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们所了解的信息是不够的。他们还应该学习进行科学调查所需的技能。特别是，传统的实验室课程经常与真实研究环境中发生的思维方式不一致。参与真实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，但这些机会并不适用于所有学生。对于两年制大学的学生来说，这些机会甚至更少。相反，许多学生，特别是入门级的学生，对科学的本质有一种不完整甚至是扭曲的看法--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完善新知识的实践。相比之下，一种被称为“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实的科学实践。MBI的有效性已经在K-12教室和本科物理和化学教室中得到了证明，但在本科生物教室中没有。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介绍生物实验室课程。该项目将作为一个大型的公立研究型大学，亚利桑那大学（UA）和一个两年制学院，皮马社区学院之间的合作。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）对两所为代表性不足群体的大量学生提供服务的机构的一门重要入门课程进行改革;（2）在全国范围内传播一种新的课程，以满足当前生物教育的需要;（3）培训生物教育方面的博士后、研究生和本科生研究人员，包括在科学领域代表性不足的群体的成员; 4）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，揭示有关本科生基于模型的推理的新信息。项目评估将确定MBI课程对学生的贡献程度：1）作为科学家的代理和身份，2）对科学探究性质的理解，以及3）科学的认知和技术技能。项目传播将包括研究成果的出版，以及通过课程材料的分发和通过研讨会参与基于MBI的教学法教师的课程方法的共享。

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.