Momentary Assessment of Research Learning Environments

研究学习环境的瞬时评估

• 批准号: 1920407
• 负责人: Erin Dolan
• 金额: $ 142.06万
• 依托单位: University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-10-01 至 2024-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1920407&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Momentary; Assessment; Research; Learning; Environments

A growing number of studies show that participation in undergraduate research experiences (UREs), including course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), may influence a student's persistence in science, that is, whether a student graduates from college with a science degree. However, these research experiences have been widely implemented for many years without much knowledge of the specific characteristics of the experiences that are necessary to positively influence student persistence. This knowledge gap is critical to address because undergraduate research experiences vary widely in their designs and thus in their likely effectiveness. Furthermore, most studies of research experiences ask students to provide their perceptions at the end of the experience rather than during the experience. This delay can be problematic in several ways. For example, in end of experience assessments, students may overemphasize more recent events. In addition, end of experience assessment does not capture changes in students' experiences over time. This research project will use a method called ecological momentary assessment to document students' research experiences at multiple times per week, enabling the investigators to better understand student experiences as they occur. This information has the potential to provide new insights into how UREs and CUREs influence student persistence in science. The research will involve students in introductory and upper-level research experiences, including UREs and CUREs in genetics, biochemistry, microbiology, ecology, and other life science disciplines. The study will include students at nine different universities, including those with high enrollments of students from groups underrepresented in science.Guided by self-efficacy theory and social cognitive career theory, this EHR Core Research project will characterize key features of UREs and CUREs in the life sciences and how these features relate to students' development as scientists. It will also address methodological shortcomings of previous studies of undergraduate student research experiences by adapting ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and topic modeling to identify recurring themes in students' responses to EMAs. In Phase 1 the researchers will test and refine the research methodologies. The team will use EMA to: 1) collect and analyze data from a diverse group of 750 students who are participating in UREs and CUREs at nine universities; 2) characterize aspects of the experiences that are hypothesized to affect student development (amount of time, nature of collaborations, levels of epistemic involvement); and 3) identify other aspects of research experiences that are salient to students. In addition, the investigators will use established scales to measure students' science self-efficacy, sources of efficacy, scientific identity, outcome expectations, and intentions to continue in science before and after participating in UREs. In Phase 2, the project team will collect and analyze data from a second cohort of 750 students, and use structural equation modeling to better understand how features of research experiences serve as sources of self-efficacy for students. In addition, the project team will identify the features of research experiences that relate to changes in students' science self-efficacy, science identity, expectations about further education or a career in science, and intended and actual persistence in science. The team will also explore whether and how the results differ with respect to student sociodemographic variables. The research results are expected to provide a better understanding of the important aspects of research experiences, and to provide insights into how to design UREs and CUREs to support all students in realizing desired educational outcomes, especially their persistence in science.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.

越来越多的研究表明，参与本科生的研究经历，包括基于课程的本科生研究经历，可能会影响学生对科学的坚持性，也就是说，学生是否从大学毕业时拥有理科学位。然而，这些研究经验多年来一直被广泛实施，对这些经验的具体特征缺乏足够的了解，这些特征对于积极影响学生的坚持性是必要的。解决这一知识差距是至关重要的，因为本科生的研究经验在设计上差异很大，因此在可能的有效性上也有很大差异。此外，大多数对研究体验的研究要求学生在体验结束时提供他们的看法，而不是在体验过程中。这种延迟在几个方面可能会有问题。例如，在体验评估结束时，学生可能会过分强调最近发生的事件。此外，结束体验评估没有考虑到学生在一段时间内体验的变化。这项研究项目将使用一种名为生态瞬时评估的方法，每周多次记录学生的研究经验，使调查人员能够更好地了解学生发生的经验。这些信息有可能为治疗和治疗如何影响学生的科学毅力提供新的见解。这项研究将让学生参与入门和高级研究经验，包括遗传学、生物化学、微生物学、生态学和其他生命科学学科的治疗和治疗。这项研究将包括九所不同大学的学生，包括那些来自科学代表性不足的群体的高入学率学生。在自我效能感理论和社会认知职业理论的指导下，这项EHR核心研究项目将表征生命科学中治疗和治疗的关键特征，以及这些特征与学生作为科学家的发展之间的关系。它还将通过采用生态瞬时评估(EMA)和主题建模来确定学生对EMA的反应中反复出现的主题，从而解决以前对本科生研究经验的研究的方法缺陷。在第一阶段，研究人员将测试和改进研究方法。该团队将使用EMA来：1)收集和分析来自9所大学参与治疗和治疗的750名学生的不同群体的数据；2)描述假设影响学生发展的经验的方面(时间量、合作性质、认知参与程度)；以及3)确定对学生来说重要的研究经验的其他方面。此外，研究人员将使用已建立的量表来测量学生在参加URMS前后的科学自我效能感、效能感来源、科学认同感、结果预期以及继续从事科学工作的意图。在第二阶段，项目团队将收集和分析来自750名学生的第二组数据，并使用结构方程模型来更好地了解研究经验的特征如何作为学生自我效能感的来源。此外，项目团队将确定研究经验的特征，这些特征与学生科学自我效能感、科学认同感、对升学或科学职业的期望以及对科学的预期和实际坚持有关。该团队还将探索在学生社会人口统计变量方面，结果是否以及如何不同。这些研究成果有望更好地理解研究经验的重要方面，并提供关于如何设计治疗方法和治疗方法的见解，以支持所有学生实现预期的教育结果，特别是他们对科学的坚持。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。