Collaborative Research: Creating a bean beetle curriculum development network

生物科学(61)。《打造豆壳虫课程开发网》是埃默里大学与莫尔豪斯学院合作的项目。该项目的目标是扩大以探究为基础的实验室练习的使用，使用豆甲模型系统--斑纹豆象。有四个主要目标。第一个目标是利用教师研讨会，以及作为早期项目的一部分创建的手册和网站，发展教师在研究性实验室课程中使用豆甲虫的专业知识。为这些研讨会招聘的教师将来自生物学学科，如动物生理学、神经生物学、分子生物学、遗传学和发育生物学，这些学科在上一个项目中没有涉及。第二个目标是向参加讲习班的教师提供机会，使他们有机会调整前一个项目中开发的基于探究的实验室练习，以适应他们的课程和机构。实现这一目标是为了使这些教育创新能够在更多样化的教育机构中实施。第三个目标是让参加研讨会的教师在动物生理学、神经生物学、分子生物学、遗传学和发育生物学领域利用豆角甲虫开发和实施新的探究性实验室研究(即新的学习材料)。最后，第四个目标是让网络参与者开发或调整评估工具，以评估其新的实验室活动并实施这些评估。该项目的智力价值在于开发、测试和实施基于探究的实验室实验，这些实验已被证明增加了学生对科学内容、实验设计和科学本质的理解。通过创建一个课程开发网络，该项目正在显著拓宽生物学中的学科，这些学科将能够使用豆甲虫作为以探究为基础的实验室课程的模型系统。正在为动物生理学、神经生物学、分子生物学、遗传学和发育生物学等课程制作新的实验室材料。最后，该项目正在评估生物学中不同机构和学科的实验室课程中探究性学习的有效性。该项目的更广泛影响来自于从不同机构招聘教师参加研讨会。因此，在拟议的讲习班上建立的课程发展网络正在促进不同环境下更好的教与学。此外，这些讲习班正在建立伙伴关系，将继续改善生物学实验室教育。此外，为了让代表性不足的少数群体更多地参与基于探究的研究，正在为社区学院和为少数群体服务的机构的教员留出一些研讨会的名额。最后，正在通过专门的网站、在本科生STEM教育界年度会议上举办的讲习班和演讲以及在与本科生STEM教育有关的期刊上发表文章，传播课程编制网参与者编写的材料。

Biological Sciences (61). "Creating a Bean Beetle Curriculum Development Network" is a collaborative project between Emory University and Morehouse College. The goal of the project is to expand the use of inquiry-based laboratory exercises with the bean beetle model system, Callosobruchus maculatus. There are four primary objectives. The first objective is to use faculty workshops, along with the handbook and website created as part of an earlier project, to develop faculty expertise in the use of bean beetles in inquiry-based laboratory courses. The faculty recruited for these workshops will be from biology disciplines, such as animal physiology, neurobiology, molecular biology, genetics, and developmental biology that were not addressed in the previous project. The second objective is to provide faculty in the workshops the opportunity to adapt the inquiry-based laboratory exercises developed in the previous project to fit their curricula and institutions. Fulfilling this objective is allowing the implementation of these educational innovations in a greater diversity of educational institutions. The third objective is for faculty in the workshops to develop and implement new inquiry-based laboratory studies (i.e., new learning materials) using bean beetles in the areas of animal physiology, neurobiology, molecular biology, genetics, and developmental biology. Finally, the fourth objective is for network participants to develop or adapt assessment tools to evaluate their new laboratory exercises and to implement those assessments. The intellectual merit of the project lies in the development, testing and implementation of inquiry-based laboratory experiments, which have been shown to increase student understanding of scientific content, experimental design, and the nature of science. By creating a curriculum development network, the project is broadening significantly the disciplines within biology that will be able to use bean beetles as a model system for inquiry-based laboratory courses. New laboratory materials are being produced for courses in animal physiology, neurobiology, molecular biology, genetics, and developmental biology. Finally, the project is assessing the effectiveness of inquiry-based learning in laboratory courses across a diversity of institutions and disciplines in biology.The broader impacts of the project emerge from the recruitment of faculty for workshops from a diverse array of institutions. As a result, the curriculum development network established at the proposed workshops is promoting better teaching and learning in diverse settings. In addition, the workshops are establishing partnerships that will continue to improve laboratory education in biology. Furthermore, to increase involvement of under-represented minorities in inquiry-based research, some workshop slots are being set aside for faculty from community colleges and minority-serving institutions. Finally, the materials developed by participants in the curriculum development network are being disseminated through a devoted website, workshops and presentations at annual meetings of the undergraduate STEM education community, and publication in journals related to undergraduate STEM education.