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

奥柏林学院获得了一个奖项，以组建两个区域网络，以支持本科生生命科学教育伙伴关系（PULSE）。去年9月，PULSE合作伙伴（HHMI、NIH和NSF）任命了40名愿景与变革领导力研究员，以刺激本科生生命科学教育界的变革。来自两年制学院、文理学院、综合性大学和研究型大学的学者被选中。所有研究员于2012年10月举行会议，并组成四个工作组，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，这种对生物学教学方式的改进应该会增加学生对核心概念的学习，应该会提高学生对科学的保留率，应该会让所有学生都成为更好奇、更有科学素养的公民。尽管个别教员非常积极地对自己的课程进行改革，但通常很难对整个系进行改革。本提案计划通过继续发展区域机构网络来应对这一挑战，以便它们在各自实施变革时能够相互支持和提供咨询意见。领导力研究员开发的工具和资源将由中西部/大平原和新英格兰地区不同类型的参与机构进行实地测试。例如，PULSE的部门自我评估准则和训练有素的大使访问可帮助部门采用循证策略，以提高学生的参与度，丰富所有学生的学习经验。这些网络还将试行一项基于系统的评估计划，旨在通过对成功改革战略要素的假设进行测试，确定系统性改革的杠杆点。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性变革。这些区域活动和评估的结果将主要通过www.pulsecommunity.org网站和与倡导改变本科生命科学教育的其他国家组织团体的持续伙伴关系与生命科学界分享。该项目由生物科学理事会和本科教育司教育和人力资源理事会共同资助，作为其支持本科生物学教育的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.