Creating Validated Learning Objectives to Improve Course Design and Student Outcomes in Introductory Biology

创建经过验证的学习目标以改进生物学入门课程设计和学生成果

• 批准号: 2012362
• 负责人: Scott Freeman
• 金额: $ 59.8万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 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 2024-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2012362&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Creating; Validated; Learning; Objectives; Improve

This project aims to serve the national interest by helping the United States meet the need for qualified STEM professionals and scientifically literate citizens. Learning objectives are statements of what students should know and be able to do after instruction. In a well-designed science course, the curriculum and the exams and other assessments are tightly linked to learning objectives. However, no widely accepted set of learning objectives has been developed for introductory college biology for majors or nonmajors, even though these foundational courses are some of the most important in undergraduate STEM education. This project will engage over 300 biology faculty nationwide in creating a comprehensive set of learning objectives for these courses. In addition, it will 1) produce a user’s guide to support instructors who are new to implementing learning objectives, 2) publish an analysis of how learning objectives and course goals compare in the majors and nonmajors courses, and 3) launch the first large-scale study of how and why college science faculty begin incorporating learning objectives into their courses. Widespread use of learning objectives has the potential to improve the design of introductory biology courses for majors and nonmajors, which nationally enroll over 500,000 students each year.Backward course design is a fundamental component of scientific teaching and begins with explicit lists of overall course goals and more-granular learning objectives. College biology faculty and students have already benefitted from the general course goals articulated by the 2011 Vision and Change Report and the BioCore and BioSkills Guides. This project will complement and extend this previous work by producing the first nationally validated set of learning objectives for majors and non-majors introductory biology courses. These learning objectives will be drafted, revised, and validated through an iterative process conducted with focus groups and national surveys designed to incorporate feedback from over 300 faculty members representing a diversity of institution types and locations. Once consensus learning objectives are established for each course, the project team will analyze how the goals of majors and nonmajors courses differ and use interviews, focus groups, and surveys to research how biology faculty at different types of institutions across the U.S. are using learning objectives in their courses. The goal is to open a new field of inquiry on 1) how faculty design their courses, and 2) how using learning objectives and other elements of backward course design affects student performance. 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.

该项目旨在通过帮助美国满足对合格STEM专业人员和科学素养公民的需求来服务于国家利益。 学习目标是学生应该知道什么和能够在教学后做的陈述。在一门精心设计的科学课程中，课程、考试和其他评估都与学习目标紧密相连。然而，没有一套广泛接受的学习目标已经制定了专业或非专业的大学生物学入门，即使这些基础课程是一些最重要的本科STEM教育。该项目将吸引全国300多名生物学教师为这些课程制定一套全面的学习目标。此外，它将1）产生一个用户指南，以支持教师谁是新的实施学习目标，2）出版一份分析如何学习目标和课程目标比较在专业和非专业课程，和3）启动第一次大规模的研究如何以及为什么大学科学教师开始将学习目标纳入他们的课程。学习目标的广泛使用有可能改善专业和非专业的生物学导论课程的设计，这些课程每年在全国招收超过50万名学生。逆向课程设计是科学教学的基本组成部分，并从明确的整体课程目标和更细粒度的学习目标列表开始。大学生物学教师和学生已经从2011年愿景和变化报告以及生物核心和生物技能指南所阐述的一般课程目标中受益。该项目将通过为专业和非专业生物学入门课程制定第一套全国有效的学习目标来补充和扩展以前的工作。这些学习目标将通过与焦点小组和国家调查进行迭代过程来起草，修订和验证，旨在纳入来自300多名代表机构类型和地点多样性的教职员工的反馈。一旦建立了共识的学习目标，为每门课程，项目团队将分析专业和非专业课程的目标如何不同，并使用访谈，焦点小组和调查研究如何在美国各地的不同类型的机构的生物教师正在使用学习目标在他们的课程。我们的目标是打开一个新的调查领域1）教师如何设计他们的课程，2）如何使用学习目标和其他元素的落后课程设计影响学生的表现。 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。 该奖项反映了NSF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。