REU Site: Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Model-based Reasoning in STEM Education at the Rochester Institute of Technology

罗彻斯特理工学院（RIT）获得的REU Site奖将在2018-2020年夏季为10名学生提供为期10周的培训。这个网站的目标是让学生有机会参与基于模型推理的研究项目。建模是一项重要的科学实践，因为模型为物理世界的思想和观察提供了桥梁。模型是现实世界系统的简化版本，它允许科学家提出新的问题，测试新的假设，并向广泛的受众传达解释。K-12和高等教育的主要STEM教育改革举措支持学生在整个STEM课程中参与建模实践的机会。这些改革举措还必须得到一个研究基础的支持，包括明确的目标、评估工具、对学生普遍困难的理解和有效的课程方法。STEM教育中基于模型推理的本科生研究经验（REU）将为学生提供在这一令人兴奋和重要领域从事新颖研究项目的机会。基于学科的教育研究（DBER）结合了STEM领域的学科专业知识和教育研究方法，如果提供准备工作和指导，本科生可以做。这个DBER REU项目将使STEM学生能够将他们不断增长的学科知识应用于教育研究中的重要问题。在接下来的三年里，该项目将选择30名不同的本科生加入RIT STEM研究社区。在项目期间，学生将在研究导师的支持和合作下从事严格的教育研究项目。该计划将帮助学生为DBER和/或科研事业和研究生课程做准备。这些潜在的未来教育工作者将被引入教学、学习和评估建模的核心科学实践。这个项目的学生将在会议和学术出版物上传播他们的发现。为了支持项目目标，这个DBER REU项目有四个核心组成部分：指导研究项目，专业发展研讨会，DBER方法研讨会和队列建设活动。该项目将有助于围绕学生建模能力的发展和评估进行研究，这对教育活动的有效性至关重要。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The REU Site award to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) will support the training of ten students for ten weeks during the summers of 2018-2020. The goal of this site is to give students an opportunity to engage in research projects on model-based reasoning. Modeling is an important practice of science as models provide bridges between ideas and observations of the physical world. Models are simplified versions of real-world systems that allow scientists to ask new questions, test new hypotheses, and communicate explanations to a broad audience. Major STEM education reform initiatives in K-12 and higher education support opportunities for students to engage in the practice of modeling throughout the STEM curriculum. These reform initiatives must also be supported by a research base that includes well-defined goals, assessment tools, an understanding of common student difficulties, and effective curricular approaches. The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Model-based Reasoning in STEM Education will give students an opportunity to engage in novel research projects in this exciting and important field.Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER) combines disciplinary expertise in a STEM field with education research methodology that undergraduate students can do, if provided with preparatory work and mentoring. This DBER REU program will enable STEM students to apply their growing disciplinary knowledge to important problems in education research. Over the next three years, the program will select 30 diverse undergraduate students to join the RIT STEM research community. During the program, students will engage in rigorous education research projects with the support and collaboration of research mentors. The program will help students prepare for DBER and/or scientific research careers and graduate programs. These potential future educators will be introduced to teaching, learning, and assessment of the core scientific practice of modeling. Students in this program will disseminate their findings at conferences and through scholarly publications. To support program objectives, this DBER REU program has four core components: Mentored Research projects, Professional Development Workshops, DBER Methods Workshops, and Cohort-building Activities. The project will contribute to research around the development and assessment of students' abilities in modeling, which is essential for the efficacy of educational initiatives.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.