Implementing C.R.E.A.T.E. Through Faculty Development at Multiple Institutions in order to Assess Its Efficacy on Diverse Learners

这个项目将大型科学入门课程的新想法扩展到最初引入和测试它的机构之外。该方法要求学生分组思考一个问题或概念，阅读一篇在主要文献中精心挑选的相关指定文章，阐明该文章中正在检验的假设，分析所提供的数据，并思考下一个逻辑实验。在每个练习结束时，学生向文章的作者提出问题，并与他们进行交流。参与这一第二阶段方法的机构包括：纽约市的私立大学(纽约大学和哥伦比亚大学)、公立学院(亨特学院)和社区学院(金斯伯勒社区学院)以及该地区以外的机构，如德克萨斯大学奥斯汀大学。智力优势：基于纽约城市学院(三组学生)提供的第一批此类课程的结果，该方法确实：(1)提高少数族裔学生的科学参与兴趣，(2)提高学生的阅读和批判性分析技能，(3)纠正少数族裔学生对科学/科学家的误解；(4)提高学生对生物概念的理解能力。正在进一步探讨和测试这一方法的合理性以及使其适应各种环境的可行性。更广泛的影响：该项目包括在曼哈顿城市大学研究生中心举办的为期一年的教师发展研讨会。随着讲习班参与者在课堂上实施、创建和评估该方法对不同学生群体的影响，他们正在纽约市建立一个生物教育学者社区；一个拥有有效教学研究知识的科学教员群体。该项目还提高了学生对科学职业的兴趣，并促进了对谁可以成为科学家的更现实的看法。所有这些都在全国范围内对科学入门课程的创新方法产生了重要影响。

This project extends a novel idea for large introductory science courses beyond the institution at which it was first introduced and tested. The approach asks students, working in groups, to consider a problem or concept, read a related assigned carefully chosen article in the primary literature, elucidate the hypotheses being tested in that article, analyze the data presented, and think of the next logical experiment. At the end of each exercise the students pose questions for the authors of the article and communicate these to them. The institutions involved in this phase 2 approach include: private universities (New York University and Columbia University), public colleges (Hunter College) and community colleges ( Kingsborough Community College) in New York City and institutions external to that area, such as the University of Texas Austin.Intellectual Merit: Based on results with the first such courses offered at City College of New York (three cohorts of students) the approach does: (1) increase science participation interest of minority students, (2) increase student reading and critical analysis skills, (3) correct minority student misconceptions of science/scientists; and (4) produce major gains in students conceptual understanding of biology. The soundness of the approach and the feasibility of adapting it to a variety of settings is being further explored and tested. Broader Impacts: The project includes a one-year Faculty Development Workshop at the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan. As Workshop participants implement CREATE and assess the effect of the approach on the various student cohorts in their classrooms they are building a community of scholars in biology education in NYC; a set of science faculty knowledgeable about research on effective teaching. The project is also increasing student interest in science careers and promoting a more realistic view of who can become a scientist. All of these have important implications nationally for innovative approaches to introductory science courses.