Pilot of Southeast Regional PULSE (SERP) Institute for Inspiring and Supporting Department-wide Reform of Undergraduate Life Sciences Education

伍福德学院获得了一份合同，负责协调和评估第一届东南地区PULSE （SERP）研究所，该研究所将于2014年6月18日至22日在里士满大学校园举行。该研究所推动本科生生命科学教育伙伴关系（PULSE）的使命，以激励整个院系采取报告《本科教育的愿景与变革：行动呼吁》（AAAS, 2011）中所建议的转型变革，从而促进学生对核心概念和能力的学习，提高学生对科学的保留，培养更多好奇和科学素养的公民。2012年9月，来自HHMI、NIGMS和NSF的PULSE创始人任命了40名愿景和变革领导研究员来执行这一任务，而SERP研究所将由位于东南部的14名PULSE研究员协调。目前的奖金资助了第一个东南脉冲区域研究所（SERP），该研究所将接待多达20所学院和大学的团队，其中至少30%来自少数民族服务机构。SERP研究所将首先由机构团队使用领导研究员制定的STEM部门评估标准进行部门自我评估，参与者将根据他们认为不熟悉和/或优先需要改进的领域来计划他们在随后的研讨会上的出席情况。每个团队的管理者将被鼓励参加由支持改革的管理者领导的会议，这些领导者将分享建议、成功的战略和克服共同障碍的方法。在离开学院之前，每个团队将制定一项行动计划，针对下一学年及以后的项目进行改进。该项目的评估计划是与美国生物科学研究所（AIBS）合作制定的，将包括对研究所的结构和功能的反馈，以及基于SERP研究所之前、期间和之后收集的数据对每个小组的进展进行评估。团队亦会被鼓励使用特定的评估工具来评估学生的学习成果和倾向，以及教师教学实践和态度的变化。每个团队将在东南生物学家协会的年度会议（在研究所成立10个月后举行）的海报讨论会上提供他们的最新进展，东南PULSE研究员将在每年的南方大学和学校协会委员会（SACS-COC）会议、aac&u STEM会议、学科会议、cbe -生命科学教育杂志上的一篇出版物上展示该项目的成果。通过http://www.pulsecommunity.org网站。本项目由生物科学理事会和教育和人力资源理事会、本科教育司共同资助，支持努力应对《本科教育的愿景与变革：行动呼吁》http://visionandchange.org/finalreport/所提出的挑战。

An award has been made to Wofford College to coordinate and evaluate the first Southeast Regional PULSE (SERP) Institute, which will be held on the campus of the University of Richmond from June 18-22, 2014. The Institute promotes the mission of the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education (PULSE) to stimulate whole departments to undertake the type of transformative changes recommended in the report Vision and Change in Undergraduate Education: A Call to Action (AAAS, 2011), so as to promote student learning of core concepts and competencies, improve student retention in the sciences, and produce more curious and scientifically literate citizens. In September 2012, the PULSE founders from HHMI, NIGMS, and NSF appointed 40 Vision and Change Leadership Fellows to pursue this mission, and the SERP Institute will be coordinated by the 14 PULSE Fellows located in the Southeast.The current award funds the first Southeast PULSE Regional (SERP) Institute, which will host teams from up to 20 colleges and universities, with at least 30% from minority-serving institutions. The SERP Institute will begin with institutional teams conducting a departmental self-assessment using the STEM Department Evaluation Rubric developed by the Leadership Fellows, and participants will plan their attendance at subsequent workshops based on the areas they identify as unfamiliar and/or high priority for improvement. Each team's administrator will be encouraged to attend sessions led by administrators who have supported reform, and these leaders will share advice, successful strategies, and ways to overcome common obstacles. Prior to departure from the Institute, each team will develop an action plan to target improvements in their program for the next academic year and beyond. The project's assessment plan, developed in partnership with the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), will include feedback on the structure and function of the Institute as well as evaluation of each team's progress based on data collected before, during and after the SERP Institute. Teams will also be encouraged to use particular assessment tools to evaluate student learning outcomes and dispositions as well as changes in faculty teaching practices and attitudes. Each team will provide an update on their progress during a poster discussion session at the annual meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists (which occurs ten months after the Institute), and the southeast PULSE Fellows will present the results of this project at the annual Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC) Conference, the AAC&U STEM Conference, disciplinary conferences, a publication in CBE-Life Sciences Education, and via the http://www.pulsecommunity.org website.This project is funded jointly by the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Directorate of Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education support of efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Education: A Call to Action http://visionandchange.org/finalreport/.