DCL: NSF INCLUDES Conference on Multi-Scale Evaluation in STEM Education

该项目将开发、组织和主持一个会议，以协助规划NSF INCLUDES（工程和科学领域中代表性不足的发现者的学习者的全国社区）联盟和国家网络。该项目的重点是为INCLUDES联盟和国家网络设计和实施必要的项目评估。该会议将首次强调对项目进行评估的多重尺度，包括基于单个机构的组成部分、大型机构内的跨学科中心/研究所、多个机构之间的联盟/伙伴关系以及具有国家范围的实体。由于包括联盟和国家网络将在多个尺度上运作，拟议的会议将为设计和规划多尺度评价的技术方面提供指导。这些活动的目标受众是那些参与当前包括项目的个人，那些考虑在这些项目中合作的人，以及考虑在他们的项目中纳入正式评估的STEM教育工作者。总体目标是：(i)提高参与者对评估方法的认识；（ii）介绍成功发展联盟的个人经验，并对这些联盟进行评估；（iii）为那些计划参与未来对INCLUDES联盟和/或国家网络的请求的人提供有关评估方法的建议。提出的方法包括三个组成部分：(a)向广大STEM教育工作者开放的初始网络研讨会，介绍有关评估方法的关键概念和词汇；(b)有30名与会者参加的会前辅导，提供为期一天的现代评价方法概览，并将这些方法与与会者建议的项目联系起来；(c)为期两天的会议，有80名与会者，其中包括项目评估方面的主要专家以及在多个规模上运作的STEM教育项目的负责人。虚拟参与将贯穿整个项目的三个组成部分，项目的正式评估将使用系统评估方法进行，该方法已在主办的nsf赞助中心（NIMBioS）使用多年。

This project will develop, organize and host a Conference to assist in the planning of the NSF INCLUDES (Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science) Alliances and National Network. The focus of this project is the design and implementation of program evaluations necessary for the INCLUDES Alliances and National Network. The conference will be the first to emphasize the multiple scales at which evaluations occur for programs that include components based at single institutions, at interdisciplinary centers/institutes within larger institutions, at alliances/partnerships between several institutions and at entities with a national scope. As the INCLUDES Alliances and National Network will operate across multiple scales, the proposed Conference will provide guidance on the technical aspects of designing and planning multi-scale evaluations. The target audience for the activities are those individuals involved in current INCLUDES projects, those considering collaborating in such projects and STEM educators considering inclusion of formal evaluation in their projects. The overall goals are to (i) enhance the knowledge of the participants about evaluation methods; (ii) present the experiences of individuals who have successfully developed alliances and carried out evaluation efforts for these; and (iii) provide advice regarding evaluation methods for those planning to participate in future requests for INCLUDES Alliances and/or the National Network. The methods proposed include three components: (a) an initial webinar open to the broad community of STEM educators to introduce key concepts and vocabulary concerning evaluation methods; (b) a pre-Conference Tutorial with 30 participants to provide a one-day overview of modern methods in evaluation and connect these to projects suggested by the participants; and (c) a two-day Conference with 80 participants including as speakers leading experts on program evaluation as well as leaders of programs in STEM education that have operated at multiple scales. Virtual participation will be integrated throughout the three components of the project and a formal evaluation of the project will be carried out using the Systems Evaluation Methodology that has been in use at the host NSF-sponsored Center (NIMBioS) for many years.