Using Networks to Scale Improvement of STEM Undergraduate Education: A Comparative Study of Network Goals, Processes, and Strategies to Advance Organizational Change

利用网络来规模化 STEM 本科教育的改进：推进组织变革的网络目标、过程和策略的比较研究

• 批准号: 1725320
• 负责人: Ann Austin
• 金额: $ 179.87万
• 依托单位: Michigan State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-08-15 至 2023-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1725320&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Using; Networks; Scale; Improvement; STEM

This project will advance knowledge of organization-focused change networks as a potentially powerful lever for advancing improvements in undergraduate STEM education. This four-year project will examine how organization-focused change networks support and advance STEM undergraduate educational improvement. Based on a theory of change that networks can scale advances in STEM education, this research builds on and integrates knowledge from 3 different knowledge bases: organizational change, networks, and STEM education. Six networks that connect organizations or that connect institutional leaders working directly with organizational units or departments will be studied: the Advanced Technological Education Network; the Bay View Alliance; the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning; the Network of STEM Education Centers; the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education; and the Reinvention Center. The project will use cross-case analysis to identify lessons concerning effective strategies and processes for optimal network functioning and impact. During year 3, teams from each network will be convened in a knowledge exchange symposium to discuss emerging findings, exchange perspectives on network development, functioning, and impact, and identify important implications and lessons for other networks.The project will use rigorous qualitative methods, including document analysis, interviews, and site visits, to examine three aspects of each network. The first is the network's design, including its purpose and problem addressed, and the theory of change guiding its work, membership, and structures. The second concerns the network's lifecycle and processes, including stages of network development, strategies used to advance goals related to STEM undergraduate education, issues and challenges, and how those issues are handled. The third aspect is the network's outcomes, impact, and scale, including: metrics and processes used to provide feedback on progress, what outcomes and impacts are assessed to determine progress toward network goals, and strategies used to extend the reach and scale of the network.

该项目将促进对以组织为重点的变革网络的了解，作为推进本科STEM教育改进的潜在有力杠杆。这个为期四年的项目将考察以组织为重点的变革网络如何支持和促进STEM本科教育的改进。基于网络可以推动STEM教育进步的变革理论，本研究建立并整合了来自三个不同知识库的知识：组织变革、网络和STEM教育。将研究六个连接组织或直接与组织单位或部门工作的机构领导人的网络：高级技术教育网络、湾景联盟、研究、教学和学习一体化中心、STEM教育中心网络、本科生生命科学教育伙伴关系和再创造中心。该项目将利用跨案例分析，找出有关最佳网络运作和影响的有效战略和进程方面的经验教训。在第3年中，将召集每个网络的团队参加知识交流研讨会，讨论新的发现，交流对网络发展、功能和影响的看法，并确定对其他网络的重要影响和经验教训。该项目将使用严格的定性方法，包括文档分析、访谈和现场访问，以检查每个网络的三个方面。首先是网络的设计，包括其目的和解决的问题，以及指导其工作、成员和结构的变革理论。第二个问题涉及网络的生命周期和进程，包括网络发展的阶段、用于推进与STEM本科教育相关的目标的战略、问题和挑战，以及如何处理这些问题。第三个方面是网络的结果、影响和规模，包括：用于提供进度反馈的指标和流程、评估哪些结果和影响以确定实现网络目标的进度，以及用于扩展网络覆盖范围和规模的策略。