Adapting an Experiment-centric Teaching Approach to Increase Student Achievement in Multiple STEM Disciplines

在美国国家科学基金会改善本科STEM教育计划：教育与人力资源（IUSE:EHR）的支持下，该项目旨在通过在多个STEM学科中实施基于证据的、以实验为中心的教学方法，为国家利益服务。以实验为中心的教学法（ECP）在促进电气工程专业学生学习动机和提高学习成绩方面取得了成功。ECP使用一种廉价、安全、便携的电子仪器系统，可用于教室和学生实验室。当与适当的软件和传感器配对时，它可以用于测量从振动到氧气水平的各种特性。在这个参与式学生学习项目中，ECP将适用于生物学、化学、土木工程、计算机科学、工业工程、运输系统和物理学。由于使用电子仪器进行科学测量在所有STEM学科中都很常见，因此ECP可能是一种特别有价值的STEM教学方法。本项目将调整和实施《综合教育计划》，并评估《综合教育计划》对学生成功措施的影响。第一个项目目标是提供研讨会，让STEM教师学习如何将ECP作为一种主动学习教学法。这些研讨会将向所有STEM教师开放，而不仅仅是项目教师。非项目教员可能采用ECP，从而产生次级项目效益。第二个目标是将ECP整合到多个STEM学科和各种环境中，例如传统教室和教学实验室，以及学生在家使用。教师可以在课堂演示、课堂或实验室的合作小组实验以及家庭作业中实施ECP。项目教师将通过实施和评估从早期ECP适应得到支持。第三个目标是衡量使用ECP所产生的学生成功结果。学生的成功将通过学习成绩、留校率和毕业率来衡量。此外，经过验证的工具将用于测量与学生成功相关的关键结构，如动机、认知和感知好奇心、工程身份和自我效能感。形成性评估的结果预计将指导该项目，总结性项目评估预计将对1000多名STEM学生产生积极影响，其中相当大一部分学生来自历史上在STEM中代表性不足的群体。NSF IUSE: EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。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。

With support from the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program: Education and Human Resources (IUSE:EHR), this project aims to serve the national interest by implementing an evidence-based, experiment-focused teaching approach in multiple STEM disciplines. The Experiment Centric Pedagogy (ECP) has been successful in promoting motivation and enhancing academic achievement of electrical engineering students. ECP uses an inexpensive, safe, and portable electronic instrumentation system that can be used in classrooms and student laboratories. When paired with appropriate software and sensors, it can be used to measure a wide range of properties, from vibration to oxygen levels. In this Engaged Student Learning project, ECP will be adapted for use in biology, chemistry, civil engineering, computer science, industrial engineering, transportation systems, and physics. Because using electronic instrumentation to make scientific measurements is common in all STEM disciplines, ECP may be an especially valuable STEM teaching approach. This project will adapt and implement ECP, as well as assess the impact of ECP on student success measures. The first project objective is to provide workshops at which STEM faculty will learn how to use ECP as an active learning pedagogy. These workshops will be open to all STEM faculty, not just project faculty. Non-project faculty might adopt ECP, thereby yielding secondary project benefits. The second objective is to integrate ECP into multiple STEM disciplines and in various settings, such as in traditional classrooms and teaching laboratories, and at home use by students. Instructors may implement ECP for in-class demonstrations, for cooperative group experiments in class or laboratories, and for homework assignments. Project faculty will be supported from early ECP adaptation through implementation and assessment. The third objective is to measure student success outcomes resulting from the use of ECP. Student success will be measured by academic performance as well as retention and graduation rates. In addition, validated instruments will be used to measure key constructs associated with student success, such as motivation, epistemic and perceptual curiosity, engineering identity, and self-efficacy. Results of formative assessments are expected to guide the project, and the summative project assessment is expected to demonstrate positive impacts on more than 1,000 STEM students, a considerable proportion of whom are from groups historically underrepresented in STEM. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.