Changing the Culture: Developing a Guide of Effective Practices to Improve, Assess, and Review Undergraduate Physics Programs

改变文化：制定有效实践指南以改进、评估和审查本科物理课程

基本信息

批准号：
1821372
负责人：
Michael Wittmann
金额：
$ 220万
依托单位：
American Physical Society
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2018
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2018-10-01 至 2024-09-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1821372&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Changing Culture Developing Guide Effective

项目摘要

In recent years there has been a growing emphasis on accountability in higher education. In response, college and university accrediting agencies have increasingly emphasized the need for performance measurements that are based on established learning goals and robust assessment processes. Most physics departments engage in a program review every five to seven years. To support such reviews, this project will create a guide for assessment, review, and improvement of undergraduate physics programs. The guide will aid physics faculty in more effectively using: (1) documented effective practices to improve their departments and programs, aligned to their local context, mission, and resources; and (2) externally imposed requirements for programmatic review and accreditation as an opportunity to develop a strategy for improving educational practice. The guide will collect relevant literature and effective practices, and that information will be distilled by experts. This information will be valuable for faculty who wish to design or improve program components. It will also help departments prepare for accreditation and promote the wider use of evidence-based educational practices. Over time, the expectation is that this guide will positively affect most, if not all college and university physics department in the United States. Thus, it has the potential to provide a model for promoting program improvements in other STEM disciplines.The project is a collaboration of two professional societies: the American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers. The investigators are at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, Oregon State University, the University of Maryland at College Park, and the University of Colorado at Boulder. The project team will create a guide for program assessment, review, and improvement that is compact and that offers practical advice without assuming prior expert knowledge. The guide will recognize the following principles: effective practices depend on the goal and local context; effective practices are based on the best available information; users' goals and problems drive the structure and content; guide content is descriptive, not proscriptive. After the guide is developed, the project will host workshops, online learning communities, and other activities to engage and support program leaders and reviewers in using the guide. The project will develop and implement a sustainability plan to ensure that the guide is regularly updated, and that programs continue to be supported in adopting its principles. Finally, the project will conduct and publish research studies that explore the impact of the guide and associated support mechanisms on culture and practice in physics programs. In this way, the project can contribute to understanding how to promote institutional changes that improve undergraduate education.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

近年来，越来越强调高等教育的问责制。作为回应，大学和大学认证机构越来越强调了基于既定的学习目标和强大评估过程的绩效测量的需求。大多数物理部门每五到七年进行一次计划审查。为了支持此类评论，该项目将创建一份指南，以评估，审查和改进本科物理学计划。该指南将有助于物理教师更有效地使用：（1）有效的实践，以改善其部门和计划，与当地的环境，使命和资源保持一致；（2）外部强加的对程序审查和认证的要求是制定改善教育实践策略的机会。该指南将收集相关的文献和有效的实践，这些信息将由专家提炼。对于希望设计或改进计划组件的教师，此信息将很有价值。它还将帮助部门为认证做准备，并促进更广泛的基于证据的教育实践。随着时间的流逝，期望本指南将对美国的大多数（甚至不是全部）的大学物理系产生积极影响。因此，它有可能提供一个模型来促进其他STEM学科的计划改进。该项目是两个专业社会的合作：美国物理社会和美国物理教师协会。调查人员在宾夕法尼亚州米勒斯维尔大学，俄勒冈州立大学，马里兰州大学公园大学和科罗拉多大学博尔德大学。项目团队将创建一个紧凑的计划评估，审查和改进的指南，并在不假设先前的专家知识的情况下提供实用建议。该指南将认识到以下原则：有效实践取决于目标和本地环境；有效的做法基于最佳可用信息；用户的目标和问题推动了结构和内容；指南内容是描述性的，而不是禁止的。开发指南后，该项目将举办研讨会，在线学习社区和其他活动，以参与和支持计划的领导者和审阅者使用该指南。该项目将制定并实施一项可持续性计划，以确保指南定期更新，并在采用其原则方面继续支持计划。最后，该项目将进行和发布研究，以探讨该指南和相关支持机制对物理计划文化和实践的影响。通过这种方式，该项目可以有助于理解如何促进改善本科教育的机构变革。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估标准通过评估来支持的。