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

该项目将开发，组织和主办一次会议，以协助规划NSF INCLUDES（工程和科学中代表性不足的发现者的学习者社区的全国包容）联盟和国家网络。该项目的重点是设计和实施包容性发展联盟和国家网络所需的方案评价。该会议将首次强调对方案进行评估的多个尺度，这些方案包括单一机构、较大机构内的跨学科中心/研究所、几个机构之间的联盟/伙伴关系以及全国范围的实体。由于INCLUDES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参与当前INCLUDES项目的个人，考虑在这些项目中合作的人以及考虑将正式评估纳入其项目的STEM教育工作者。总体目标是：（一）提高参与者对评价方法的认识;（二）介绍已成功建立联盟并为此开展评价工作的个人的经验;（三）为计划参与今后关于INCLUDES联盟和/或国家网络的申请的人提供关于评价方法的咨询意见。建议的方法包括三个组成部分：（a）向广大科学、技术、工程和数学教育工作者开放的初步网络研讨会，介绍有关评价方法的关键概念和词汇;（B）有30名与会者参加的会前研讨会，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;以及（c）为期两天的会议，有80名与会者，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教育项目的领导者。虚拟参与将被整合到整个项目的三个组成部分，并将使用已在主办NSF赞助中心（NIMBioS）使用多年的系统评估方法对项目进行正式评估。

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.