Exploring the Integration of Systems Thinking in Biology in Participatory Professional Development

探索生物学系统思维在参与式专业发展中的整合

• 批准号: 2200815
• 负责人: Michael Cassidy
• 金额: $ 106.04万
• 依托单位: TERC Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-08-01 至 2025-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2200815&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Exploring; Integration; Systems; Thinking; Biology

The project will develop a teacher professional learning (PL) model that focuses on middle-school biological sciences in addressing real world problems. Systems thinking is central to understanding biology systems. Game design has been shown to help develop systems thinking in teachers and students. Students will participate in PL to illustrate the value of distributed expertise by sharing their knowledge of computer. Teachers will adapt their existing curriculum and will co-design games with students to experience participatory practices. The PL model includes 36 hours of synchronous in-person and online activities, including four consecutive six-hour days in the summer and four three-hour sessions throughout the school year. The project will work with 14 teachers with multiple implementations over three years, involving approximately 1,900 students. Participatory classrooms will enhance the capacity of all students to see themselves as skilled and persistent learners. Through the PL, teachers will become knowledgeable about applying systems thinking to interpret and understand the functioning of biology systems, integrating game design in their existing lessons to enhance student application of systems thinking skills to learning about biological systems, and engaging in participatory practices. The model expands opportunities for students to be involved in the PL process, resulting in a better understanding of their impact on teacher pedagogy when using computational tools. Project research has the potential for developing new knowledge on our understanding of NGSS-aligned teaching and learning, science content understanding (specifically related to biodiversity), and ultimately student learning, agency, and action.The project will research how the PL contributes to teacher learning and how teachers’ pedagogy changes as they take up and use project tools to support student learning about biological systems, and how students learn about biology systems and improve systems thinking skills. The theoretical and research framework for this PL model is grounded in: (1) how systems in biology and game design are synergistic, (2) the importance of students’ presence in Pl, and (3) enacting participatory practices. This mixed methods study will include design-based research (DBR) to iteratively test and revise a PL model that identifies relationships between structural support elements, including tools, task structures, participant structures, and discursive practices, in a teacher learning environment. Conjecture mapping approach will be used in cycles of DBR to test the hypothesis that a participatory PD learning environment supports teachers in integrating game design as a constructionist learning opportunity for students to engage with and learn from systems. Project research will be guided by the following questions: (1) How do the elements of the PL learning environment contribute to teacher learning? (2) How do teachers use the tools provided by the project (game, design, and participatory practices) to support student learning about biological systems and how does this change their pedagogy? and (3) How does designing a game help students learn about biology systems and develop skills in systems thinking? Qualitative and quantitative data will be triangulated to address each research question and to provide a reliability check on findings. Qualitative data, such as fieldnotes, audio and video recordings, interviews, teacher and student artifacts, logs, and open-ended survey and assessment questions will be analyzed through codes that represent expected themes and patterns related to student and teacher experiences in PL and in the classroom. Quantitative data, including teacher survey Likert scale questions, implementation logs, and student assessment and game rubrics, will be analyzed using repeated measure ANOVA to examine pre-post changes in teachers and students. Research findings and practices from the project will be widely disseminated to teachers, administrators, and researchers through conference presentations and publications. The project will also create a “playbook” that will enable educators to freely draw on and modify the tools and processes utilized in the project for their local contexts and community needs. The Discovery Research preK-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects. 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.

该项目将开发一种教师专业学习（PL）模型，重点关注中学生物科学解决现实世界问题的方法。游戏设计已被证明有助于培养教师和学生的系统思维。学生将参与 PL，通过分享他们的计算机知识来展示分布式专业知识的价值。教师将调整他们现有的课程，并与学生共同设计游戏，以体验参与式实践。PL 模型包括 36 小时的同步面对面和实践。线上活动，连续四届该项目将在夏季每天进行 6 小时课程，并在整个学年中与 14 名教师合作，在三年内多次实施，涉及约 1,900 名学生。参与式课堂将提高所有学生认识自己的能力。通过 PL，教师将掌握如何应用系统思维来解释和理解生物系统的功能，将游戏设计融入到现有课程中，以增强学生应用系统思维技能来学习生物系统，并吸引学生参与。在该模型扩大了学生参与 PL 过程的机会，从而更好地了解他们在使用计算工具时对教师教学的影响。项目研究有可能发展我们对 NGSS 一致教学的理解的新知识。学习、科学内容理解（特别是与生物多样性理解相关），以及最终学生的学习、能动性和行动。该项目将研究 PL 如何为教师学习做出贡献，以及教师的教学法在他们采用和使用项目工具时如何变化。支持学生了解生物系统，以及学生如何了解生物系统并提高系统思维技能。该 PL 模型的理论和研究框架基于：(1) 生物学和游戏设计中的系统如何协同作用，(2) 的重要性。 (3) 制定参与式实践，该混合方法研究将包括基于设计的研究 (DBR)，以迭代测试和修订 PL 模型，该模型可识别结构支持元素（包括工具、任务结构、参与者）之间的关系。猜想映射方法将在 DBR 循环中使用，以检验以下假设：参与式 PD 学习环境支持教师将游戏设计整合为学生参与和学习的建构主义学习机会。项目研究将遵循以下问题：(1) PL 学习环境的要素如何促进教师学习？(2) 教师如何使用项目提供的工具（游戏、设计和参与性）实践）来支持学生学习生物系统以及这如何改变他们的教学法？以及（3）设计游戏如何帮助学生学习生物系统并培养系统思维技能？将通过三角测量来解决每个研究问题并提供对结果的可靠性检查，例如现场笔记、音频和视频记录、访谈、教师和学生的工件、日志以及开放式调查和评估问题，将通过代表与学生和学生相关的预期主题和模式的代码进行分析。老师的经验在PL 和课堂上的定量数据，包括教师调查李克特量表问题、实施日志以及学生评估和游戏规则，将使用重复测量方差分析来分析教师和学生的研究结果和实践的前后变化。该项目将通过会议演示和出版物向教师、管理人员和研究人员广泛传播。该项目还将创建一本“手册”，使教育工作者能够根据当地情况自由利用和修改项目中使用的工具和流程。社区需求。 Discovery Research preK-12 计划 (DRK-12) 旨在通过创新资源、模型和工具的研究和开发，显着增强 preK-12 学生和教师对科学、技术、工程和数学 (STEM) 的学习和教学DRK-12 计划中的项目建立在 STEM 教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议项目提供理论和实证依据。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值进行评估，被认为值得支持以及更广泛的影响审查标准。