IUSE-EHR Building Excellence with Scientific Teaching (BEST): Transforming the College of Biological Sciences with a Scientific Teaching Certification Series

许多国家报告建议STEM（科学、技术、工程和数学）教育工作者将循证教学实践纳入他们的课程，以更好地培养未来的科学家，并培养具有科学素养的公民。尽管要求进行改革，但许多STEM教师不愿改变教学实践，原因包括缺乏机构支持，以及担心牺牲时间来覆盖内容。因此，这应该是不足为奇的教学助理个人负责许多实验室部分介绍STEM课程同样准备不足，在自己的教学中使用循证教学实践。其结果是，教学助理谁是装备不良，以促进在实验室课程，这是自然的场地开始学生从事科学实践和获得关键的STEM能力的调查。建设卓越的科学教学（BEST）是一个为期三年的项目，将培训本科教学助理应用循证原则，让所有本科生参与科学的过程。BEST将通过使用科学教学（ST）促进循证教学-其重点是积极学习，包容性教学以及实验室环境中基于评估和探究的教学。作为BEST的结果，数千名生物学导论学生将通过做科学来学习科学，由经过培训的助教来促进他们使用循证实践。该项目的智力价值在于以下目标：（1）为本科助教实施两学期的科学教学认证系列，领导强调发现的实验室-从开放式探究到基于课程的本科研究经验（CURES）;及（2）调查哪些训练元素对协助教学助理促进探究最有效。项目评估将包括直接观察本科教学助理，而他们是教学，调查本科教学助理，并通过教学助理谁接受了这种培训和那些没有教学生的学习措施。经过培训的本科助教和他们的学生都将从这个项目中受益。完成认证系列的教学助理将获得更多关于主动学习，评估和包容性的核心概念的知识;将增加他们在课堂上使用循证教学实践;将提高对自己科学能力的信心;并将展示对教学和学习的科学教学模式的接受度。参加由计划参与者教授的实验室部分的学生将表现出对ST模型的更大接受度，沿着与基于探究的实验室和科学教学方法相关的收益，例如对自己科学技能的信心增加，以及科学能力的提高。

Many national reports have recommended that STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) educators incorporate evidence-based teaching practices into their courses, to better prepare future scientists, and to create a scientifically literate citizenry. Despite the demands for reform, many STEM faculty members are reluctant to change teaching practices, for reasons ranging from lack of institutional support to a concern over sacrificed time for covering content. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the teaching assistant-individuals in charge of many laboratory sections in introductory STEM courses-are similarly ill-prepared to use evidence-based teaching practices in their own teaching. The result is teaching assistants who are ill-equipped to facilitate inquiry in laboratory courses, which are the natural venues for beginning students to engage in scientific practices and acquire critical STEM competencies. Building Excellence with Scientific Teaching (BEST) is a three-year project that will train undergraduate teaching assistants to apply evidence-based principles to engage all undergraduate students in the process of science. BEST will promote evidence-based instruction through the use of Scientific Teaching (ST)-with its emphases on active learning, inclusive teaching, and assessment-and inquiry-based instruction in laboratory settings. As a result of BEST, several thousand introductory-biology students will learn science by doing science, facilitated by TAs who are trained to use evidence-based practices.The intellectual merit of this project rests on the goals to (1) implement a two-semester Scientific Teaching Certification Series for undergraduate teaching assistants leading labs that emphasize discovery-from open inquiry to course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURES); and (2) investigate which training elements are most effective in helping these teaching assistants facilitate inquiry. Project evaluation will include direct observations of the undergraduate teaching assistants while they are teaching, surveys of the undergraduate teaching assistants, and measures of learning by students taught by teaching assistants who received this training and those that did not. Both the trained undergraduate teaching assistants and their students will benefit from this project. Teaching assistants who complete the certification series will acquire increased knowledge about the core concepts of active learning, assessment, and inclusivity; will increase their use of evidence-based teaching practices in class; will develop increased confidence in their own science abilities; and will demonstrate increased acceptance of the Scientific Teaching model for teaching and learning. Students enrolled in lab sections taught by program participants will demonstrate greater acceptance of the ST model, along with the gains associated with inquiry-based laboratories and scientific teaching methods, such as increased confidence in their own science skills, and improvement in science competencies.