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

本科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。仅仅让学生知道科学家已经学到的信息是不够的。他们还应该学习进行科学探究所需的技能。特别是，传统的实验课程经常与真正的研究环境中的思维方式不一致。参与真正的科学探究已被证明可以在几个方面增强本科生的科学经验，但这些机会并非对所有学生都适用。对于两年制大学的学生来说，这些机会就更不常见了。相反，许多学生，特别是初级阶段的学生，对科学本质的认识是不完整的，甚至是扭曲的——他们往往把注意力集中在记忆事实和完成程序上，而不是科学家用来发展和完善新知识的实践。相比之下，一种名为“基于模型的探究”（MBI）的教学方法已经成功地用于让学生参与真正的科学实践。MBI的有效性在K-12课堂和本科物理化学课堂中得到了证明，但在本科生物课堂中没有得到证明。这个项目的主要目标是开发和测试一个基于模型的探究课程的入门生物学实验课程。该项目将由大型公立研究型大学亚利桑那大学（UA）和两年制学院皮马社区学院合作进行。学生将参与与UA正在进行的研究直接相关的实验室活动。项目影响将包括：1)改革两所院校的一门重要的入门课程，这两所院校为大量来自弱势群体的学生提供服务；2)在全国范围内推广满足当前生物教育需求的新课程；3)培养生物学教育方面的博士后、研究生和本科生研究人员，包括科学界代表性不足的群体的成员；两年制学院和研究型大学的生物学家之间的协同合作。除了开发和实施新课程外，该项目还将包括教育研究，通过对课堂学习的详细评估，揭示关于本科生基于模型的推理的新信息。项目评估将决定MBI课程对学生的贡献：1)作为科学家的能动性和身份，2)对科学探究本质的理解，以及3)科学的认知和技术技能。项目的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使教师参与以mbi为基础的教学法来分享课程方法。

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.