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

在 NSF 改善本科生 STEM 教育计划：教育和人力资源 (IUSE:EHR) 的支持下，该项目旨在通过在多个 STEM 学科中实施循证、以实验为重点的教学方法来服务于国家利益。以实验为中心的教学法（ECP）成功地提高了电气工程学生的积极性和学业成绩。 ECP 使用廉价、安全且便携式的电子仪器系统，可用于教室和学生实验室。 当与适当的软件和传感器配合使用时，它可用于测量从振动到含氧量等多种特性。 在这个学生参与学习项目中，ECP 将适用于生物学、化学、土木工程、计算机科学、工业工程、交通系统和物理学。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。 该项目将调整和实施 ECP，并评估 ECP 对学生成功衡量标准的影响。第一个项目目标是举办研讨会，让 STEM 教师学习如何使用 ECP 作为主动学习教学法。 这些研讨会将向所有 STEM 教师开放，而不仅仅是项目教师。 非项目教师可能会采用 ECP，从而产生次要项目效益。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中使用。 教师可以在课堂演示、课堂或实验室合作小组实验以及家庭作业中实施 ECP。项目教师将从早期 ECP 适应到实施和评估得到支持。第三个目标是衡量学生因使用 ECP 而取得的成功。 学生的成功将通过学业成绩以及保留率和毕业率来衡量。 此外，经过验证的工具将用于衡量与学生成功相关的关键结构，例如动机、认知和知觉好奇心、工程认同和自我效能。 形成性评估的结果预计将指导该项目，而总结性项目评估预计将对 1,000 多名 STEM 学生产生积极影响，其中相当一部分来自历史上 STEM 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 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力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.