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

Wofford学院获得了一个奖项，以协调和评估第一个东南地区脉冲（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内举行。该研究所促进本科生生命科学教育伙伴关系（PULSE）的使命，以刺激整个部门进行报告中建议的转型变革类型本科教育的愿景和变化：行动号召（AAAS，2011年），以促进学生学习核心概念和能力，提高学生在科学方面的保留率，培养出更多好奇心强、有科学素养的公民。2012年9月，来自HHMI、NIGMS和NSF的PULSE创始人任命了40名愿景和变革领导力研究员来完成这一使命，SERP研究所将由位于东南部的14名PULSE研究员协调。目前的奖项为第一个东南部PULSE区域（SERP）研究所提供资金，该研究所将接待来自多达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研究所将开始与机构团队进行部门自我评估使用STEM部门评价由领导研究员开发的量规，参与者将计划他们在随后的讲习班出席根据他们确定为不熟悉和/或高度优先改进的领域。将鼓励每个小组的管理员参加由支持改革的管理员领导的会议，这些领导人将分享建议、成功的战略和克服共同障碍的方法。在离开研究所之前，每个团队将制定一个行动计划，以针对下一学年及以后的计划改进。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，将包括对研究所结构和功能的反馈，以及根据SERP研究所之前，期间和之后收集的数据对每个团队的进展进行评估。此外，亦鼓励各小组使用特定的评估工具，以评估学生的学习成果和倾向，以及教师的教学实践和态度的变化。每个团队将在东南部生物学家协会年度会议的海报讨论会上提供他们进展的最新情况（该研究所成立十个月后），东南部PULSE研究员将在学院和学校委员会（SACS-COC）年度南方协会会议上介绍该项目的结果，AAC& U STEM会议，学科会议，CBE-生命科学教育的出版物，并通过http://www.pulsecommunity.org网站。生物科学和教育和人力资源局，本科教育司支持努力应对本科教育的愿景和变革所带来的挑战：行动呼吁http://visionandchange.org/finalreport/。

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/.