Improving undergraduate student critical thinking and ability to solve environmental problems with fossil records through FossilSketch application

通过 FossilSketch 应用程序提高本科生批判性思维和利用化石记录解决环境问题的能力

• 批准号: 2337105
• 负责人: Anna Stepanova
• 金额: $ 74.98万
• 依托单位: Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
• 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: 2024-02-01 至 2027-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2337105&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Improving; undergraduate; student; critical; thinking

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving students’ learning in geosciences classes using the FossilSketch application. FossilSketch is web-based educational software for teaching micropaleontology that trains students in the basics of specimen identification and ecological interpretations using microfossils. These skills are important for environmental impact studies, applications in energy resource industries, and as a foundation for understanding the past, present, and future of our oceanic ecosystems. The goal of the project is to improve the pilot version of FossilSketch software to make it self-sustainable for general use in different science courses (e.g., biology, geology, and environmental science). This Engaged Student Learning Level 2 project aims to strengthen student academic experiences, their interest in STEM career trajectories, and their ability to solve environmental problems with fossil records. FossilSketch provides students a flexible environment to practice, monitor their progress, and receive individual feedback. The improved version of the FossilSketch application seeks to provide geoscience educators with a collaborative working environment to upload and share microfossil collections and educational activities for different courses.Drawing on principles of self-regulated learning, this project is designed to enhance and support students’ learning, self-regulation, and knowledge retention using the FossilSketch application. The collected data will contribute to deeper understanding of self-regulation in geosciences. FossilSketch will be introduced and evaluated at Texas A&M University, an HSI with a diverse student population. The FossilSketch online module will allow for integrating it into Massive Open Online Courses. High school teachers and other educators will be affected through outreach activities. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged 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.

该项目旨在通过使用化石应用程序来改善学生在地球科学课程中的学习来满足国家利益。 Fossilsketch是基于Web的教育软件，用于教授微生物学的教育软件，可培训学生使用微化石的标本识别和生态解释的基础知识。这些技能对于环境影响研究，能源行业的应用以及了解海洋生态系统的过去，现在和未来的基础很重要。该项目的目的是改善化石软件的试验版，以使其可自我维护，以供不同的科学课程（例如生物学，地质学和环境科学）中的一般使用。这个敬业的学生学习级别2项目旨在增强学生的学术经验，对STEM职业轨迹的兴趣以及通过化石记录解决环境问题的能力。 Fossilsketch为学生提供了一个灵活的环境，以练习，监控其进度并获得个人反馈。改进的化石应用程序的版本旨在为地球科学教育提供协作的工作环境，以上传和共享微化石的收集和教育活动，以了解自我调节的学习原理，该项目旨在增强和支持学生的学习，自我监管和使用化石兼库奇的知识。收集的数据将有助于更深入地了解地球科学中的自我调节。化石凯奇将在德克萨斯A＆M大学进行介绍和评估，该大学的学生人数多样化。化石在线模块将允许将其集成到大型的开放在线课程中。高中教师和其他教育者将通过外展活动受到影响。 NSF IUSE：EDU计划支持研发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习轨道，该计划支持了承诺实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估审查标准，被认为是珍贵的支持。