Collaborative Research: From Courses to Careers - Addressing Ableism in Physics through Faculty-Student Partnerships

合作研究：从课程到职业——通过师生合作解决物理学能力歧视问题

• 批准号: 2336368
• 负责人: Erin Scanlon
• 金额: $ 22.99万
• 依托单位: University of Connecticut
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-04-01 至 2027-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2336368&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Courses; Careers; Addressing

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving access in undergraduate physics courses and creating a more inclusive culture in physics. While there have been previous efforts to improve physics education, few have investigated disabled students’ experiences in undergraduate physics contexts. As the number of disabled students continues to increase in STEM, it is important both to support these disabled students in their STEM career paths and provide professional development for physics faculty about how to support disabled students in their courses and programs. To that end, this project will develop professional development experiences for both physics faculty and disabled STEM students that focuses on 1) promoting accessibility and inclusion in undergraduate physics courses and 2) facilitating mutually beneficial partnerships between disabled STEM students and physics faculty. The professional development efforts will support faculty in developing inclusive teaching practices and will support disabled students in navigating future STEM careers. The project will investigate the impact of this professional development effort, which could be a model for other institutions and STEM disciplines. Ultimately, this project aligns with NSF’s strategic goal to empower STEM talent to fully participate in science and engineering through the strategic objective of ensuring accessibility and inclusivity.To investigate the effectiveness of this professional development model, this collaborative project between Michigan State University and University of Connecticut will address three research questions: 1) How, and to what extent, do participating faculty develop fluency and improve knowledge in disability, accessibility, and inclusivity? How, and to what extent, do faculty implement changes and inclusive practices in their own classrooms? 2) How, and to what extent, do participating students develop fluency and improve knowledge in career readiness, available career paths, and job application processes? How, and to what extent, do students feel empowered to address ableism within the STEM community and career contexts? 3) How do participating faculty and students view their partnership during and after the workshop, and how does this partnership affect them as individuals? These research questions will be answered using qualitative methods, including interviews with participants and document analysis of workshop materials, as well as quantitative surveys to assess participants’ views and knowledge of disability in physics. From results from these studies, the project will advance knowledge about partnership-based professional development models in undergraduate STEM education, both improving access and inclusion in undergraduate physics settings as well as laying the foundation for future professional development efforts focused on accessibility and inclusion in undergraduate STEM education more broadly. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engage Student Learning 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物理课程的入学机会并创造更具包容性的物理文化来服务国家利益。虽然之前已经做出了改善物理教育的努力，但很少有人调查残疾学生在本科物理背景下的经历。由于残疾学生在 STEM 领域的数量不断增加，因此在 STEM 职业道路上支持这些残疾学生并为物理教师提供有关如何支持残疾学生的课程和项目的专业发展非常重要。为物理教师和残疾 STEM 学生开发专业发展经验，重点关注1) 促进本科物理课程的可及性和包容性，2) 促进残疾 STEM 学生和物理教师之间的互利伙伴关系。专业发展工作将支持教师发展包容性教学实践，并支持残疾学生未来的 STEM 职业生涯。将调查这一专业发展工作的影响，这可能成为其他机构和 STEM 学科的典范，最终，该项目符合 NSF 的战略目标，即通过确保可访问性和能力的战略目标，使 STEM 人才充分参与科学和工程。为了调查这种专业发展模式的有效性，密歇根州立大学和康涅狄格大学之间的这个合作项目将解决三个研究问题：1）参与教师如何以及在多大程度上发展流利程度并提高残疾、无障碍方面的知识和包容性？教师如何以及在多大程度上在自己的课堂上实施变革和包容性实践？ 2) 参与的学生如何以及在多大程度上提高了职业准备、可用职业道路和工作方面的知识？申请流程如何？学生在多大程度上感到有权在 STEM 社区和职业环境中解决能力问题？ 3) 参与研讨会的教师和学生如何看待他们在研讨会期间和之后的合作关系，以及这种合作关系对他们个人有何影响？使用定性方法回答这些问题，包括对参与者的访谈和研讨会材料的文件分析，以及评估参与者对物理学残疾的看法和知识的定量调查，根据这些研究的结果，该项目将增进有关基于伙伴关系的专业人士的知识。本科 STEM 教育的发展模式，既提高了入学机会，又提高了包容性NSF IUSE：EHR 项目支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生 STEM 教育的有效性。在吸引学生学习轨道上，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。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和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。