Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Fellows Annual Project Coordination meeting

圣路易斯华盛顿大学已获得奖励，将于 2017 年 2 月 13 日至 16 日举办研讨会，以宣传本科生生命科学教育合作伙伴关系 (PULSE) 的使命。 PULSE 是一个由来自各种机构类型的现任和前任系主任和管理人员组成的全国网络。 PULSE 研究员致力于通过促进采用《愿景与变革报告》（2011 年）中的建议来促进本科生生命科学教育的改进。这份重要报告强调，生物学学生在学习基本的组织概念而不是事实和信息的积累时会更成功；当他们发展重要技能时，例如有效的想法沟通、设计实验和解释数据；当他们在课堂上学习时，他们会积极参与构建自己的理解的过程；当他们有机会参与本科研究或实习等高影响力的实践时。尽管有如此丰富的数据，大多数生物学部门尚未接受这种方法，但正在取得进展。自 2013 年以来，PULSE 已与 180 多家机构合作，并寻求在未来几年大幅扩大这一数字。下一次 PULSE 研讨会将在马里兰州切维蔡斯的 HHMI 总部举行，将包括约 50 名 PULSE 研究员、机构变革和有效教学方面的特邀专家以及几位主持人。这次会议的目标是确保 PULSE 的多个项目得到良好协调，以达到最大效果，并对这些项目进行适当评估，以确定最有效促进本科教育改善的干预措施。 PULSE 项目旨在促进全系教育实践的变革。 PULSE 与包括系领导在内的院系教员合作，帮助他们就自己的愿景达成共识。 PULSE 还通过评估其活动对部门教学法、课程和课外项目变化的长期影响来测试变革理论。通过确定哪些类型的干预措施最能有效地推动持续变革，该项目将增进对变革策略的理解，从而推动生命科学和整个 STEM 领域更好的教学和学习的目标。 PULSE 的议程将通过研究员现场会议来协调他们的活动、规划向财务上自给自足的组织的过渡以​​及进一步将新研究员纳入该组织的计划，从而显着推动 PULSE 的议程。 PULSE 项目的目标是扭转生物学系采用最佳教育实践的平衡，有可能加速全国本科生物学教育的改革。该项目由生物科学理事会共同资助。生物基础设施司、教育和人力资源局、本科教育司致力于解决《本科生物教育愿景与变革：行动呼吁》(http://visionandchange/finalreport/) 中提出的挑战。

An award has been made to Washington University in St. Louis to conduct a workshop from February 13-16, 2017 to promote the mission of the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education (PULSE). PULSE is a national network of current and former department chairs and administrators from a variety of institutional types. The PULSE Fellows seek to catalyze improvement in undergraduate life science education through promoting adoption of the recommendations in the Vision and Change Report (2011). This important report highlights that biology students are more successful when they learn underlying organizing concepts, rather than an accumulation of facts and information; when they develop important skills such as effective communication of ideas, designing experiments and interpreting data; when they learn in classrooms that engage them actively in the process of constructing their own understanding; and when they have the opportunity to participate in high impact practices such as undergraduate research or internships. Despite this wealth of data, most biology departments have not embraced this approach, but progress is being made. PULSE has already worked with over 180 institutions since 2013 and seeks to expand this number significantly over the next few years.The next PULSE workshop will be held at HHMI Headquarters in Chevy Chase, MD and will include approximately 50 PULSE Fellows, invited experts in institutional change and effective teaching and learning, and several facilitators. The goal of this meeting is to ensure that PULSE's multiple programs are well coordinated for maximum effect and that they will be assessed appropriately to identify interventions most effective in catalyzing improvement in undergraduate education. The PULSE project seeks to promote department-wide change in educational practices. PULSE works with departmental faculty, including departmental leaders, to help them reach consensus about their vision. PULSE is also testing theories of change by assessing the long-term impact of its activities on changes in departmental pedagogies, curriculum, and co-curricular programs. By establishing which types of interventions are most effective at motivating sustained change, the project will enhance understanding of change strategies that advance the goal of better teaching and learning in life sciences and across STEM. PULSE's agenda will be measurably promoted by an in-person meeting of Fellows to coordinate their activities, to plan for transition to a financially self-sustaining organization, and to further integrate newer Fellows into the organization's programs. With the goal of tipping the balance in biology departments toward adoption of best educational practices, PULSE's programs have the potential to accelerate the reform of undergraduate biology education nationwide.This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences. Division of Biological Infrastructure and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange/finalreport/).