NRT-IGE: Enhancing Learning and Retention in Graduate Physics

近年来，教育研究已经彻底改变了本科STEM教育，特别是物理教育。然而，许多对教学实践和成功衡量标准的积极改变并没有在研究生阶段实施。随着国民经济日益依赖技术领域训练有素的专家，这是一个与国家有关的问题。同样普遍存在的问题是，物理学研究生课程的高流失率（在全国范围内约为50%），以及女性、非裔美国人、西班牙裔美国人和其他群体在物理学和STEM领域的代表性一直不足。这些在多样性和人才保留方面的长期缺陷凸显了在研究生阶段改进STEM教育战略的必要性。其中一个重要的障碍是传统的研究生核心物理课程。俄亥俄州立大学研究生教育创新（IGE）轨道上的国家科学基金会研究培训（NRT）奖将寻求在研究生水平的物理课程中开发、采用和评估创新的、基于研究的教学最佳实践，特别是关注影响保留和多样性的因素。特别是，该项目的目的是通过在开发过程中参与多个地点（最初是四个大型中西部研究型大学），并在每个地点收集关于有效性的数据，确保所开发的方法和材料广泛适用和可采用。该项目的一个关键策略是直接聘请每个参与机构的研究生核心课程导师。该方法应用并调整了建立和维护教师学习社区的成功模式，以促进教师的专业发展，并采用基于研究的教学材料和方法。该项目还将与系研究生研究委员会合作，促进政策和做法的积极变化，以确保系统和持久的变化。在一个自下而上的过程中，从教师学习社区的需求中出现，教学材料将通过一个高效的基于研究的迭代模型来开发，包括识别学生的困难和构建材料，让学生在一个包容和欢迎的环境中解决这些困难。该方法包括通过内容测试、课程作业、课堂表现、学生调查（例如态度、归属感、动机）以及学生和教师调查和访谈向讲师和项目研究人员提供反馈。该项目将提高我们对特定主题的教学材料和方法的了解，以提高学生在研究生阶段的学习水平，这是目前几乎不存在的，并可以作为其他STEM研究生项目的典范。美国国家科学基金会研究实习生（NRT）计划旨在鼓励开发和实施大胆的、新的、具有潜在变革性的STEM研究生教育培训模式。研究生教育创新轨道专门用于试点，测试和评估新颖，创新和潜在的变革性研究生教育方法。该项目由研究生教育联盟和教授（AGEP）计划共同资助。AGEP资助研究、开发、实施和调查模型，以改变科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）和/或STEM教育研究中历史上代表性不足的少数民族（urm）的博士教育、博士后培训和/或教师进步的论文阶段。

In recent years, education research has revolutionized undergraduate STEM education and physics education in particular. However, many of the positive changes to instructional practices and metrics for success have not been implemented at the graduate level. With a national economy increasingly dependent on highly-trained specialists in technical fields, this is a nationally-relevant problem. Similarly widespread are the problems of high attrition rates in physics graduate programs (on the order of 50%, nationally) and persistent underrepresentation of women, African Americans, Hispanics and other groups in Physics and STEM. These chronic shortcomings in diversity and in retention highlight the need for improved strategies in STEM education at the graduate level. One of the significant barriers identified is the traditionally-taught graduate core physics courses. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award in the Innovations of Graduate Education (IGE) Track to The Ohio State University will seek to develop, adopt, and assess innovative, research-based instructional best practices in graduate-level physics courses, especially focusing on factors affecting retention and diversity. In particular, the project is aimed at ensuring that the developed methods and materials are widely-applicable and adoptable by engaging multiple sites in the development process (initially four large Midwestern research universities), and collecting data on effectiveness at each site. A critical strategy of the project is to directly engage the graduate core course instructors of each participating institution. The approach applies and adapts a successful model for establishing and maintaining faculty learning communities to facilitate the professional development of instructors and the adoption of research-based instructional materials and methods. The project will also engage the department graduate studies committees to facilitate positive change in policies and practices in order to ensure systemic and lasting change. In a bottom-up process emerging from the needs of the faculty learning communities, instructional materials will be developed via a highly effective research-based iterative model including the identification of student difficulties and construction of materials to engage students in addressing those difficulties in an inclusive and welcoming environment. The approach includes feedback to the instructors and the project researchers via performance on content tests, course assignments, in-class performance, student surveys (e.g., attitude, belonging, motivation) and student and faculty surveys and interviews. This program will advance our knowledge of topic-specific instructional materials and methods to improve student learning at the graduate level, which is currently virtually non-existent, and can serve as a model for other STEM graduate programs.The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new, potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The Innovations in Graduate Education Track is dedicated solely to piloting, testing, and evaluating novel, innovative, and potentially transformative approaches to graduate education.This project is co-funded by the Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program. AGEP funds research and the development, implementation, and investigation of models to transform the dissertation phase of doctoral education, postdoctoral training and/or faculty advancement of historically underrepresented minorities (URMs) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and/or STEM education research.