Examining the Impact of the Partnership for Life Sciences Education Recognition Program as a Mechanism to Foster Departmental Transformation

检验生命科学教育认可计划伙伴关系作为促进部门转型机制的影响

• 批准号: 2012213
• 负责人: Thomas Jack
• 金额: $ 60.03万
• 依托单位: Dartmouth College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-10-01 至 2025-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2012213&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Examining; Impact; Partnership; Life; Sciences

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving undergraduate biological sciences education. To this end, it will study the impact of the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education (PULSE) Recognition Program in promoting systemic improvements in biological sciences teaching and learning. Life science departments are granted PULSE recognition based on adoption of pedagogical and institutional best practices that are aligned with the recommendations of the influential 2011 report, Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action. This project will support expansion of the PULSE Recognition Program to 18 additional life science departments from under-resourced institutions. The project will use previous data, together with data from the new institutions, to study the role of PULSE recognition in departmental transformation. The project has the potential to transform life sciences departments' implementation of student-centered, evidence-based teaching approaches. It may also influence STEM education more broadly by providing a model for large-scale institutional reform efforts.The PULSE Recognition Program is a novel, tiered recognition model inspired by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system for rating buildings. The recognition process requires departments to complete rubrics that evaluate utilization of evidence-based teaching practices and other institutional practices known to correlate with innovative pedagogy, improved student outcomes, and increased student retention in STEM as recommended by the 2011 Vision and Change report. Additional documents and departmental data are then submitted and reviewed, followed by a site visit that includes meetings with faculty, administrators, staff, and students. After review of the evidence, life science departments are awarded a “Progression Level” (Baseline, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) based on the degree of implementation of pedagogical and institutional best practices. This project focuses on studying the impact of PULSE Recognition through three specific objectives. The first is to conduct a rigorous and comprehensive longitudinal research study on the efficacy of the PULSE Recognition Program as a model to incentivize departmental change and continuous improvement in undergraduate STEM education. The second objective is to assess how departmental behavior and attitudes change in response to receiving PULSE Recognition. To measure these changes, a Faculty Attitudes and Readiness Survey has been developed, and individual faculty from participating life science departments will complete this short survey in years 1, 3, and 5 of the project. The third objective is to assess how the activities associated with earning PULSE recognition promote departmental change in ways that improve life sciences undergraduate education at distinct types of institutions. This work is organized in the context of the PULSE Theory of Change, a model for how PULSE activities ultimately produce departmental transformation. The project will create an infrastructure to evaluate data submitted during the recognition process and compile a nationally representative sample. The project findings will contribute to understanding factors that drive successful institutional transformation, as well as help dissemination of reform efforts in undergraduate STEM education. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation 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.

该项目旨在通过改进本科生物科学教育来服务于国家利益。为此，它将研究本科生命科学教育伙伴关系(PULSE)认可计划在促进生物科学教与学的系统性改进方面的影响。生命科学系被授予脉搏识别的基础是采用了符合2011年有影响力的报告--本科生物学教育的愿景与变化：行动呼吁--的建议的教学和机构最佳做法。该项目将支持将脉搏识别计划从资源不足的机构扩展到另外18个生命科学系。该项目将利用以前的数据，以及来自新机构的数据，研究脉搏识别在部门转型中的作用。该项目有可能改变生命科学系实施的以学生为中心的循证教学方法。它还可能通过为大规模机构改革努力提供一个模式，从而更广泛地影响STEM教育。脉冲识别计划是一种新颖的分级识别模式，其灵感来自于建筑评级的能源与环境设计领导地位(LEED)系统。认可过程要求各部门按照《2011年愿景与变革报告》的建议，完成评估循证教学实践和其他已知与创新教学法、改善学生成绩和增加学生在STEM留存率相关的机构做法的使用情况的类比。然后提交和审查其他文件和部门数据，然后进行现场访问，其中包括与教职员工、管理人员、员工和学生举行会议。在审查证据后，生命科学部门根据教学和机构最佳实践的实施程度被授予“进步级别”(基线、铜牌、银牌、金牌、白金)。本项目通过三个具体目标重点研究脉搏识别的影响。一是对脉搏识别计划的成效进行严谨而全面的纵向研究，作为激励本科生STEM教育系级变革和持续改进的典范。第二个目标是评估部门的行为和态度在接受脉搏识别后如何改变。为了衡量这些变化，已经制定了教师态度和准备情况调查，参与项目的生命科学系的个别教师将在项目的第1、3和5年完成这份简短的调查。第三个目标是评估与收入脉搏识别相关的活动如何促进院系变革，以改善不同类型机构的生命科学本科教育。这项工作是在脉冲式变革理论的背景下组织的，这是一个关于脉冲式活动最终如何产生部门变革的模型。该项目将建立一个基础设施，以评估在认定过程中提交的数据，并编制具有全国代表性的样本。该项目的调查结果将有助于理解推动成功的机构转型的因素，并有助于传播本科STEM教育的改革努力。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过机构和社区转型路径，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优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。