Authentic Scientific Practices in the Classroom: A Model-Based-Inquiry Curriculum for the Introductory Biology Laboratory

本科生科学教育面临的一个关键挑战是如何最好地将科学实践融入课堂。仅仅让学生了解科学家所学到的信息是不够的。他们还应该学习进行科学研究所需的技能。特别是，传统的实验室课程经常与在真实研究环境中进行的思维方式脱节。参加真实的科学研究已被证明在几个方面提高了本科生的科学体验，但这些机会并不是所有学生都能获得的。对于两年制大学的学生来说，这样的机会更不常见。相反，许多学生，尤其是入门水平的学生，对科学本质的看法是不完整的，甚至是歪曲的--往往侧重于记忆事实和完成程序，而不是科学家用来发展和提炼新知识的实践。相比之下，一种名为“基于模型的探究”(MBI)的教学方法已被成功地用于让学生参与真实的科学实践。MBI的有效性已经在K-12课堂和本科生的物理和化学课堂上得到了证明，但在本科生的生物课堂上还没有得到证实。这个项目的主要目标是开发和测试生物实验室入门课程的基于模型的探究课程。该项目将作为一所大型公立研究型大学亚利桑那大学(UA)和一所两年制学院皮马社区学院之间的合作进行。学生将参与与亚利桑那大学正在进行的研究直接相关的实验室活动。项目的影响将包括：1)改革两个机构的一门关键的入门课程，这两个机构为人数不足的群体提供大量学生；2)在全国范围内传播一种新的课程，以满足生物教育的当前需求；3)培训生物学教育的博士后、研究生和本科生研究人员，包括在科学领域任职人数不足的群体的成员；4)在一所两年制学院和一所研究型大学的生物学家之间开展协作。除了开发和实施新的课程外，该项目还将包括教育研究，通过对课堂学习的详细评估，发现关于本科生基于模型的推理的新信息。项目评估将决定MBI课程在多大程度上有助于学生：1)作为科学家的机构和身份，2)对科学探究本质的理解，以及3)科学的认知和技术技能。项目传播将包括出版研究成果，以及通过分发课程材料和举办讲习班，让教师参与以多媒体教学为基础的教学法，分享课程方法。

A key challenge facing undergraduate science education is how best to integrate scientific practice into classrooms. It is not enough for students to know the information that scientists have learned. They should also learn the skills that are needed to conduct scientific inquiries. In particular, traditional laboratory courses are frequently misaligned with the ways of thinking that take place in an authentic research setting. Participation in authentic scientific inquiry has been shown to enhance the undergraduate science experience in several ways, but these opportunities are not available to all students. For students at two-year colleges these opportunities are even less common. Instead many students, particularly at the introductory level, are presented with an incomplete or even skewed view of the nature of science - often focused on memorization of facts and completion of procedures rather than the practices that scientists use to develop and refine new knowledge. By contrast, a pedagogical method termed 'Model-Based-Inquiry" (MBI) has been successfully used to engage students in authentic scientific practices. The effectiveness of MBI has been demonstrated in K-12 classrooms and in undergraduate physics and chemistry classrooms, but not in undergraduate biology classrooms. The primary goal of this project is to develop and test a Model-Based-Inquiry curriculum for an introductory biology laboratory course. This project will take place as a collaboration between a large, public, research university, the University of Arizona (UA), and a two-year college, Pima Community College. Students will engage in laboratory activities that directly relate to ongoing research at UA. Project impacts will include: 1) reform of a key introductory course at two institutions which serve large numbers of students from underrepresented groups; 2) national dissemination of a novel curriculum that addresses current needs in biology education; 3) training of postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate researchers in biology education, including members of groups underrepresented in science; 4) synergistic collaboration between biologists at a two-year college and a research university. In addition to development and implementation of a novel curriculum, the project will include educational research to uncover new information about undergraduate model-based-reasoning through detailed assessment of classroom learning. Project assessment will determine how well the MBI curriculum contributes to students': 1) agency and identity as a scientists, 2) understanding of the nature of scientific inquiry, and 3) cognitive and technical skills for science. Project dissemination will include publication of research results as well as sharing of the curricular approach through distribution of curricular materials and through workshops to engage faculty in MBI-based pedagogy.