An efficacy study of a comprehensive, middle school science curriculum that integrates disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts

整合学科核心思想、科学与工程实践以及交叉概念的综合性中学科学课程的有效性研究

• 批准号: 1720514
• 负责人: Christopher Harris
• 金额: $ 374.04万
• 依托单位: SRI International
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-08-01 至 2019-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1720514&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: efficacy; study; comprehensive; middle; science

The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools (RMTs). Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.SRI International (SRI) in partnership with Lawrence Hall of Science (the Hall) will conduct an efficacy study of a new comprehensive science curriculum for middle grades 6-8 called Amplify Science Middle School (ASMS). This school science curriculum integrates disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts. The overarching aim of the study will be to understand the impact of the curriculum on student achievement, classroom implementation, and teacher practice in relation to the recommendations of "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" and the Next Generation of Science Standards. While the number of states fully adopting NGSS hovers at around 20, nearly another 20 states have either incorporated the Framework or substantial portions of the NGSS into their state frameworks. Currently, the number of curriculum materials that have been designed for the Framework are relatively few, and thus the efficacy evidence basis for NGSS-designed curricula is limited. As more and more curriculum materials become available for supporting the Framework vision, the science education field needs rigorous research on the efficacy of curricula and the conditions required to implement them. ASMS is the Hall's first comprehensive 6-8 grade curriculum that has been designed specifically to meet the vision of the Framework and NGSS. Field trials of ASMS with more than 475 teachers and 34,000 students in a wide variety of settings, including urban, rural and suburban schools, have shown positive impact on student achievement, providing a compelling reason for a large-scale efficacy trial at this time.The study will involve both quantitative and qualitative methods within an experimental design that will allow the examination of relations between contextual factors and student learning gains to help explain the results. Thus, this study will be important for moving education researchers toward increased understanding of how to meaningfully study and support teaching and learning in districts that will be trying to implement the next generation of science curriculum materials. Work will be conducted in districts with large numbers of students from groups that are underrepresented in STEM fields so that educators can better understand the promise of NGSS-aligned curricula in promoting access and equity in science education. The research team will conduct a random assignment efficacy study in 7th grade classrooms beginning in academic year 2018-19 and following up with these students as 8th graders in academic year 2019-20. Teachers in both conditions will receive professional development on the NGSS; teachers in the treatment condition will also receive professional development in the use of the ASMS materials. The recruiting target is a sample of 48 middle schools within up to 6 medium to large districts in California and/or Washington. The researchers will attempt to recruit all middle schools and all 7th gradescience teachers in a district. It is anticipated that each school will have an average of two teachers teaching 3 sections of 7th grade science with 30 students per section for an approximate total of 96 teachers and 8,640 students. All students should have opportunities to learn science. This study will aim to draw valid inferences about the impact of curricula in districts with high concentrations of students who have been historically underrepresented in STEM. This work will also contribute to the larger, nationwide effort to support standards-based instructional reforms in science by helping to identify conditions needed for successful implementation of NGSS-designed curriculum materials. The findings will provide an important basis for investments in new curriculum materials and will be of strong interest to those in science education and the learning sciences, as well as to district leaders and policymakers concerned with scaling up of rigorous curriculum.

发现研究 K-12 计划 (DRK-12) 旨在通过创新资源、模型和工具 (RMT) 的研究和开发，显着增强 PreK-12 学生和教师对科学、技术、工程和数学 (STEM) 的学习和教学。 DRK-12 计划中的项目建立在 STEM 教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议项目提供理论和实证依据。SRI International (SRI) 与劳伦斯科学馆 (the Hall) 合作，将对名为 Amplify Science Middle School (ASMS) 的 6-8 年级中年级新综合科学课程进行功效研究。该学校科学课程融合了学科核心思想、科学与工程实践以及交叉概念。该研究的总体目标是根据“K-12 科学教育框架”和下一代科学标准的建议，了解课程对学生成绩、课堂实施和教师实践的影响。虽然完全采用 NGSS 的州数量徘徊在 20 个左右，但另有近 20 个州已将框架或 NGSS 的大部分内容纳入其州框架。目前，为该框架设计的课程材料相对较少，因此NGSS设计课程的有效性证据基础有限。随着越来越多的课程材料可用于支持框架愿景，科学教育领域需要对课程的有效性以及实施课程所需的条件进行严格的研究。 ASMS 是 Hall 的第一个综合性 6-8 年级课程，专为满足框架和 NGSS 的愿景而设计。 ASMS 在包括城市、农村和郊区学校在内的各种环境中对超过 475 名教师和 34,000 名学生进行了现场试验，显示出对学生成绩的积极影响，为目前进行大规模功效试验提供了令人信服的理由。该研究将在实验设计中涉及定量和定性方法，从而检查背景因素和学生学习收益之间的关系，以帮助解释结果。因此，这项研究对于推动教育研究人员加深了解如何在试图实施下一代科学课程材料的地区进行有意义的研究和支持教学具有重要意义。工作将在拥有大量学生的学区进行，这些学生来自 STEM 领域代表性不足的群体，以便教育工作者能够更好地了解符合 NGSS 的课程在促进科学教育的机会和公平方面的承诺。研究团队将从 2018-19 学年开始在七年级教室进行随机分配效能研究，并在 2019-20 学年对这些学生作为八年级学生进行跟踪。符合这两种条件的教师都将获得 NGSS 的专业发展；处于治疗状态的教师还将在使用 ASMS 材料方面获得专业发展。招募目标是加利福尼亚州和/或华盛顿州最多 6 个大中型学区的 48 所中学样本。研究人员将尝试招募一个地区的所有中学和所有七年级科学教师。预计每所学校平均将有两名教师教授 7 年级科学的 3 个部分，每个部分有 30 名学生，总共大约有 96 名教师和 8,640 名学生。所有学生都应该有机会学习科学。本研究旨在对历史上 STEM 代表性不足的学生高度集中的地区的课程影响得出有效的推论。这项工作还将有助于确定成功实施 NGSS 设计的课程材料所需的条件，从而为在全国范围内支持基于标准的科学教学改革做出贡献。研究结果将为新课程材料的投资提供重要基础，并将引起科学教育和学习科学领域的人士以及关注扩大严格课程规模的地区领导人和政策制定者的浓厚兴趣。