Developing and Assessing Process Skills in Conservation Biology and Other Integrative Fields

生物科学(61)研究与评估(91)这个项目结合了教材开发和保护生物学的研究与评估。它是在两笔之前到期的拨款的基础上建立起来的，这两笔拨款已经开发了几十个保护生物学模块。该项目的一个主要重点是开发评估工具，以确定该领域的学生是否正在学习“更高水平的”思维技能以及专业操作所需的过程技能。保护生物学需要更高层次的思维技能，因为问题和问题是综合的、复杂的，需要建立联系、预测和测试模型以及合成信息的能力。著名的环保从业者和学者注意到，目前的大多数学术准备与专业领域实际需要的知识和技能之间存在着持续的脱节。已经作出努力，在各种学科中解决高等教育中专业技能和过程技能的发展问题；这些努力的范围从描述期望的能力到努力促进技能发展，例如通过实施积极的或以学生为中心的教学方法。很少有项目或倡议试图系统地评估学生过程技能的发展，或评估不同教学方法对这些技能发展的可能影响。该项目正在支持一个教师团队，以探索如何有效地开展保护生物学过程和专业技能的教学，并评估学生这些技能的发展。该项目计划在不同的课堂环境中试行编写的教学和评估材料。尽管该项目由美国自然历史博物馆管理，但它正在支持来自20个不同机构的参与者。

Biological Sciences (61)Research and Assessment (91)This project is a combination of educational materials development and research & assessment in conservation biology. It is building on two prior DUE grants that have developed several dozen modules in conservation biology. A major focus of this project is the development of assessment tools to determine whether students in this field are learning "higher-level" thinking skills as well as the process skills needed to operate professionally. Conservation biology requires higher-level thinking skills because the problems and issues are integrated, complex, and require abilities to make connections, predict and test models, and synthesize information. Prominent conservation practitioners and academics have noted a persistent disconnect between most current academic preparation and the knowledge and skills actually needed in the professional world. There have been efforts to address the development of professional and process skills in higher education in a wide variety of disciplines; these efforts have ranged from the description of desired competencies to efforts to fostering skill development, e.g. by implementing active or learner-centered teaching methods. Few projects or initiatives have attempted to systematically evaluate the development of process skills in their students, or have assessed the possible effects of different teaching methods on the development of these skills. This project is supporting a team of faculty to explore how to effectively develop the teaching of process and professional skills in conservation biology, and to evaluate the development of these skills in students. The project plans to pilot developed teaching and assessment materials in diverse classroom settings. Although the project is managed by the American Museum of Natural History, it is supporting participants from a diverse group of 20 institutions.