Assessing Student Learning and Evaluating Faculty Capacity Development in the NSF-Funded Regional Workshops Project

一个由国家科学基金会资助的国家传播项目，“在本科科学课程中传播成功的实地工作战略”（DUE 0088217），也被称为“区域讲习班项目”（RWP），于2001年开始了为期5年的努力，最终将为300名本科教师举办15个区域讲习班，每年3个。RWP致力于建立教师的专业学习社区，他们1）创建和提供本科SMET课程，证明解决环境问题是一种综合的，具有挑战性的，有效的方式来吸引本科专业和非专业，2）使用概念和现场/实验室技术适合教本科生如何在现实世界中解决问题，以及3）使用基于研究的知识，如何评估学生的学习和支持他们的能力发展作为教育工作者对解决环境问题为基础的课程，为本科SMET课程。这个阿萨项目同时检查NSF资助的区域研讨会项目（RWP）对提高教师能力以促进学生学习的影响。该方法是研究教师的能力发展发起的RWP研讨会和持续的互动和资源（计划和计划外）提供给教师以下他们的研讨会的经验，以及这些教师的能力建设过程对学生学习的影响。更具体地说，该项目正在研究：1）提高RWP参与者的能力，使他们能够以改变参与者对教学的方法和态度的方式，利用关于中小企业教育技术学习和评估做法的研究; 2）在课程和教学法方面进行重大改革时，教师得到支持的程度（在教学法包括评估活动的情况下）以提高参与者制定、维持和使其新的以解决环境问题为基础的课程制度化的能力;以及3）参加中小企业教育培训课程的学生：a）以有意义的方式学习中小企业教育培训概念（如Novak所定义，1999年）; B）建立一种与这些学科专家所持观点一致的中小型和微型企业培训学科观点; c）建立综合概念框架，以促进他们对中小型企业和技术学科的理解; d）培养对中小型企业和技术学科的积极态度和看法。该项目为区域工作方案的项目执行人和区域讲习班负责人提供了对区域讲习班的有效性的形成性评价，以及经过测试的工具和易于使用的分析和报告程序，讲习班负责人可以利用这些工具和程序对具有类似目标的其他教师发展讲习班进行形成性评价。这些形成性评价旨在帮助讲习班领导人改进讲习班的形式、内容、交付和“气氛”。一个切实的成果将是一个经过测试的纵向评估/评价过程，SMET教师可以适应收集可信，可靠，可转移和可确认的反馈，1）指导课程的变化，以支持改善学生的学习和2）促进自己的专业成长和发展。

An NSF-funded national dissemination project, "Disseminating Successful Strategies for Fieldwork in Undergraduate Science Curricula" (DUE 0088217), also known as the "Regional Workshops Project" (RWP), began a 5-year effort in 2001 that will eventually conduct 15 regional workshops for 300 undergraduate faculty at the rate of 3 per year. The RWP is engaged in establishing professional learning communities of faculty who 1) create and deliver undergraduate SMET courses that demonstrate that environmental problem solving is an integrative, challenging, effective way to engage undergraduate majors and non-majors, 2) use concepts and field/ laboratory techniques suitable for teaching undergraduates how science is done in a real-world, problem solving context, and 3) use research-based knowledge of how to assess student learning and support their capacity for development as educators on an environmental problem solving-based curriculum for undergraduate SMET courses. This ASA project is simultaneously examining the effects of the NSF-funded Regional Workshops Project (RWP) on improved faculty capacity to foster increased student learning. The approach is to study both the faculty capacity development initiated by the RWP workshops and sustained by interactions and resources (both planned and unplanned) available to faculty following their workshop experience, and the effects of these faculty capacity building processes on student learning. More specifically, this project is studying: 1) the development of RWP participants' capacity to use research on SMET learning and assessment practices in ways that result in changes in the participants approaches and attitudes toward teaching; 2) the extent to which faculty are supported while undertaking significant change in their curriculum and pedagogy (where pedagogy includes assessment activities) in ways that result in improvements in the participants' abilities to develop, sustain, and institutionalize their new environmental problem solving-based courses; and 3) the extent to which students in SMET courses : a) learn SMET concepts in a meaningful way (as defined by Novak, 1999); b) construct a view of SMET disciplines that is consistent with views held by experts in those disciplines; c) construct integrative conceptual frameworks to facilitate their understanding of SMET disciplines; and d) develop positive attitudes and perceptions about SMET disciplines. The project is providing the RWP PIs and regional workshop leaders with formative evaluation of the effectiveness of the regional workshops, and tested instruments and an easy-to-use analysis and report process that workshop leaders can use to undertake formative evaluation of other faculty development workshops with similar goals. These formative evaluations will be designed to help workshop leaders improve the format, content, delivery, and "climate" of the workshop. A tangible outcome will be a tested longitudinal assessment/evaluation process that SMET faculty can adapt to gather credible, dependable, transferable, and confirmable feedback that 1) guides course changes in support of improved student learning and 2) fosters their own professional growth and development.