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

该项目将制定、组织和主办一次会议，以协助规划国家科学基金(在全国范围内纳入工程和科学领域未被充分代表的发现者的学习者社区)联盟和国家网络。该项目的重点是设计和实施包括联盟和国家网络所需的计划评估。这次会议将首次强调对包括以单一机构、较大机构内的跨学科中心/研究所、若干机构之间的联盟/伙伴关系和具有国家范围的实体为基础的部分的方案进行评价的多重尺度。由于包括联盟和国家网络将在多个尺度上运作，拟议的会议将就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项目的个人、考虑在此类项目中进行合作的个人以及考虑在其项目中纳入正式评估的STEM教育工作者。总的目标是：(1)提高参与者对评价方法的了解；(2)介绍成功发展联盟并为这些联盟开展评价工作的个人的经验；(3)为那些计划参加未来关于包括联盟和/或国家网络的申请的人提供关于评价方法的建议。建议的方法包括三个部分：(A)向广大STEM教育工作者开放的初始网络研讨会，介绍与评估方法有关的关键概念和词汇；(B)有30名与会者参加的会前教程，提供为期一天的现代评估方法概述，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名与会者参加，其中包括在多个规模上运作的STEM教育项目的主要专家和项目负责人。虚拟参与将整合到项目的三个组成部分中，并将使用NSF赞助中心(NIMBioS)多年来一直使用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.