New England Science Faculty Enhancement Collaborative

高校的科学课堂存在着严重的问题，包括原定的专业转到其他学科，以及普遍存在的学生冷漠，尤其是在入门级课程中。这些问题的存在是因为过于强调材料的覆盖和记忆，竞争的气氛，以及新教师没有准备好教授本科理科课程。这些问题刺激了刚刚开始进行的改革努力。因此，现在确实需要一些项目来帮助教授将学生主动教学法融入课堂。为了解决这个问题，我们建议在东北部存在高等教育合作关系的5个地点开展一个研讨会项目。我们的项目将针对教授，包括入门级和年轻教师，他们教授入门课程。汉普郡学院是该项目的牵头机构；学院在学生主动探究性科学教学方面拥有全国认可的项目。计划的目标是：1)通过“培训培训师”模式有效地接触到大量教师；2)为研讨会负责人提供有效的培训和工具，以领导区域研讨会计划；3)向研讨会参与者介绍有效的学生主动方法及其背后的学习理论；4)帮助研讨会参与者将他们选择的学生主动方法纳入课程；5)将有经验的教师与有学生积极教学（导师）的地区经验不足但感兴趣的教师（尤其是新教师）联系起来；6)将来自不同学科和类型机构的不同教师群体聚集在一起，特别强调科学领域代表性不足的群体；7)利用联盟作为确定研讨会领导者和研讨会参与者的有效手段

There are serious problems in the college and university science classroom including intended majors who switch to other disciplines and pervasive student apathy, especially in introductory level courses. These problems exist because there is too much emphasis on coverage of material and memorization, an atmosphere of competition, and new faculty are either under prepared to teach undergraduate science courses. These issues have stimulated reform efforts that are just beginning to take place. As a result, there is now a real need for programs that help professors incorporate student-active approaches into their classrooms. To address this, we propose to develop a program of workshops centered in 5 sites throughout the northeast where higher education partnerships exist. Our program will target professors, including entry level and young faculty, who teach introductory courses. Hampshire College is the lead agency on this project; the college has a nationally recognized program in student-active, inquiry science teaching. Program objectives are to: 1) effectively reach large numbers of faculty through the "train the trainers" model, 2) give workshop leaders effective training and tools for leading regional workshop programs, 3) introduce workshop participants to effective student-active approaches and the learning theories underlying them, 4) help workshop participants incorporate student-active approach(es) of their choosing into a course, 5) link faculty experienced with student-active teaching (mentors) with regional inexperienced but interested faculty, and especially new faculty, 6) bring together a diverse group of faculty from different disciplines and types of institutions, with special emphasis on underrepresented groups in science, and 7) use consortia as effective means to identify workshops leaders and workshop participants