Curriculum Improvement in Practice-Oriented Biology and Computer Science Programs Using Student Portfolios

该项目将以实践为导向的科学教育评估从间接的学生学习评估转向直接的学生学习评估。东北大学是一所具有悠久实践教育传统的研究型大学。通过其完善的合作教育计划，大多数学生交替进行全日制课程工作和与其专业相关的全职带薪工作。即使在校园环境中，科学教育也已经超越了教师直接监督学生的传统课堂，包括新形式的实验室教学、协作研究项目和独立学习。合作教育模式和其他新的教学形式都提出了这样的问题：在每种环境中学到了什么，如何评估所获得的技能，以及如何将这种学习融入整个课程。东北大学计算机科学学院和文理学院生物系对学生和他们的合作社雇主进行了调查，以评估学生的技能，并确定他们是在哪里以及如何学习的。这两个单位在评估学习以改进课程和教学方面已成为校园领导者。在此基础上，这个项目开发了档案袋，供学生展示和存档他们的作品。然后，根据明确定义的标准对学生的学习进行评估，这些标准设定了朝着预期学习目标熟练程度的可衡量进步的标准。档案袋以数字形式存储在计算机服务器(所谓的电子档案袋)上，以促进各种学习环境之间的交流。该项目的第一个主要任务是开发用于评估学生在不同环境中的学习情况的标准。这一过程需要学术教师、合作社教师、雇主主管和有经验的学生之间进行深入、便利的讨论。第二项任务是按照题目开发小组的建议，并与外部数据库和网络前端设计人员合作，设计档案袋系统原型。该项目组合是在该项目的第三年进行试点的，使用了200名计算机科学合作预备班的学生，以及200名来自所有五年计划的生物学学生。在每年的最后两个月，项目小组通过咨询课程委员会、雇主团体、学生团体和为该项目成立的咨询委员会来审查进展情况。在最后评估之后，结果将分发给大学社区以及更广泛的科学家和教育工作者。标准开发和档案袋构建的过程可以作为一种模式，以了解不同环境对期望的学生学习结果的相对贡献，并作为定期审查和改进课程的工具。该模式可以在各种环境中使用，学生范围很广；例如，帮助提高技能，明确家庭中第一个上大学的学生和以英语为第二语言的学生的目标。

This project moves the assessment of practice-oriented science education from indirect to direct measures of student learning. Northeastern University is a major research university with a long tradition of practice-oriented education. Through its well-established cooperative education program, most students alternate periods of full time course work with periods of full time paid employment relevant to their major. Even in on-campus settings science education has moved beyond the traditional classroom, where instructors maintain direct oversight over students, to include new forms of lab instruction, collaborative research projects, and independent study. Both the cooperative education model and the other new forms of instruction raise questions about what is learned in each setting, how the acquired skills can be assessed, and how this learning can be integrated into the overall curriculum. The College of Computer Science and the Biology Department of the College of Arts &Sciences at Northeastern University have surveyed students and their co-op employers to evaluate student skills and determine where and how they were learned. The two units have become campus leaders in assessing learning to improve curricula and teaching. Building on this base, this project develops portfolios for students to showcase and archive their work. Student learning is then evaluated according to well-defined rubrics that set standards of measurable progress toward proficiency in desired learning goals. The portfolios are stored in digital form on computer servers (so-called electronic portfolios) to facilitate communication between the various learning environments. Development of rubrics to evaluate student learning in different settings is the first major task of the project. This process requires in-depth, facilitated discussions among academic faculty, co-op faculty, employer supervisors and experienced students. The second task is the designing of the portfolio system prototype following the recommendations of the rubric development teams and working with an outside database and web-front-end designer. The portfolio is piloted during the third year of the project, using 200 students in Computer Science co-op preparation classes, and 200 Biology students from all five years of their program. During the last two months of each year the project team reviews progress by consulting with curriculum committees, employer groups, student groups and an Advisory Committee formed for this project. After the final evaluation the results are disseminated to the University Community and to the wider audience of scientists and educators. The process of rubric development and portfolio construction can be used as a model to understand the relative contribution of different settings to desired student learning outcomes, and as a vehicle for regular review and improvement of curriculum. The model can be used in a variety of settings with a broad range of students; for instance to help improve skills and clarify goals for students who are the first in their family to attend college and students for whom English is their second language.