RCN-UBE Incubator: Urban agriculture supports accessible and impactful biology education

太多的学生，特别是那些来自代表不足的群体的学生，放弃了在大学攻读STEM学位。这种人员流失是一个严重的问题，因为美国没有足够的科学、卫生专业人员和教师，需要更多不同的视角来帮助解决世界上复杂的科学挑战。造成这种流失的部分原因是，科学教育可能看起来很抽象，与学生们在自己社区中意识到的问题无关。该项目通过创建一个专注于城市农业的网络来解决这一问题。都市农业吸引了本科生，部分原因是它将世界上最紧迫的两个问题联系在一起，即如何让农业更可持续，以及如何让城市更健康。城市农业场地，如校园花园和社区农场，到处都是农作物、鲜花和昆虫，可以吸引人的想象力，并将它们与自然联系起来。尽管没有得到重视，但都市农业也是帮助学生学习科学的理想环境，因为种植作物的地块可以很容易地组织起来作为实验。该项目将在此功能的基础上开发实验室，帮助本科生学习科学过程的方方面面，提出问题，开发项目设计，收集数据，分析结果，并展示发现。该项目还将通过帮助学生，特别是那些来自代表人数不足的群体的学生，保持对生物学的兴趣，并将科学教育与社区服务项目(如生产捐赠计划)联系起来，为社区做出重要贡献。在美国，科学领域的本科生流失是一个严重的问题。科学领域的人员流失导致现有科学和卫生专业人员和教师短缺，并对学生造成投资损失。科学自然减员在代表性不足的群体中尤为明显，这是使观点多样化所必需的。要减少这种流失，就需要开发出严谨而引人入胜的课程，让来自各种背景的大量学生都能接触到。该项目将创建一个研究协调网络，通过利用城市农业作为示范系统的优势来加强本科生物学教育。该网络将以两个核心目标为指导：1)使用AAAS在其2011年报告《本科生物学教育的愿景与变革》中概述的核心概念和能力来开发和实施生物课程；2)创建量化评估，以衡量我们课程和网络目标的进展情况。都市农业为这个项目提供了一个理想的环境，因为这个主题与学生相关，而且场地提供了围绕生物学核心概念的动手培训机会。该项目还将通过制作分发、教育节目和与社区合作伙伴开展其他类型的外联活动，帮助学生将他们的科学培训与社区服务联系起来。该项目由生物科学局生物基础设施部和教育与人力资源局本科教育司共同资助，作为应对《本科生物学教育的愿景与变革：行动号召》中提出的挑战的努力的一部分(http://visionandchange/finalreport/).This奖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智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估被认为值得支持。

Too many students, especially those from underrepresented groups, abandon their pursuit of STEM degrees in college. This attrition is a significant problem because there are not enough science, health professionals, and teachers in the U.S., and more diverse perspectives are needed to help solve the world's complex scientific challenges. Part of the reason for this attrition is because science education can seem abstract and not relevant to the problems that students are aware of in their own communities. This project addresses this attrition by creating a network focused on urban agriculture. Urban agriculture engages undergraduate students, in part, because it connects two of the world's most pressing problems, how to make agriculture more sustainable, and how to make cities healthier. Urban agriculture sites such as campus gardens and community farms, filled with crop plants, flowers, and insects, can captivate the imagination and connect them to nature. Although underappreciated, urban agriculture is also an ideal setting for helping students learn about science because plots of crop plants can easily organized as experiments. This project will build on this feature to develop labs that help undergraduate students learn every aspect of the scientific process, coming up with questions, developing a project design, collecting data, analyzing results, and presenting findings. This project will also make important contributions to communities by helping students, particularly those from underrepresented groups, stay interested in biology, and by connecting science education to community service projects such as produce donation programs. Undergraduate attrition from science fields is a significant problem in the United States. Attrition from science fields contributes to a shortage of available science and health professionals and teachers, and represents lost investments for students. Science attrition is particularly pronounced in underrepresented groups, which are needed to diversify perspectives. Reducing this attrition requires the development of rigorous yet engaging programs accessible to a large number of students from all backgrounds. This project will create a research coordination network that enhances undergraduate biology education by capitalizing on the advantages of urban agriculture as a model system. The network will be guided by two core goals: 1) to develop and implement biology curricula using the Core Concepts and Competencies outlined by the AAAS in their 2011 report, Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education; and 2) to create quantitative assessments that measure progress toward our curricular and network goals. Urban agriculture provides an ideal setting for this program because the topic is relevant to students and the venue provides opportunities for hands-on training around core concepts in biology. The project will also help students connect their science training to community service through produce distributions, educational programming, and other types of outreach activities with community partners. 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/).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.