RCN-UBE: Statistical Thinking in Undergraduate Biology (STUB) Network: A network for coordinating the teaching and assessment of statistical thinking in introductory biology

RCN-UBE：本科生物学统计思维 (STUB) 网络：协调生物学入门统计思维教学和评估的网络

基本信息

批准号：
2231701
负责人：
Karen McGaughey
金额：
$ 49.99万
依托单位：
California Polytechnic State University Foundation
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2022
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2022-04-01 至 2023-09-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2231701&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
RCN UBE Statistical Thinking Undergraduate

项目摘要

The practice of biology has transitioned over the last two decades to become increasingly reliant on quantitative approaches to drawing conclusions from data. Consequently, an introduction to both descriptive and inferential statistical thinking is now standard practice for the undergraduate biology course "Bio 101" - a course taken by over 1.2 million students in the U.S. annually. Despite the large numbers of students in introductory biology courses, there is a dearth of active discussion about teaching and assessment when integrating statistical thinking into biology courses. Recently, the statistics education community has established guidelines for assessment and instructional best practices when teaching statistics. Furthermore, there is a prominent movement to use modern, computationally-intensive statistical methods (simulation, randomization tests, and bootstrapping) that utilize active learning pedagogical strategies and have preliminary evidence of improving student learning. Despite these recent changes, there are limited venues to discuss and coordinate best practices for the teaching and assessment of statistical thinking for biology students - many of whom may never take an Introductory Statistics course or will take such a course at a very different time than their introductory biology course. To address these challenges, the Statistical Thinking in Undergraduate Biology (STUB) network will be formed, consisting of over 500 biology and statistics instructors. The network will directly impact over 100,000 students during the five-year period of the award, with many thousands impacted in the following years. With particular focus on a diverse set of institutions, backgrounds, and learning environments (e.g., institutions serving large numbers of underrepresented and underserved students, including two-year colleges), the project has the potential for effecting a substantial change in the content and focus of the teaching of statistical thinking in undergraduate biology across the country.As part of the network, participants will engage in workshops and an online learning community dedicated to the discussion and sharing of ideas, resources, and techniques. A key tangible outcome of the workshops and online learning community will be freely available, class-tested, and edited modules co-developed by biologists and statisticians for use in teaching statistical ideas. The STUB network will also serve to assist in coordinating the assessment of statistical thinking and student attitudes in introductory biology courses. The network will share best practices on assessment, vet potential assessment items, and share assessment results, as well as evaluate the efficacy of the workshops and the online learning community in improving instructor and student outcomes. The STUB network will provide a forum for serious and impactful discussions about teaching statistics in introductory biology courses, resulting in (a) the development and wide dissemination of numerous freely available modules and assessment items for teaching, (b) published peer-reviewed articles on teaching best practices and assessment results related to statistical thinking in undergraduate biology courses, (c) a long-lasting improvement in the teaching of statistical thinking in the undergraduate biology curriculum, and (d) introductory statistics courses reflecting the needs and perspective of biology (and other quantitative science) students.This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO), Division of Biological Infrastructure, and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange/finalreport/). This project is also co-funded by the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) in the BIO directorate and the Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS) in the Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences (MPS).

在过去的二十年中，生物学实践已经发生转变，变得越来越依赖定量方法从数据中得出结论。因此，介绍描述性和推论性统计思维现已成为本科生物课程“Bio 101”的标准做法——美国每年有超过 120 万学生选修这门课程。尽管生物学入门课程的学生数量众多，但在将统计思维融入生物学课程时，缺乏关于教学和评估的积极讨论。最近，统计教育界制定了统计教学时的评估和教学最佳实践指南。此外，使用现代计算密集型统计方法（模拟、随机化测试和引导）的显着趋势是利用主动学习教学策略，并有改善学生学习的初步证据。尽管最近发生了这些变化，但讨论和协调生物学学生统计思维教学和评估最佳实践的场所仍然有限——他们中的许多人可能永远不会参加统计导论课程，或者会在与他们的学生截然不同的时间参加此类课程。生物学入门课程。为了应对这些挑战，将成立本科生生物学统计思维 (STUB) 网络，由 500 多名生物学和统计学教师组成。该网络将在该奖项的五年期间直接影响超过 100,000 名学生，并在接下来的几年中影响数千名学生。该项目特别关注不同的机构、背景和学习环境（例如，为大量代表性不足和服务不足的学生提供服务的机构，包括两年制大学），有可能在内容和重点方面产生重大变化作为该网络的一部分，参与者将参加研讨会和在线学习社区，致力于讨论和分享想法、资源和技术。研讨会和在线学习社区的一个关键切实成果将是免费提供、经过课堂测试和由生物学家和统计学家共同开发的编辑模块，用于教授统计思想。 STUB 网络还将协助协调生物学入门课程中统计思维和学生态度的评估。该网络将分享评估的最佳实践，审查潜在的评估项目，分享评估结果，并评估研讨会和在线学习社区在提高教师和学生成果方面的有效性。 STUB 网络将为有关生物学入门课程中的统计学教学问题提供一个严肃且有影响力的讨论的论坛，从而 (a) 开发并广泛传播大量免费的教学模块和评估项目，(b) 发表同行评审的文章在本科生物学课程中教授与统计思维相关的最佳实践和评估结果，(c) 本科生物学课程中统计思维教学的长期改进，以及 (d) 反映生物学需求和观点的入门统计课程和其他定量科学）该项目由生物科学理事会（BIO）生物基础设施司和教育和人力资源理事会（EHR）本科教育司联合资助，作为他们努力解决生物基础设施司面临的挑战的一部分。本科生物教育的愿景和变革：行动呼吁 (http://visionandchange/finalreport/)。该项目还由 BIO 理事会的分子和细胞生物科学部 (MCB) 和数学与物理科学理事会 (MPS) 的数学科学部 (DMS) 共同资助。