Collaborative Research: Sustainable Diffusion of Research-Based Instructional Strategies: A Rich Case Study of SCALE-UP

该项目旨在提高对基于研究的教学策略传播的认识。它涉及一个丰富的案例研究的传播一个特定的研究为基础的教学策略，以学生为中心的主动学习环境的本科课程（SCALE-UP）。选择SCALE-UP是因为它已被证明在各种情况下都是有效的，已被开发人员以多种方式传播（研讨会，演讲，出版物，个人咨询），已从一个采用者非正式地传播到另一个，并已跨越到各种机构的多个STEM部门。该项目是：1.开展一项全国普查，了解SCALE-UP在美国和国外的使用情况以及导致这种使用的联系，从而绘制一张网络图，使基于研究的创新的传播结构和路径可视化。2.确定并调查三种部门类型：i）持续实施的部门，ii）采用但随后放弃扩展的部门，iii）经过考虑后选择不采用扩展的部门。3.通过访谈和少量实地考察，对部分部门进行深入研究。4.为二级执行者编写一份研究知情指南，通过《环境评价用户指南》（www.perusersguide.org）传播。调查和深入的研究包括实施过程的分析：部门背景下，谁是领导者，什么情况下导致采用，课堂特征和结果。在二次实现过程中所做的常见修改也被确定为沿着，并说明了这些修改的动机。该项目的结果旨在测试和改进当前关于创新教学策略如何传播的想法。主要研究问题1。二次实现是如何开始的？2.二级实现的共同特征是什么？3.二次实施的可持续性如何？4.教育研究人员、政策制定者、资助机构等可以做些什么来更好地支持成功的二级实施？ 智力优势：在记录创新教学方法和课程的有效性以及传播这些成果方面投入了大量的时间、金钱和努力。现有证据表明，虽然这些努力对主流教学产生了一些影响，但大多数教学仍然不符合研究表明的最佳做法。该项目通过促进更好地理解如何以及为什么将基于研究的创新纳入主流教学，并为增加基于研究的改革的影响提出建议，提高了科学教育中大量研发工作的价值。此外，当思想大规模传播时，大多数实现必然是次要实现（那些不直接属于开发人员工作的部分）。然而，尽管它们的重要性显而易见，但在理解二级实现的本质方面所做的工作却很少，这是本项目旨在填补的一个漏洞。该项目是一个更大的研究计划的一部分，旨在开发更有效的，基于研究的变化模型。更广泛的影响：本计画的成果可协助研究人员、课程开发人员、专业发展设计人员及资助机构，以更好地支持持续且有效的以研究为基础的课程改革。此外，项目成果正在通过《公共环境研究用户指南》传播给有兴趣实施研究型教学法的教职员工。目前还没有持续改革的有效模式，导致科学教育中大量研究和课程开发的影响减少。还应指出，许多以研究为基础的教学法，虽然提高了所有学生的成绩并减少了自然减员，但已证明对妇女和少数民族等传统上代表性不足的群体产生了不成比例的积极影响。

This project is designed to improve knowledge of the diffusion of research-based instructional strategies. It involves a rich case study of the spread of one particular research-based instructional strategy, Student-Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP). SCALE-UP was chosen because it has been shown to be effective in a variety of contexts, has been disseminated in multiple ways by the developer (workshops, presentations, publications, individual consultations), has spread informally from one adopter to another, and has crossed into multiple STEM departments at a variety of institutions. This project is: 1. Developing a national census of where SCALE-UP is used in the US and abroad and the connections that led to that use, resulting in a network map that allows visualization of the structure and paths of the spread of a research-based innovation. 2. Identifying and surveying three department types: i) departments with sustained implementations, ii) departments that adopted, but subsequently abandoned, SCALE-UP and iii) departments that, after consideration, chose not to adopt SCALE-UP. 3. Conducting an intensive study of a subset of departments through interviews and a small number of site visits. 4. Producing a research informed guide for secondary implementers to be disseminated through the PER Users guide (www.perusersguide.org). The survey and intensive study include an analysis of the implementation process: the departmental context, who the leaders were, what circumstances led to adoption, classroom characteristics, and outcomes. Common modifications made during secondary implementations are also being identified along with reasons motivating those modifications. The results of this project are intended to test and improve current thinking about how innovative instructional strategies spread. Main Research Questions 1. How do secondary implementations come to be initiated? 2. What characteristics are common in secondary implementations? 3. How sustainable are secondary implementations? 4. What might education researchers, policy makers, funding agencies, etc. do to better support successful secondary implementations? Intellectual Merit: Much time, money and effort have been put into documenting the effectiveness of innovative teaching methods and curriculum and in disseminating these results. Available evidence indicates that while these efforts have had some impact on mainstream teaching, the majority of teaching is still inconsistent with what research has shown to be best practices. This project is increasing the value of the substantial R&D efforts in science education by contributing to a better understanding of how and why research-based innovations come to be integrated in mainstream teaching, and developing recommendations for increasing the impact of research-based reforms. Additionally, when large-scale diffusion of ideas occurs, the majority of implementations will necessarily be secondary implementations (those not directly part of the work of the developers). However, despite their obvious importance, very little work has been done to understand the nature of secondary implementations, a hole this project aims to fill. This project is part of a larger research program toward the development of more effective, research-based models of change. Broader Impacts: The results of this project can help researchers, curriculum developers, designers of professional development, and funding agencies to better support reform toward research-based pedagogies that is sustained and effective. Additionally project results are being disseminated to faculty interested in implementing research-based pedagogies through the PER User's Guide. There is currently no effective model for sustained reform, leading to a reduction of the impact of the large body of research and curriculum development in science education. It should also be noted that many of the research-based pedagogies, while improving outcomes and reducing attrition for all students, have been shown to have a disproportionately positive effect on traditionally underrepresented groups such as women and ethnic minorities.