些数据提供了有关为什么在大学第一学期挣扎的学生（尤其是那些是第一代人）的洞察力的信息。这些小组将开发有关可以在各种课程中使用的教学过渡的材料，并将回答第一年的本科生有关如何在STEM领域取得成功的问题。结合两所大学的FLC形成，该项目将进行研究，以了解FLC的研究，以了解FLC如何影响参与者的教学信念和课程练习以及如何影响FLC的学生，最终会影响FLC的学生。这项研究将采用多方法方法，其中包括与FLC参与者进行定性访谈，视频记录和观察性的参与者教学实践评分，收集有关学生对学习环境的认识的调查数据以及对学生学业成绩的衡量。该项目还将使用在线调查向学生询问他们对本科课程中使用的教学实践的期望以及他们在高中和大学STEM课程中所感知的差异。通过开发和研究FLC的重点是从高中到大学的过渡，该项目将为如何设计专注于入门STEM课程的FLC制定模型；了解使教师能够改变其教学实践以及这些变化如何影响学生的条件和经验；以及教师，一年级顾问和管理员可以用来帮助学生进行教学过渡的材料。

项目成果

期刊论文数量（6）

专著数量（0）

科研奖励数量（0）

会议论文数量（0）

专利数量（0）

What Questions Are on the Minds of STEM Undergraduate Students and How Can They Be Addressed?

STEM 本科生有哪些问题以及如何解决？

DOI：
10.3389/feduc.2021.639338
发表时间：
2021
期刊：
Frontiers in Education
影响因子：
2.3
作者：
Meaders, Clara L.;Smith, Michelle K.;Boester, Timothy;Bracy, Anne;Couch, Brian A.;Drake, Abby G.;Farooq, Saima;Khoda, Bashir;Kinsland, Cynthia;Lane, A. Kelly
通讯作者：
Lane, A. Kelly

Undergraduate student concerns in introductory STEM courses: What they are, how they change, and what influences them