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，以更好地为未来的科学家做准备，并培养具有科学素养的公民。尽管有改革的要求，但许多STEM教职员工不愿改变教学实践，原因包括缺乏机构支持，以及担心牺牲时间来报道内容。因此，助教--负责STEM入门课程中许多实验室部分的个人--同样没有准备好在自己的教学中使用循证教学实践，这也就不足为奇了。其结果是，教学助理装备不足，无法促进实验室课程的探究，而实验室课程是初学者从事科学实践和获得关键的STEM能力的天然场所。用科学教学打造卓越(BEST)是一个为期三年的项目，将培训本科生助教应用循证原则，让所有本科生参与到科学过程中来。BEST将通过使用科学教学(ST)促进循证教学--其重点是主动学习、包容性教学和评估--以及实验室环境中的探究式教学。作为BEST的结果，数千名生物入门学生将在接受过循证实践培训的助教的帮助下，通过做科学来学习科学。该项目的智力价值在于以下目标：(1)为本科助教实施为期两个学期的科学教学认证系列领导实验室，从开放探究到基于课程的本科生研究经验(CURE)；以及(2)调查哪些培训元素最有效地帮助这些助教促进探究。项目评估将包括对本科生助教在教学过程中的直接观察，对本科生助教的调查，以及接受过培训的助教和未接受培训的助教所教学生的学习措施。受过培训的本科生助教和他们的学生都将从这个项目中受益。完成认证系列的助教将获得更多关于主动学习、评估和包容性等核心概念的知识；将更多地在课堂上使用循证教学实践；将增强对自己科学能力的信心；将展示对教与学的科学教学模式的接受程度。参加由项目参与者教授的实验部分的学生将展示出对ST模式的更大接受度，以及与探究式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强，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.