EAGER:From Vision to Change in Undergraduate Biology Education Across the Great Plains, Midwest, and New England

已授予奥伯林学院成立两个区域网络，以支持本科生生命科学教育伙伴关系（脉冲）。去年9月，PULSE合作伙伴（HHMI，NIH和NSF）任命了40名愿景和变革领导研究员，以刺激本科生生命科学教育社区的变革。 从两年制学院、文科学院、综合性大学和研究型大学选出了研究员。所有研究员于2012年10月举行会议，并组成四个工作组，以制定方法，帮助各部门实施《愿景与变革报告》中提出的建议。在所有类型的本科院校中，生物学教学方式的这种改进应该会增加学生对核心概念的学习，应该会提高理科学生的保留率，并应该让所有学生做好准备，成为更好奇、更有科学素养的公民。 虽然个别教师一直非常积极地在自己的课程改革，它通常是很难改变整个部门。该提案计划通过继续发展区域机构网络来应对这一挑战，以便它们能够在各自实施变革时相互支持和提供咨询意见。领导研究员开发了工具和资源，这些工具和资源将由中西部/大平原和新英格兰不同类型的参与机构进行实地测试。举例来说，我们提供了部门自我评估的PULSE评分系统，以及由受过训练的大使进行的探访，以协助部门采取以证据为本的策略，增加学生的参与度，并为所有学生提供更丰富的学习经验。这些网络还将试行一项基于系统的评价计划，目的是通过检验关于成功改革战略要素的假设，确定系统改革的杠杆点。由此产生的见解和计划本身将为其他努力提供信息，并使其受益，以实现高等教育的系统变革。这些区域活动和评估的结果将主要通过www.pulsecommunity.org网站与生命科学界分享，并通过与其他倡导本科生生命科学教育变革的国家组织团体的持续合作，该项目由生物科学理事会和本科生教育部教育和人力资源理事会共同资助，作为其支持本科生生物学教育愿景和变革的努力的一部分。

An award has been made to Oberlin College to form two regional networks in support of the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education (PULSE). Last September, the PULSE partners (HHMI, NIH, and NSF) appointed 40 Vision and Change Leadership Fellows to stimulate transformative changes in the undergraduate life science education community. Fellows from two-year colleges, liberal arts colleges, comprehensive universities and research universities were selected. All Fellows met in October, 2012 and organized into four working groups for developing approaches to help departments implement recommendations made in the Vision and Change report. Such improvements in how biology is taught at all types of undergraduate institutions should increase student learning of core concepts, should increase retention rates for students in the sciences, and should prepare all students to be more curious and scientifically literate citizens. Although individual faculty have been very active in instituting reforms in their own courses, it is usually harder to transform an entire department. This proposal plans to address that challenge by continuing to develop regional networks of institutions so they can support and advise one another as each implements change. Tools and resources have been developed by the Leadership Fellows that will be field-tested by the different types of participating institutions in the Midwest/Great Plains and New England. For example, PULSE Rubrics for departmental self-assessment and visits by trained Ambassadors are available to assist departments in adopting evidence-based strategies to increase student engagement and enrich the learning experience for all students. The networks will also pilot a systems-based evaluation scheme designed to identify leverage points for systemic reform via tests of hypotheses on ingredients of successful reform strategies. The resulting insights and the scheme itself will inform and benefit other efforts to effect systemic change in higher education. Results from these regional activities and the evaluation will be shared with the life sciences community, primarily via the www.pulsecommunity.org website and by continued partnerships with other national organizations groups advocating for change in undergraduate life science education.This project is being funded jointly by the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Directorate of Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to support Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education.