Teaching to Learn: Improving Undergraduate Science Education Through Engagement in K-7 Science

大多数关于本科科学教育的研究都集中在各种教学方法对学生科学学习的影响上。大学生对科学的理解和态度对理科专业学生的科学修课和坚持的影响尚不清楚。本项目旨在通过调查科学教学经历对本科生的影响来弥补这一研究空白。该项目将通过让科学、教育和文科学生参与为期一年的经验，在高需求学区（北亚当斯公立学校）的K-7教室开发和教授科学课程来实现这一目标。这种经历有望(1)加深本科生对科学本质的理解，(2)提高他们向非专业人士解释科学概念的能力，(3)增强他们对自己科学能力的信心，(4)创建一个“科学学习者社区”，可以持续追求进一步的科学课程，最终(5)导致更多的科学课程和更高的科学专业学生的保留率。马萨诸塞州文理学院（小型公立文理学院）和威廉姆斯学院（小型私立文理学院）的本科生将与K-7教师和大学科学教授一起开发以下一代科学标准（NGSS）为基础的科学单元。在一学年的课程中，一对对本科生将与K-7课堂教师和大学科学教育教授共同教授这些单元。本科生和K-7教师也将参与联合专业发展，以加深他们对科学探究和科学教学本质的理解，并加强他们作为学习者社区的联系。该项目连接了两个研究领域，以调查基础设置中的科学教学对理科、教育学和文科本科生的科学学习和教育成果的影响。美国国家科学基金会的K-12教育研究生教学研究员（GK-12）项目让STEM研究生参与K-12教学，发现教学经验对研究生的几个积极影响，包括提高教学技能，提高向非专业观众传达科学概念的技能，提高合作技能，提高研究技能，增强对其研究与社会相关性的理解。对非正式STEM教育机会（包括本科生研究、实习和指导）的研究发现，这些机会对学生对科学本质的理解、科学自我效能感、沟通技巧和理科专业的保留率都有影响。然而，迄今为止，关于非正式科学教学经历对大学生科学教育和态度的影响的研究很少。本项目旨在通过提高文科本科生、职前和在职小学教师的关键科学素养，影响本科生进入和完成理科专业的可能性，并提高普通民众的科学素养。项目成果将通过参与的本科生和匹配的对照组完成的各种调查、收集“教与学”经验定性数据的参与者问卷、对教学实践的观察以及对参与者和对照组学生的纵向成绩单审查来评估。此外，多所学院和一个学区之间的合作将能够评估该模式的可行性和跨机构类型和不同本科生群体的影响。

The majority of research on undergraduate science education focuses on the impact of various instructional techniques on students' learning of science. Less understood are the roles of undergraduates' understanding of and attitude toward science in shaping science course-taking and persistence in science majors. This project aims to address this gap in research by investigating the impact of science teaching experiences on undergraduate students. The project will accomplish this by engaging science, education, and liberal arts students in a year-long experience to develop and teach science lessons in K-7 classrooms in a high-needs school district (North Adams Public Schools). This experience is expected to (1) deepen undergraduates' understanding of the nature of science, (2) increase their ability to explain science concepts to non-specialists, (3) increase their confidence in their own ability in science, (4) create a "community of science learners" that can sustain pursuit of further science coursework, and ultimately (5) lead to more science course taking and higher retention in science majors. Undergraduates from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (a small public liberal arts college) and Williams College (a small private liberal arts college) will work with K-7 teachers and college science professors to develop science units based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Pairs of undergraduate students will co-teach these units with K-7 classroom teachers and the support of college science education professors over the course of the school year. The undergraduates and K-7 teachers will also participate in joint professional development to deepen their understanding of both the nature of scientific inquiry and science teaching, and to reinforce their connection as a community of learners.The project bridges two areas of research to investigate the impact of teaching science in elementary settings on the science learning and education outcomes for science, education, and liberal arts undergraduates. NSF's Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) program, which engaged STEM graduate students in K-12 teaching, found several positive impacts of teaching experiences on graduate students, including increased teaching skills, improved skills at communicating scientific concepts to non-specialist audiences, increased skill in collaboration, improved research skills, and an enhanced understanding of the relevance of their research to society. Studies of informal STEM education opportunities (including undergraduate research, internships, and mentoring) have found impacts on students' understanding of the nature of science, science self-efficacy, communication skills, and retention in science majors. However, there has been little research to date on the impact of informal science teaching experiences on the science education and attitudes of undergraduates. This project is designed both to influence the likelihood that undergraduates will enter into and complete science majors and to improve science literacy in the general populace by improving key aspects of science literacy among liberal arts undergraduates and pre-service and in-service elementary school teachers. Project outcomes will be assessed through a variety of surveys completed by participating undergraduates and a matched comparison group, participant questionnaires to gather qualitative data on the "Teaching to Learn" experience, observations of teaching practice, and longitudinal transcript reviews of participants and comparison group students. In addition, the collaboration between multiple colleges and a school district will enable the assessment of the model's feasibility and impact across institutional types and diverse undergraduate populations.