Developing Educational Measurement Competency to Support Investigations of Students' Scientific Conceptions Light

对光及其与物质相互作用的深刻理解在许多科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域都是必不可少的。为了设计更有效的关于这些概念的教学，我们需要更好地了解学生对光的概念是如何形成的。值得注意的是，帮助学生从基于日常经验的光的直觉观点转向更科学地理解光及其与物质的相互作用，包括亚原子粒子的最小尺度上的相互作用。这个项目将开始系统地研究本科生对光的看法是如何随着时间的推移而发展的。它将通过设计和测试一种仪器来评估学生对光的波粒二象性的理解。在这项工作的过程中，首席研究员还将发展定量教育测量的能力，以补充她在定性研究方法方面的专业知识。在她领导这个项目的过程中，通过参与有针对性的专业发展经验，首席研究员将建立她在未来对本科生对关键化学概念的理解进行基础研究的能力。该项目将整合研究和专业发展目标，以支持首席研究员发展实现其长期研究目标所需的教育测量技能。该项目将设计、开发和评估一种仪器，以评估入门化学学生对光的波粒二象性的理解。该仪器的设计将以伯克利评估和评估研究系统为指导。与教师和学生的访谈结果将为构建地图和排序选择题的开发提供信息，并提供与学生理解水平相对应的回答。团队将使用项目开发、专家项目检查和项目改进的迭代过程。该仪器将通过内布拉斯加大学普通化学学生的beta、试点和最终测试进行严格评估，以建立有效性和可靠性。在整个仪器开发过程中，项目团队将由波特兰州立大学教育测量专家Jack Barbera博士指导。项目团队将与导师进行频繁的虚拟和面对面会议，讨论目标读物以及仪器开发项目的进展和计划。PI还将完成两门关于心理测量学和潜在阶级分析的短期课程。项目成果将包括对学生对光的波粒二象性理解的高质量评估，以及项目团队测量技能的发展，这将支持未来本科生对重要STEM概念理解的调查。首席研究员将通过当地和国家研讨会分享她从研究和专业发展经验中学到的东西，并为美国化学学会化学教育部门的年轻化学教育学者小组发布季度博客文章。导师和一个由教育衡量和学习进程发展专家组成的三人咨询委员会将评估项目的成功与否。本项目由美国国家科学基金会EHR STEM教育研究核心研究能力建设（ECR BCSER）项目支持，该项目旨在培养个人在STEM学习和学习环境的核心领域开展高质量基础STEM教育研究的能力，扩大STEM领域的参与，以及STEM劳动力的发展。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。

Robust understandings of light and how it interacts with matter are essential across many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. To design more effective instruction about these concepts, we need to better understand how students' ideas about light develop. Of notable importance is helping students' move from an intuitive view of light based on everyday experiences to a more scientific understanding of light and its interactions with matter, including interactions at the smallest scales of subatomic particles. This project will begin to systematically study the ways in which undergraduate students' ideas about light develop over time. It will do so by designing and testing an instrument to assess students' understanding of the wave-particle duality of light. In the process of this work, the principal investigator will also develop competencies in quantitative educational measurement to complement her established expertise in qualitative research methodologies. By participating in targeted professional development experiences as she leads this project, the principal investigator will build her capacity to conduct fundamental research on undergraduate students' understanding of key chemistry concepts in the future.This project will integrate research and professional development objectives to support the principal investigator in developing the educational measurement skills needed to achieve her long-term research goals. The project will design, develop, and evaluate an instrument to assess introductory chemistry students' understanding of the wave-particle duality of light. The design of the instrument will be guided by the Berkeley Evaluation and Assessment Research system. Results of interviews with faculty and students will inform the development of construct maps and ordered multiple-choice items with responses corresponding to student levels of understanding. The team will use an iterative process of item development, expert item checks and item refinement. The instrument will be rigorously evaluated via beta-, pilot, and final testing with general chemistry students at the University of Nebraska to establish validity and reliability. Throughout the process of developing the instrument, the project team will be mentored by Dr. Jack Barbera, an expert in educational measurement from Portland State University. The project team will have frequent virtual and in-person meetings with the mentor to discuss targeted readings as well as progress and plans for the instrument development project. The PI will also complete two short courses on the topics of psychometrics and latent class analysis. Project outcomes will include the development of a high-quality assessment of students' understanding of the wave-particle duality of light, as well as the development of the project team's measurement skills, which will support future investigations of undergraduate students' understandings of important STEM concepts. The principal investigator will share what she has learned from her research and professional development experiences via local and national workshops, as well as quarterly blog posts for the Younger Chemistry Education Scholars group of the American Chemical Society's Division of Chemical Education. The mentor and a three-member advisory board of experts in educational measurement and the development of learning progressions will assess the success of the project.This project is supported by NSF's EHR Core Research Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR BCSER) program, which is designed to build individuals' capacity to carry out high quality fundamental STEM education research in the core areas of STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development.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.