Community College Anatomy and Physiology Education Research (CAPER)

人体解剖学和生理学（AP）是近50万本科生的必修课，其中许多人就读于社区学院（CC）。 平均年龄29岁，这些学生希望通过进入护理或牙科助理等联合医疗保健职业来改变他们的生活。然而，伴随着这种希望文化的是严峻的社会和经济现实。许多学生都是退伍军人，并从《退伍军人权利法案》中获得财政支持，许多人既工作又上学，许多人正在养家糊口。这些负担导致学生焦虑程度的提高。虽然CC以其专注于教学而闻名，但CC教师负担着繁重的工作量和很少的专业发展机会。其结果是可以预见的：一个环境中有高教师倦怠和高学生失败率。 社区学院解剖学和生理学教育研究（CAPER）项目通过采取一种新颖的教师专业发展方法来解决这个问题。 具体来说，CC教师将成为共同调查研究调查学生的表现和焦虑的变化后，实施循证教学实践（EBIP）。 将指导性探究和合作小组学习等做法引入科学课堂，已被证明可以促进学生的学习，并为有色人种和女性学生创造更公平的学习环境。通过参与该项目，CC教师将为该领域提供新的数据，并改变自己的做法。 然后，这些教师将在他们的学校和专业社区内担任AP教育的领导者。 CAPER项目采用循证方法促进转型。社区学院A P教师将联合收割机专业发展课程与设计和实施一个小规模的教育研究项目，调查以学生为中心的教学策略的影响。 他们还将参与一项更大规模的研究，研究不同的情感影响。个别研究项目将使用经过验证的工具来检测EBIP实施导致的学生成功措施的变化。研究结果将完善我们对EBIP在社区学院不同学生群体中的有效性的理解。除了他们的个人项目，教师将在一个多机构的努力检查的假设，即EBIP可以减轻焦虑对学生的表现和保留通过改善学习和建设社区的负面影响合作。 教师对这个项目的贡献将是学生压力这一日益相关的话题的基础。最后，研究小组将使用经过验证的调查工具，访谈和课堂观察协议的组合来监测教师的看法和做法。使用前/后研究设计将揭示CAPER项目是否能够促进过渡到更多的以学生为中心的教学实践。 会议演讲、博客和文章的传播战略将确保信息到达最终用户手中，这是促进变革的第一步。特别是，教师将处于有利地位，以影响其他CC教师的做法，无论是在他们的机构和专业组织，如人体解剖学和生理学学会，社区学院生物学教育研究网络，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识产权进行评估来支持。优点和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Human Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) is a required course for nearly half a million undergraduate students, many of whom enroll in community colleges (CCs). Averaging 29 years of age, these students hope to transform their lives by entering allied health care careers such as nursing or dental assisting. Yet, accompanying this culture of hope are stark social and economic realities. Many students are military veterans and receive financial support from the GI Bill, many work as well as attend school, and many are raising families. These burdens result in heightened levels of student anxiety. While CCs are known for their focus on teaching, CC instructors are burdened with heavy workloads and few opportunities for professional development. The result is predictable: an environment where there is high instructor burnout and high student failure rates. The Community College Anatomy and Physiology Education Research (CAPER) project addresses this issue by taking a novel approach to instructor professional development. Specifically, CC instructors will become co-investigators in research studies investigating changes in student performance and anxiety following implementation of evidence-based instructional practices (EBIPs). Introducing practices such as guided inquiry and cooperative group learning into science classrooms has been shown to promote student learning and to foster a more equitable learning environment for students of color and women. By participating in this project, CC instructors will contribute new data to the field as well as change their own practices. These instructors will then act as leaders in A&P education within their schools and their professional communities. The CAPER project takes an evidence-based approach to fostering transformation. Community College A&P instructors will combine a professional development course with the design and implementation of a small-scale educational research project investigating the impact of a student-centered teaching strategy. They will also participate in a larger scale study examining the affective impact of different pedagogies. The individual research projects will use validated instruments to detect changes in student success measures resulting from EBIP implementation. The results will refine our understanding of EBIP effectiveness in the diverse student populations found at community colleges. In addition to their individual projects, instructors will collaborate in a multi-institutional effort examining the hypothesis that EBIPs could alleviate the negative impacts of anxiety on student performance and retention by improving learning and building community. The instructors' contributions to this project will be foundational to the increasingly relevant topic of student stress. Finally, the research team will monitor instructor perceptions and practices using a combination of validated survey instruments, interviews, and classroom observation protocols. Using a pre-/post- research design will reveal if the CAPER project was able to promote transition to more student-centered instructional practices. A dissemination strategy of conference presentations, blogs, and articles will ensure that the information reaches the end users, the first step in promoting change. In particular, the instructors will be well-situated to influence the practices of other CC instructors, both within their institutions and within professional organizations such as the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society, the Community College Biology Education Research network, and the Physiology Educators Communities of Practice.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.