Collaborative Proposal: Expanding Evolutionary Studies in American Higher Education

跨学科/多学科(99)。“拓展美国高等教育的进化论研究”是宾厄姆顿纽约州立大学和新帕尔茨纽约州立大学的合作项目。它包括进一步实施、传播和评估在整个本科课程中纳入进化论观点的模式。该模式正在宾厄姆顿的纽约州立大学开发，并将在项目过程中扩展到纽约州立大学新帕尔茨分校和至少9个其他机构。课程内容包括一门名为《人人进化》的跨学科入门课程、一项可与任何专业联合完成的进化论研究跨学科证书授予计划、一项邀请外部演讲者就一系列主题提供进化论观点的跨学科研讨会计划，以及一项让本科生参与基于社区的研究项目的计划。传播模式包括为参与机构提供小额赠款计划，项目团队成员访问校园，以及为联盟成员努力建立社区，包括开发一份致力于进化论研究本科生教育的在线期刊。项目评估将包括对个别校园倡议如何影响学生学习和学生态度的广泛评估，以及对传播模式的评估。该项目的学术价值在于它以创新的方式解决了科学教育中的一个困难和重要的问题(进化论教学)，将进化论的观点嵌入整个本科课程，并开发了一个跨学科计划，允许来自所有学科的学生获得进化论研究的证书。该提案的更广泛影响包括向包括社区大学在内的各种其他机构传播进化研究跨学科项目的成功模式。这些项目的范围很广，远远超出了生命科学的范围，包括物理科学、社会科学、人文和艺术，并影响着各种各样的学生。该项目还通过鼓励来自广泛学科领域的教职员工参与，帮助打破学科壁垒。

Interdisciplinary / Multidisciplinary (99). "Expanding Evolutionary Studies in American Higher Education" is a collaborative project between SUNY at Binghamton and SUNY College at New Paltz. It involves further implementation, dissemination, and evaluation of a model for incorporating an evolutionary perspective throughout the undergraduate curriculum. The model is being developed at SUNY at Binghamton, and will be expanded to SUNY New Paltz and at least 9 other institutions during the course of the project. Elements of the curriculum include an introductory interdisciplinary course entitled "Evolution for Everyone," an interdisciplinary certificate-granting program in evolutionary studies that can be completed in conjunction with any major, an interdisciplinary seminar program that brings in outside speakers who provide an evolutionary perspective to a wide array of topics, and a program for involving undergraduates in community-based research projects. The model for dissemination includes a small-grants program for participating institutions, campus visits by members of the project team, and efforts at community building for the consortium members, including the development of an on-line journal devoted to undergraduate education in evolutionary studies. Project evaluation will include extensive evaluation of how individual campus initiatives influence student learning and student attitudes, as well as an evaluation of the dissemination model. The intellectual merit of the project lies in its innovative approach to a difficult and important issue in science education (the teaching of evolution) by embedding an evolutionary perspective throughout the undergraduate curriculum, and by developing an interdisciplinary program that allows students from all disciplines to gain a certificate in evolutionary studies. The broader impacts of the proposal include the dissemination of a successful model for an interdisciplinary program in evolutionary studies to a variety of other institutions, including community colleges. These programs are having a broad scope reaching well beyond the life sciences to include the physical sciences, social sciences, humanities and the arts, and are impacting a diverse array of students. The project is also helping to break down disciplinary walls by encouraging participation from faculty from a broad spectrum of academic disciplines.