Professional Development Supports for Teaching Bioinformatics through Mobile Learnng

生物信息学是一个新兴的研究领域，通过对大量生物和生物医学数据的计算分析来开发新知识。 本计画将探讨高中生物资讯学教学所需的专业发展支援。从专业发展设计研究的强大文献的基础上，项目团队将与生物和数学教师合作，共同设计教学模块，通过关注通过移动的学习活动支持的当地社区健康问题，让学生参与核心生物信息学概念和计算能力。该项目的总体目标是帮助创建一个参与人口的信息学知情的学生谁是批判性分析信息的能力，并能够解决当地的问题与他们的健康和福祉。探索研究K-12计划（DRK-12）旨在通过研究和开发教学创新，显着提高学前班学生和教师对科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。DRK-12项目中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，这些研究和开发工作为拟议的项目提供了理论和经验依据。项目团队将使用基于设计的实施研究方法，通过迭代项目修订来确定实现教学目标所需的课程和教学支持，采用混合方法评估教师和学生的学习过程和结果。来自当地高需求学校的教师将参加为期三周的夏季研讨会，在那里他们将学习最先进的生物信息学内容，促进计算素养的基于项目的教学法，以及将移动的技术整合到教学中的策略。 他们将在这一年中实施教学单元，夏季讲习班将进行修订，并在下一个夏天向更多的教师提供。对教师制定这些模块的数据收集和分析将揭示支持特定人群所需的专业发展和实施领域，特别是STEM中代表性不足的群体，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Bioinformatics is an emerging area of research that develops new knowledge through computational analysis of vast biological and biomedical data. This project will investigate the professional development supports needed for teaching bioinformatics at the high school level. Building from a robust literature in professional development design research, project team will work with biology and mathematics teachers to co-design instructional modules to engage students with core bioinformatics concepts and computational literacies, by focusing on local community health issues supported through mobile learning activities. The overarching goal of the project is to help create an engage population of informatics-informed students who are capable of critically analyzing information and able to solve local problems related to their health and well-being. 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 instructional innovations. 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.The project team will use a design-based implementation research approach to identify the curricular and instructional supports needed to achieve the teaching and learning goals through iterative project revisions, employing mixed methods to evaluate teacher and student learning processes and outcomes. Teachers from local high needs schools will participate in a three-week summer workshop, where they will learn about state-of-the-art bioinformatics content, project-based pedagogies that promote computational literacy, and strategies integrate mobile technologies into instruction. They will implement the instructional units during the year, and the summer workshop will be revised and delivered to an expanded cohort of teachers the following summer. The data collection and analysis conducted on teachers' enactment of these modules will reveal the professional development and implementation areas needed to support particular populations, specifically underrepresented groups in STEM, to engage with bioinformatics learning and take authentic action on local community issues.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.