IUSE-EHR Building Excellence with Scientific Teaching (BEST): Transforming the College of Biological Sciences with a Scientific Teaching Certification Series

IUSE-EHR 通过科学教学打造卓越 (BEST)：通过科学教学认证系列改造生物科学学院

基本信息

批准号：
1712033
负责人：
Sehoya Cotner
金额：
$ 29.15万
依托单位：
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
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：
2017-09-15 至 2021-06-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1712033&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
IUSE EHR Building Excellence Scientific

项目摘要

Many national reports have recommended that STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) educators incorporate evidence-based teaching practices into their courses, to better prepare future scientists, and to create a scientifically literate citizenry. Despite the demands for reform, many STEM faculty members are reluctant to change teaching practices, for reasons ranging from lack of institutional support to a concern over sacrificed time for covering content. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the teaching assistant-individuals in charge of many laboratory sections in introductory STEM courses-are similarly ill-prepared to use evidence-based teaching practices in their own teaching. The result is teaching assistants who are ill-equipped to facilitate inquiry in laboratory courses, which are the natural venues for beginning students to engage in scientific practices and acquire critical STEM competencies. Building Excellence with Scientific Teaching (BEST) is a three-year project that will train undergraduate teaching assistants to apply evidence-based principles to engage all undergraduate students in the process of science. BEST will promote evidence-based instruction through the use of Scientific Teaching (ST)-with its emphases on active learning, inclusive teaching, and assessment-and inquiry-based instruction in laboratory settings. As a result of BEST, several thousand introductory-biology students will learn science by doing science, facilitated by TAs who are trained to use evidence-based practices.The intellectual merit of this project rests on the goals to (1) implement a two-semester Scientific Teaching Certification Series for undergraduate teaching assistants leading labs that emphasize discovery-from open inquiry to course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURES); and (2) investigate which training elements are most effective in helping these teaching assistants facilitate inquiry. Project evaluation will include direct observations of the undergraduate teaching assistants while they are teaching, surveys of the undergraduate teaching assistants, and measures of learning by students taught by teaching assistants who received this training and those that did not. Both the trained undergraduate teaching assistants and their students will benefit from this project. Teaching assistants who complete the certification series will acquire increased knowledge about the core concepts of active learning, assessment, and inclusivity; will increase their use of evidence-based teaching practices in class; will develop increased confidence in their own science abilities; and will demonstrate increased acceptance of the Scientific Teaching model for teaching and learning. Students enrolled in lab sections taught by program participants will demonstrate greater acceptance of the ST model, along with the gains associated with inquiry-based laboratories and scientific teaching methods, such as increased confidence in their own science skills, and improvement in science competencies.

许多国家报告建议 STEM（科学、技术、工程和数学）教育工作者将循证教学实践纳入其课程中，以更好地为未来的科学家做好准备，并培养具有科学素养的公民。尽管存在改革的呼声，但许多 STEM 教职员工不愿意改变教学实践，原因包括缺乏机构支持以及担心牺牲学习内容的时间等。因此，毫不奇怪，助教（负责 STEM 入门课程中许多实验室部分的人员）同样没有准备好在自己的教学中使用循证教学实践。结果是助教无法促进实验室课程的探究，而实验室课程是初学者参与科学实践和获得关键 STEM 能力的自然场所。通过科学教学打造卓越（BEST）是一个为期三年的项目，将培训本科生助教应用基于证据的原则，让所有本科生参与科学过程。 BEST 将通过科学教学 (ST) 的使用来促进循证教学，重点是实验室环境中的主动学习、包容性教学以及基于评估和探究的教学。 BEST 的结果是，数千名生物学入门学生将在受过循证实践培训的助教的协助下，通过做科学来学习科学。该项目的智力价值取决于以下目标：(1) 实施两个-学期科学教学认证系列，面向本科助教领导强调发现的实验室——从开放式探究到基于课程的本科生研究经验（CURES）； (2) 调查哪些培训要素对于帮助这些助教促进探究最有效。项目评估将包括对本科助教在教学过程中的直接观察、对本科助教的调查以及接受过和未接受过培训的助教所教的学生的学习情况。受过培训的本科助教及其学生都将从该项目中受益。完成认证系列的助教将获得更多有关主动学习、评估和包容性核心概念的知识；将在课堂上更多地使用循证教学实践；对自己的科学能力增强信心；并将表现出对教学和学习的科学教学模式的更多接受。参加项目参与者教授的实验室部分的学生将表现出对 ST 模型的更大接受度，以及与基于探究的实验室和科学教学方法相关的收益，例如对自己科学技能的信心增强和科学能力的提高。