Building an Infrastructure for Research Collaborations

构建研究合作基础设施

基本信息

批准号：
8299049
负责人：
ERIN L DOLAN
金额：
$ 23.07万
依托单位：
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2009
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2009-09-28 至 2014-06-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8299049
关键词：
Affect Animal Model Arabidopsis Attitude Award Awareness Back Belief Biological Sciences Biology Biotechnology Collaborations Communication Communities Country Data Decision Making Development Digital Libraries Disabled Persons Distant Droughts Education Educational Curriculum Educational process of instructing Educational workshop Electronic Mail Enrollment Ensure Environment Evaluation Research Experimental Designs Fostering Funding Genes Genetic Genomics Genotype Graph Growth Growth and Development function Guidelines Institution Internet Investigation Knowledge Learning Letters Mentors Motion Mouse-ear Cress National Center for Research Resources Outcome Pathway interactions Peer Review Persons Phase Plants Postdoctoral Fellow Protocols documentation Publications Recruitment Activity Reporting Research Research Infrastructure Rural Schools Science Scientist Seeds Stress Students Study models Thinking Time Training Visit Work Writing design experience gene function geographically distant graduate student high school interest meetings mutant novel plant genetics plant growth/development positional cloning programs public health relevance reproductive research study rural area science education skills symposium teacher virtual web site

项目摘要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Partnership for Research and Education in Plants (PREP) was established to foster research collaborations among high school biology students, their teachers, and scientists. Scientists provide seeds from wild-type (with all functional genes) and mutant (with a disabled gene) Arabidopsis thaliana plants, and teachers and students design and conduct investigations to help elucidate the function of the disabled gene. To date, PREP has established multi-year, mutually beneficial research collaborations between more than 65 teachers and 30 scientists, involving more than 12,000 students in making scientific discoveries. PREP has also enhanced student knowledge about genetics, plant biology, and scientific inquiry. Yet, PREP has faced challenges in engaging students in rural schools and general classes (vs. honors or advanced classes), and in ensuring that students develop scientific reasoning skills as they participate in doing science. Here we propose to develop new and creative components of PREP that enable students and teachers in rural areas of the country to collaborate in research with geographically distant scientists, engage students who are enrolled in general biology classes and considered to be "average or low achievers" to experience the excitement of scientific discovery, enhance the complexity of students' reasoning throughout their investigations, develop the capacity of teachers and scientists to mentor students as they collaborate in research, and determine whether and how these activities affect (1) students' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about science and their scientific reasoning skills, and (2) teachers' and scientists' abilities to mentor students in scientific investigation. We propose to accomplish these aims by building on PREP's current infrastructure: the network of participating teachers and scientists, project web site, and findings from our research and evaluation. Specifically, we will develop and formatively evaluate (Phase I) and disseminate summatively evaluate (Phase II): (1) new Pre-PREP and Reasoning in Research curricula, (2) new professional development experiences for teachers and scientists in the form of an Engaging Students in Scientific Investigation course and a Mentor Teacher Program, and (3) new collaboration strategies in the form of virtual interactions and intensive one teacher - one scientist partnerships. We anticipate involving sufficient numbers of students to conduct quasi-experimental studies to determine the impacts of different project components (i.e., curricula and collaboration strategies) and determine if there is synergy when they are combined. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE (provided by applicant): Building an Infrastructure for Research Collaborations will build on the existing infrastructure of the Partnership for Research and Education in Plants (PREP) to engage lower achieving high school students in designing and conducting novel experiments with unknown outcomes that are of interest to the biomedical community, ensure students learn biology concepts and scientific reasoning skills as they make scientific discoveries, and build the capacity of teachers and scientists across the country to mentor students in scientific investigation. Through these activities, students will not only grow in their science knowledge, but also in their awareness of science as way of thinking and as a field where they can make meaningful contributions.

描述（由申请人提供）：建立了植物研究和教育的伙伴关系（PREP），以促进高中生物学学生，其老师和科学家的研究合作。科学家提供野生型（具有所有功能基因）和突变体（具有残疾基因）拟南芥植物的种子，教师和学生设计和进行研究以帮助阐明残疾基因的功能。迄今为止，Prep已经在65多名教师和30位科学家之间建立了多年，互惠互利的研究合作，涉及12,000多名学生进行科学发现。 PREP还增强了学生对遗传学，植物生物学和科学探究的了解。然而，Prep在吸引学生参加农村学校和普通班（与荣誉或高级课程）方面面临挑战，并确保学生在参与科学时发展科学推理技能。在这里，我们建议开发新的和创造性的准备成分，使该国农村地区的学生和老师能够与地理上遥远的科学家进行研究，吸引那些参加通用生物学课程并被认为是“平均或低成就者”的学生为了体验科学发现的兴奋，增强学生在整个调查过程中的推理的复杂性，发展教师和科学家在研究中指导学生的能力，并确定这些活动以及这些活动如何影响（1）学生的知识，学生的知识，对科学及其科学推理技能的态度以及信念，以及（2）教师和科学家的能力，以指导学生进行科学研究。我们建议通过建立Prep的当前基础架构：参与教师和科学家的网络，项目网站以及我们的研究和评估的发现来实现这些目标。具体而言，我们将开发并形成评估（I阶段）并进行分发总结评估（II阶段）：（1）研究课程中的新的Preprep和推理，（2）以教师和科学家的形式为教师和科学家提供新的专业发展经验吸引学生参加科学研究课程和导师教师计划，以及（3）以虚拟互动和密集的一位教师的形式进行新的合作策略 - 一个科学家的伙伴关系。我们预计将涉及足够数量的学生进行准实验研究，以确定不同项目组件（即课程和协作策略）的影响，并确定合并时是否有协同作用。公共卫生相关性（由申请人提供）：建立研究合作的基础设施将建立在植物研究和教育合作伙伴关系（PREP）的现有基础设施上对生物医学界感兴趣，确保学生在创造科学发现时学习生物学概念和科学推理技能，并在全国范围内建立教师和科学家的能力，以指导学生进行科学研究。通过这些活动，学生不仅会在他们的科学知识中成长，而且还将以他们对科学作为思维方式和作为可以做出有意义贡献的领域的认识。