Collaborative Research: Creating Assessments for Student Understanding of Core Chemistry Ideas in Introductory Biology

为了解决生物学问题，学生必须应用和整合化学原理与生物学原理，然而现有的生物学入门课程的科学评估往往鼓励死记硬背和评估事实回忆。美国国家研究委员会（National Research Council）最近发布的《K-12科学教育框架》（Framework for K-12 Science Education）报告提供了一种思考科学教育的方式，旨在积极影响学生运用知识和建立跨学科联系的能力。这一愿景整合了三个维度：1)学科核心思想（学生真正需要知道什么）；2)横切概念（跨学科的主题）；3)科学实践（学生应该如何运用他们的知识）。这些维度的整合被称为“三维学习”。评估不应评估事实记忆，而应考察学生在学科核心思想（例如，使用化合物的结构来预测物质的行为）和横切概念（例如，能量和物质的守恒）的背景下使用科学实践（例如，分析和解释数据）来理解现象的能力，但编写这样的评估是困难的。有必要在生物学入门课程中强调三维学习的评估，以支持学生发展对科学的综合理解。为了满足这一需求，密歇根州立大学（MSU）和佛罗里达国际大学（FIU）为期两年的合作项目的目标将是开发、测试和评估评估项目的有效性，这些评估项目整合了化学和生物学学科的核心思想、横贯概念和科学实践，并专注于理解现象。在以下研究问题的背景下，以证据为中心的设计将被用于为密歇根州立大学和伊利诺斯大学的本科生物学入门课程开发三维学习的构建反应评估项目：学生以何种方式使用他们的化学知识来解释生物现象？三维评估的设计将结合科学实践、横切概念以及化学和生物学科的核心思想。在生物学导论课程中，后续的学生访谈和项目管理将有助于验证这些项目，探索学生的学习情况，并告知项目的修订。本研究预期有以下三个结果：一套可靠和有效的项目，包括在化学和生物界面上探索三维学习的评分标准，这些项目如何影响学生的学习能力的知识，以及关于跨学科思想的三维项目的创建过程的文档。通过与密歇根州立大学和国际金融大学合作开发项目和标准，每个机构将利用独特的学生群体，使评估适用于更广泛的受众。这项研究意义重大，因为开发的项目将作为工具，更好地帮助研究人员和教师了解学生如何将化学和生物学知识联系起来，这对于解释科学现象和解决多学科挑战（如改善人类健康和环境可持续性）是必不可少的。

To address biological problems, students must apply and integrate chemistry principles with biology principles, yet existing science assessments in introductory biology courses often encourage rote memorization and assess factual recall. The recently published Framework for K-12 Science Education report from the National Research Council offers a way of thinking about science education aimed at positively affecting students' abilities to use their knowledge and make connections across disciplines. This vision integrates three dimensions: 1) disciplinary core ideas (what students really need to know); 2) crosscutting concepts (themes across science disciplines); and 3) scientific practices (how students should use their knowledge). The integration of these dimensions is referred to as "three-dimensional learning". Instead of assessing factual recall, assessments should probe students' abilities to use scientific practices (e.g., analyzing and interpreting data) in the context of disciplinary core ideas (e.g., using the structure of a compound to predict how the substance behaves) and crosscutting concepts (e.g., conservation of energy and matter) to make sense of phenomena, but writing such assessments is difficult. There is a need for assessments that emphasize three-dimensional learning in introductory biology courses to support students in developing an integrated understanding of science. To address this need, the objective of this two-year collaborative project between Michigan State University (MSU) and Florida International University (FIU) will be to develop, test, and evaluate the effectiveness of assessment items that integrate chemistry and biology disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and scientific practices, and focus on making sense of phenomena. Evidence-centered design will be used to develop constructed-response assessment items of three-dimensional learning for undergraduate introductory biology courses at both MSU and FIU in the context of the following research question: In what ways do students use their chemistry knowledge to explain biological phenomena? Three-dimensional assessments will be designed that incorporate scientific practices, crosscutting concepts, and chemistry and biology disciplinary core ideas. Follow-up student interviews and administration of the items in introductory biology courses will serve to validate the items, explore student learning, and inform revisions to the items. The following three outcomes are expected for this study: a set of reliable and validated items including scoring rubrics that probe three-dimensional learning at the interface of chemistry and biology, knowledge of how these items impact students' abilities to learn, and documentation of a process for creating three-dimensional items about interdisciplinary ideas. By developing the items and rubrics in collaboration with both MSU and FIU, the unique student populations will be leveraged at each institution in service of making the assessments applicable to a broad audience. This research is significant because the developed items will serve as tools to better help researchers and instructors understand how students do or do not connect their chemistry and biology knowledge, which is imperative for explaining scientific phenomena and addressing multidisciplinary challenges, such as improving human health and environmental sustainability.