A CEREUS (Consortium Exchanging Research Experiences for Undergraduate Students) Approach to Assessing Ecological Responses in the Southern Appalachians to Environmental Change

评估南阿巴拉契亚地区对环境变化的生态反应的 CEREUS（本科生研究经验交流联盟）方法

• 批准号: 1525086
• 负责人: Anna Hiatt
• 金额: $ 6.76万
• 依托单位: East Tennessee State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-15 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1525086&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CEREUS; Consortium; Exchanging; Research; Experiences

Phenology, the study of seasonal biological events, tracks the effects of both year to year climate variability and long-term environmental change on both local and global ecology. It has considerable potential for serving as a base for research studies by undergraduate classes and developing cross-campus studies. Several recent studies, including the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (2014), and Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education (a 2011 document representing the views of over 500 biology faculty and administrators) cite the importance of undergraduate research for retaining science majors and helping students better understand key concepts and develop crucial competencies. Four institutions, the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Appalachian State University, East Tennessee State University, and Warren Wilson College, are combining forces to create common gardens and to develop modules that can guide students' research studies to address potential impacts of global change at multiple levels of the biological hierarchy, from genes to ecosystems. The cooperating institutions are unique in character, diverse in their student bodies, and located in varying climate zones. The project will contribute to our knowledge about ecological issues and will expand the ways in which institutions can combine forces to increase the STEM knowledge and competencies of their students. Environmental change issues to be investigated include monitoring effects of invasive exotic removal techniques on herbs, shrubs, vines, and trees within the areas studied (studies for lower division courses), and exploring questions about the spread of potentially invasive exotic plants, using a combination of GIS (Global Information Systems) mapping, herbarium collections, and online databases (upper division courses). The collaborating institutions will create and beta-test modules, identify and mitigate barriers to successful implementation of curricular changes, and disseminate curricular changes. The modules will have a direct impact on the learning of over 2000 undergraduates per year, including non-STEM majors. They will be developed and partially administered by undergraduate and graduate research students, and will be instrumental in developing pedagogical expertise for faculty members. The ability of modules to impart botanical knowledge while encouraging higher-order cognitive processes, advancing quantitative literacy, teaching analytical techniques, honing scientific communication skills, cultivating positive student attitudes towards plants and STEM, and improving persistence and graduation in STEM majors will be assessed using a mixed method approach (quantitative and qualitative data collection). Results will begin to document the effects of global change on an understudied but important bioregion while developing a future workforce with solid STEM training. This project is funded jointly by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education, in support of efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Education: A Call to Action http://visionandchange.org/finalreport/.

物候学是对季节性生物事件的研究，跟踪年复一年的气候变化和长期环境变化对当地和全球生态的影响。它有相当大的潜力作为本科生班级研究性学习的基地，并发展跨校园学习。最近的几项研究，包括总统科学与技术顾问委员会(2014)和本科生物学教育的愿景与变化(2011年的一份文件，代表了500多名生物学教师和管理人员的观点)都提到了本科研究对于留住理科专业、帮助学生更好地理解关键概念和培养关键能力的重要性。北卡罗来纳大学阿什维尔分校、阿巴拉契亚州立大学、东田纳西州立大学和沃伦·威尔逊学院四所机构正在联合起来创建共同的花园，并开发能够指导学生研究的模块，以应对全球变化在从基因到生态系统的多个层面上的潜在影响。这些合作机构的特点独特，学生群体多样，并且位于不同的气候区域。该项目将有助于我们对生态问题的了解，并将扩大各机构联合力量提高其学生的STEM知识和能力的方式。将调查的环境变化问题包括监测外来入侵去除技术对研究区域内草本植物、灌木、藤本植物和树木的影响(低级课程的研究)，以及利用地理信息系统(全球信息系统)制图、植物标本馆收集和在线数据库(高级课程)的组合，探索关于潜在入侵外来植物传播的问题。合作机构将创建和测试模块，确定和减少成功实施课程改革的障碍，并传播课程改革。这些单元将直接影响每年超过2000名本科生的学习，包括非STEM专业的学生。它们将由本科生和研究生开发和部分管理，并将有助于发展教师的教学专业知识。将使用混合方法(定量和定性数据收集)评估模块传授植物学知识的能力，同时鼓励更高层次的认知过程、提高量化素养、教授分析技术、磨练科学沟通技能、培养学生对植物和STEM的积极态度，以及提高STEM专业的毅力和毕业率。结果将开始记录全球变化对一个研究不足但重要的生物区域的影响，同时培养一支拥有扎实的STEM培训的未来劳动力队伍。该项目由生物科学局、生物基础设施司和教育与人力资源局、本科教育司联合资助，以支持应对《展望与变革：行动号召》中提出的挑战的努力http://visionandchange.org/finalreport/.