A Collaborative, Team Science Approach to Transforming STEM Education into an Immersive Research Experience

该项目旨在通过在化学、生物、食品科学和动物科学四门实验室课程中实施循证教学实践来服务于国家利益。国家报告支持用基于探究的研究经验取代标准的实验室课程，让学生从事真正的科学工作。众所周知，这样的机会可以提高学生在STEM的留存率。例如，本科生早期参与以课程为基础的本科生研究经历(CURE)的机会的价值被广泛认可。该项目将支持在四个学科的入门课程中开发和实施特定的CURE模块。六名教职员工将创建跨学科的治疗模块，让学生参与真实的研究体验，并帮助他们培养处理大数据集所需的量化技能。学生将从事一个主要的研究项目，并在教师和实验室之间轮流进行简短的模块，从而加深他们在更广泛的跨学科CURE项目中的经验。通过CURES将不同学科的课程联系起来的创新设计，有可能帮助学生发展更广泛的科学研究视角。该项目将开发、集成和测试治愈模块，其中包括跨学科合作和植物栽培方面的独特实地研究，植物分子的纯化，以及在实验室研究中检查分子的影响。这些疗法将服务于200多名不同的学生，有可能对他们在STEM的成功和留住产生重大的积极影响。教师将进行教育研究，以调查治疗对学生参与者的影响，强化治疗课程的学生与使用传统实验室的控制组的学生的结果，以及对学生结果影响最大的体验元素。四个研究问题将被用来衡量治疗对学生学业成绩和在STEM中的坚持性的有效性：1)参与跨学科治疗对STEM的学习成绩和保持有多大程度的影响？2)与传统课程的学生相比，参加治疗的学生在科学素养和科学推理技能方面有更大的提高吗？3)参与跨学科治疗对学生的科学认同感、科学动机和态度以及对科学共同体价值观的理解有多大的影响？4)学生对实验室课程设计的看法与他们的整体表现有何关系？对这些问题的回答将有助于了解研究经验在本科教育中的价值，特别是关于涉及跨越学科边界的研究项目的治愈模式。该项目旨在提高学生的学业成就和毕业率，并作为主动学习和以课程为基础的研究的跨学科方法的典范。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。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by implementing evidence-based teaching practices across four laboratory courses: chemistry, biology, food science, and animal science. National reports have endorsed replacing standard laboratory courses with inquiry-based research experiences that engage students in doing authentic scientific work. Such opportunities are known to improve student retention in STEM. For example, the value of early opportunities for undergraduates to engage in course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) is widely recognized. This project will support development and implementation of specific CURE modules in introductory courses across the four disciplines. Six faculty members will create interdisciplinary CURE modules that will involve students in authentic research experiences and help them develop quantitative skills needed to work with large data sets. Students will pursue a primary research project and rotate between instructors and labs for short modules, thus deepening their experiences within the broader interdisciplinary CURE project. The innovative design of linking courses from different disciplines through CUREs has the potential to help students develop broader scientific perspectives about research. This project will develop, integrate, and test CURE modules that include interdisciplinary collaborations and unique field-based research on plant cultivation, purification of molecules from the plants, and examination of the molecules’ effects in laboratory studies. These CUREs will serve more than 200 diverse students, with the potential to have significant positive impact on their success and retention in STEM. The instructors will conduct educational research to investigate the impact of the CUREs on student participants, outcomes of students in CURE-enriched courses versus those in the control sections with traditional labs, and the elements of the experience that had the most impact on student outcomes. Four research questions will be used to measure the effectiveness of CUREs on student academic outcomes and persistence in STEM: 1) To what extent does participation in an interdisciplinary CURE affect academic achievement and retention in STEM? 2) Do students who participate in a CURE have greater improvements in scientific literacy and scientific reasoning skills compared to students in traditional courses? 3) To what extent does participation in an interdisciplinary CURE affect students’ science identity, science motivation and attitudes, and understanding of scientific community values? and 4) How do students’ perceptions of laboratory course design relate to their overall performance? Answers to these questions will contribute to the body of knowledge about the value of research experiences in undergraduate education, and specifically about a CURE model that involves a research project that spans disciplinary boundaries. The project intends to increase the students’ academic success and graduation rates and serve as a model for interdisciplinary approaches to active learning and course-based research. 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.