RCN-UBE Incubator: Teaching Logical Reasoning Skills in Undergraduate Biology Courses

逻辑思维和推理能力是学生在大学STEM课程中取得成功的关键。然而，逻辑推理的明确指导和评估通常不是科学入门课程的一部分。这个项目将通过建立一个广泛和多样化的教育工作者和研究人员网络来解决这种脱节问题，其目的是开发一套强大的纸质和数字课程材料，帮助生物入门课程的学生培养这些技能。创造高质量的资源，改善基础阶段的重要教育途径，将产生一支准备更充分、更多样化的STEM教育队伍。由该项目创建的网络成员将合作开发和传播逻辑推理资源和教学材料。为此，网络成员将首先制定批判性思维和逻辑推理的共同定义，这些定义由美国哲学学会和其他来源的现有框架提供信息。在接种理论的框架下，该网络将设计课程材料，训练学生识别逻辑推理错误(例如，常见的逻辑谬误)和对科学思维的扭曲或操纵(例如，不可证伪的伪科学)。编写的材料将在网络主导的讲习班上传播，并与网络成员所属组织合作，并通过与更广泛的STEM教育工作者开展合作，在全国大学一级的生物课程中实施。项目产品将通过提供高质量的资源来支持本科生物教育，这些资源将使学生具备在STEM职业生涯中取得成功所需的严格逻辑推理技能。该项目由生物科学局生物基础设施司和教育与人力资源局本科教育司共同资助，作为他们努力应对“本科生物学教育的愿景与变革：行动呼吁”(http://visionandchange/finalreport).This奖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智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估)中提出的挑战的一部分。

Logical thinking and reasoning skills are critical for student success in college STEM courses. However, explicit instruction and assessment of logical reasoning are generally not a part of introductory science classes. This project will address this disconnect by creating a broad and diverse network of educators and researchers, the aim of which will be to develop a robust set of print and digital course materials for helping students in introductory biology courses build these skills. The creation of high-quality resources that improve a vital educational pathway at a foundational stage will result in a better prepared and more diverse STEM-educated workforce.The members of the network created by this project will collaborate to develop and disseminate the logical reasoning resources and instructional materials. To that end, network members will first develop common definitions of critical thinking and logical reasoning that are informed by existing frameworks from the American Philosophical Society and other sources. Drawing on the framework of inoculation theory, the network will then design curricular materials that train students to recognize logical reasoning errors (e.g., common logical fallacies) and distortions or manipulations of scientific thinking (e.g., unfalsifiable pseudoscience). The materials developed will be disseminated at network-led workshops and implemented in college-level biology courses nationwide in partnership with organizations affiliated with network members and through cultivating collaborations with the broader community of STEM educators. Project products will bolster undergraduate biology education by furnishing high-quality resources that will equip students with the rigorous logical reasoning skills they need to succeed in STEM careers. This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in "Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action" (http://visionandchange/finalreport).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.