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

教以学：通过参与 K-7 科学改善本科科学教育

• 批准号: 1432591
• 负责人: Nicholas Stroud
• 金额: $ 81.09万
• 依托单位: Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-09-01 至 2020-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1432591&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Teaching; Learn; Improving; Undergraduate; Science

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.

关于本科理科教育的研究大多集中在各种教学技巧对学生理科学习的影响上。对于本科生对科学的理解和态度在塑造理科专业学生的科学选修课和坚持不懈方面所起的作用，人们知之甚少。这个项目旨在通过调查科学教学经验对本科生的影响来解决研究中的这一差距。该项目将通过邀请科学、教育和文科学生参加为期一年的体验，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，从而实现这一目标。这一经历有望(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)增强他们对自己的科学能力的信心，(4)创建一个能够持续追求进一步科学课程的“科学学习者社区”，并最终(5)导致更多的科学课程选修课和更高的理科专业留存率。来自麻省理工学院(一所小型公立文科学院)和威廉姆斯学院(一所小型私立文科学院)的本科生将与K-7教师和大学理科教授合作，开发基于下一代科学标准(NGSS)的科学单元。结对的本科生将在本学年与K-7课堂教师和大学科学教育教授的支持下共同教授这些单元。本科生和K-7教师还将参与联合专业发展，以加深他们对科学探究和科学教学的本质的理解，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，以调查在初级环境中教授科学对科学、教育和文科本科生的科学学习和教育结果的影响。NSF的K-12教育研究生教学研究员计划(GK-12)让STEM研究生参与K-12教学，发现教学经验对研究生有几个积极的影响，包括增加教学技能，提高向非专业受众交流科学概念的技能，增加合作技能，改进研究技能，以及加强对他们的研究与社会的相关性的理解。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，影响学生对科学本质的理解、科学自我效能感、沟通技能和理科专业的留存。然而，到目前为止，关于非正式科学教学经验对大学生科学教育和态度的影响的研究很少。该项目旨在影响本科生进入和完成科学专业的可能性，并通过提高文科本科生和职前和在职小学教师的科学素养的关键方面来提高普通民众的科学素养。项目成果将通过由参与的本科生和匹配的对照组完成的各种调查、参与者问卷以收集“教以学”经验的定性数据、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，多所大学和一个学区之间的合作将使评估该模式的可行性和影响跨机构类型和不同的本科生人群成为可能。