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

该项目旨在通过在四个实验室课程中实施循证教学实践来服务于国家利益：化学，生物学，食品科学和动物科学。国家报告赞同用探究式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。 这些机会被称为提高学生在STEM的保留。例如，本科生早期参与基于课程的本科生研究经验（CURES）的机会的价值得到了广泛的认可。 该项目将支持在四个学科的入门课程中开发和实施具体的CURE模块。六名教师将创建跨学科的CURE模块，让学生参与真实的研究体验，并帮助他们发展处理大型数据集所需的定量技能。学生将从事主要的研究项目，并在教师和实验室之间轮换短期模块，从而加深他们在更广泛的跨学科CURE项目中的经验。通过CURE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，整合和测试CURE模块，其中包括跨学科合作和独特的基于植物栽培的实地研究，从植物中纯化分子，以及在实验室研究中检查分子的影响。 这些CURE将为200多名不同的学生提供服务，有可能对他们在STEM的成功和保留产生重大的积极影响。教师将进行教育研究，以调查CURE对学生参与者的影响，CURE丰富课程的学生与传统实验室控制部分的学生的结果，以及对学生结果影响最大的经验元素。四个研究问题将用于衡量CURE对学生学业成绩和STEM持续性的有效性： 1)在多大程度上参与跨学科的CURE影响学术成就和保留在干？2)与传统课程的学生相比，参加CURE的学生在科学素养和科学推理技能方面是否有更大的提高？3)在何种程度上参与跨学科的CURE影响学生的科学身份，科学的动机和态度，并了解科学界的价值观？学生对实验课程设计的认知与其整体表现有何关系？ 对这些问题的回答将有助于了解本科教育中研究经验的价值，特别是涉及跨学科界限的研究项目的CURE模型。 该项目旨在提高学生的学业成功率和毕业率，并作为积极学习和基于课程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。

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.