Collaborative Research: Evaluating student learning in geoscience curricula that employ conceptests using electronic student response systems

地质（42）我们正在探索使用电子学生响应系统促进全国大型地球科学入门课程学习的影响。学生将获得一个个人注册的遥控器，用于在实际课堂上回答概念问题。这些问题是基于文本、图表或图形的选择题，集中在一个关键概念上。它们的目的是巩固课堂上所讲的内容。他们为学生提供即时反馈，近乎实时地收集课堂反应，并显示在教室前面的图表上。学生和教师分析图表，讨论结果，并利用这些信息指导后续活动。课堂反应的小组讨论是主要的教学模式。我们正在分析9000多名学生的回答，以确定可以在其他机构用作可靠的课堂评估的问题。教学辅助工具也正在开发中，以帮助学生找到更好的备课方法，使他们在课堂内外都能取得成功。我们正在改变问题的类型、学生看到的回答数据的数量和提问技巧，以确定哪种组合能提供最丰富的学习体验。目前正在六个州的社区学院、四年制学院和研究型大学收集数据。该提案的智力价值包括分析有关使用电子响应系统的效用的数据，以及跨人群、学科和教育环境的问题，并确定更好的方法来确保非科学专业的人口具有科学素养。该提案的更广泛影响包括按性别和种族对学生对这些问题的反应进行深入研究和记录。这样的文件会导致教师如何以最具包容性的方式使用这些评估的建议。

Geology (42)We are exploring the impact of using electronic student response systems to facilitate learning in large introductory geoscience courses across the country. Students are provided a personally registered remote control that is used to answer conceptual questions during the actual class. The questions are text-, diagram- or graph-based multiple choice questions that focus on one key concept. They are intended to reinforce material presented in class. They provide immediate feedback to students as class responses are collected in near-real time and displayed on a graph at the front of the classroom. Students and instructors analyze the graphs, discuss the results and use that information to guide subsequent activities. Small group discussion of class responses is the primary mode of instruction. We are analyzing over 9000 student responses to identify questions that can be used as reliable in-class assessments at other institutions. Teaching and learning aids are also being developed to help students identify ways to better prepare for class so that they are successful in and out of class. We are varying the types of questions, amounts of response data students see and questioning techniques to determine which combinations provide the richest learning experiences. Data are being collected in six different states at community colleges, four-year colleges and research universities. The intellectual merit of this proposal includes analyses of data regarding the utility of using electronic response system and questions across populations, disciplines and educational settings and identification of better ways to ensure a scientifically literate population of non-science majors. The broader impact of this proposal includes the thorough study and documentation of student response to these questions by gender and ethnicity. Such documentation is leading to recommendations for how faculty can employ such assessments in the most inclusive way possible.