Examining the Impact of the Partnership for Life Sciences Education Recognition Program as a Mechanism to Foster Departmental Transformation

检验生命科学教育认可计划伙伴关系作为促进部门转型机制的影响

• 批准号: 2012213
• 负责人: Thomas Jack
• 金额: $ 60.03万
• 依托单位: Dartmouth College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-10-01 至 2025-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2012213&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Examining; Impact; Partnership; Life; Sciences

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving undergraduate biological sciences education. To this end, it will study the impact of the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education (PULSE) Recognition Program in promoting systemic improvements in biological sciences teaching and learning. Life science departments are granted PULSE recognition based on adoption of pedagogical and institutional best practices that are aligned with the recommendations of the influential 2011 report, Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action. This project will support expansion of the PULSE Recognition Program to 18 additional life science departments from under-resourced institutions. The project will use previous data, together with data from the new institutions, to study the role of PULSE recognition in departmental transformation. The project has the potential to transform life sciences departments' implementation of student-centered, evidence-based teaching approaches. It may also influence STEM education more broadly by providing a model for large-scale institutional reform efforts.The PULSE Recognition Program is a novel, tiered recognition model inspired by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system for rating buildings. The recognition process requires departments to complete rubrics that evaluate utilization of evidence-based teaching practices and other institutional practices known to correlate with innovative pedagogy, improved student outcomes, and increased student retention in STEM as recommended by the 2011 Vision and Change report. Additional documents and departmental data are then submitted and reviewed, followed by a site visit that includes meetings with faculty, administrators, staff, and students. After review of the evidence, life science departments are awarded a “Progression Level” (Baseline, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) based on the degree of implementation of pedagogical and institutional best practices. This project focuses on studying the impact of PULSE Recognition through three specific objectives. The first is to conduct a rigorous and comprehensive longitudinal research study on the efficacy of the PULSE Recognition Program as a model to incentivize departmental change and continuous improvement in undergraduate STEM education. The second objective is to assess how departmental behavior and attitudes change in response to receiving PULSE Recognition. To measure these changes, a Faculty Attitudes and Readiness Survey has been developed, and individual faculty from participating life science departments will complete this short survey in years 1, 3, and 5 of the project. The third objective is to assess how the activities associated with earning PULSE recognition promote departmental change in ways that improve life sciences undergraduate education at distinct types of institutions. This work is organized in the context of the PULSE Theory of Change, a model for how PULSE activities ultimately produce departmental transformation. The project will create an infrastructure to evaluate data submitted during the recognition process and compile a nationally representative sample. The project findings will contribute to understanding factors that drive successful institutional transformation, as well as help dissemination of reform efforts in undergraduate STEM education. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.

该项目旨在通过改善本科生物科学教育来服务国家利益。为此，它将研究本科生生命科学教育合作伙伴关系（PULSE）认可计划在促进生物科学教学和学习的系统性改进方面的影响。各院系根据采用的教学和机构最佳实践获得 PULSE 认可，这些最佳实践与颇具影响力的 2011 年报告《本科生物教育的愿景和变革：行动呼吁》的建议相一致。该项目将支持 PULSE 的扩展。向资源不足机构的另外 18 个生命科学部门提供认可计划 该项目将使用以前的数据以及新机构的数据来研究 PULSE 认可在部门转型中的作用。实施以学生为中心、基于证据的教学方法，还可能通过为大规模机构改革工作提供模型来更广泛地影响 STEM 教育。PULSE 认可计划是受能源领导力启发的一种新颖的分层认可模型。和环境建筑设计 (LEED) 系统要求各部门完成评估循证教学实践和其他已知与创新教学法、提高学生成绩和提高 STEM 学生保留率相关的机构实践的使用情况。然后提交并审查其他文件和部门数据，然后进行 2011 年愿景和变革报告，随后进行现场访问，其中包括与教职员工、管理人员、工作人员和学生的会议。在审查证据后，生命科学部门被授予“进步”。 “等级” （基线、铜级、银级、金级、白金级）基于教学和机构最佳实践的实施程度，该项目重点通过三个具体目标来研究 PULSE 识别的影响。研究 PULSE 认可计划作为激励本科 STEM 教育部门变革和持续改进的模型的有效性。第二个目标是评估部门行为和态度如何因接受 PULSE 认可而发生变化。为了衡量这些变化，我们制定了教师态度和准备情况调查，参与生命科学系的个别教师将在项目的第一年、第三年和第五年完成这项简短的调查。第三个目标是评估这些活动的相关性。获得 PULSE 认可，以改善不同类型机构的生命科学本科教育的方式促进部门变革。 这项工作是在 PULSE 变革理论的背景下组织的，该理论是 PULSE 活动最终如何产生部门变革的模型。基础设施评估在认可过程中提交的数据并编制具有全国代表性的样本，该项目的研究结果将有助于了解推动成功的机构转型的因素，并有助于传播本科生 STEM 教育的改革努力。该项目旨在提高所有学生 STEM 教育的有效性，通过机构和社区转型轨道，支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项是 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为值得支持。评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。