Prevalence of and Barriers to the Adoption of High-Impact Teaching Practices in General Education Science, Mathematics, and Social-Science Courses

该项目旨在服务于高质量STEM教育的国家利益。为此，它将研究在普通教育STEM课程中使用高效教学实践的普遍情况和障碍。所提出的分析旨在衡量教授学生获得大学学分的课程的大学教员和高中教师的教学实践和态度。本研究中获得的数据旨在推动未来的行动，以改善STEM人才管道的招聘和保留。实施经过研究验证的教学实践已被证明可以改善学习成果，包括学生保留率。然而，高等教育的领导者对校园实际教学实践的了解有限。因此，很难提供与实践相一致的支持、资源和干预措施。该项目旨在确定在通识教育课程中如何以及在何处使用经过研究验证的实践，以及教师对这些实践的看法。该分析有可能支持以证据为基础的资源分配，并有大量教师投入和购买，从而形成一个评估模型，可以帮助解决当地STEM学习挑战并提高成果。在三年的项目时间内，直接学习的课程将招收超过27,000名本科生和4,500名大学预科学生。所开发的方法和工具旨在向类似机构输出，从而大大增加项目的潜在影响。该项目将使用基于关注的采用模型来收集有关内布拉斯加大学奥马哈分校通识教育科学、数学和社会科学课程中使用高影响力教学实践的数据。有三个诊断维度：(1)成功模型，(2)行为测量，(3)态度测量。成功模式由教学实践清单定义的八个类别代表，旨在检查研究型教学实践的使用。行为测量包括教师自我报告的数据，通过社交网络分析对协作和共享进行分析，以及使用本科STEM课堂观察协议对自我报告进行验证。态度测量包括基于关注阶段问卷的态度调查的开发和部署。结果数据将与来自教师焦点小组的定性数据和针对结构性障碍的访谈相结合进行分析。本项目的中心研究问题是：(1)教师在通识教育科学、数学和社会科学课程中使用了哪些高影响力的实践，它们的流行程度如何？(2)在采用高影响力实践方面，教师认为存在哪些障碍/担忧？(3)高影响力实践使用的程度、教师网络的密度和自我确定的关注阶段对机构有效性指标和院系报告的学生学习评估的加权效应是什么？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。通过机构和社区转型轨道，该计划支持高等教育机构和学科社区的STEM教育转型和改善。该奖项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 in high quality STEM education. To do so, it will study the prevalence and barriers to using highly effective teaching and learning practices in general education STEM courses. The proposed analysis is designed to measure the teaching practices and attitudes of college faculty members and high school teachers who teach courses through which students earn college credits. The data obtained in this study is intended to drive future action to improve recruitment and retention in the STEM talent pipeline. Implementation of research-verified teaching practices has been shown to improve learning outcomes, including student retention. However, higher education leaders can have limited information about the actual teaching practices on their campus. As a result, it can be difficult to provide support, resources, and interventions that align with practice. This project aims to identify how and where research-verified practices are being used in general education courses, as well as faculty views about these practices. This analysis has the potential to support evidence-based allocation of resources with significant faculty input and buy in, resulting in an assessment model that can help address local STEM learning challenges and increase outcomes. The courses under direct study will enroll over 27,000 undergraduate students and 4,500 pre-college students over the three-year project timeline. The methods and instruments developed are intended to be exportable to similar institutions, significantly increasing the project’s potential impact.This project will use a Concerns-Based Adoption Model to gather data about the use of high-impact teaching practices in general education science, mathematics, and social science courses at the University of Nebraska Omaha. There are three diagnostic dimensions: (1) the Model of Success, (2) Measures of Behaviors, and (3) Measures of Attitudes. The Model of Success is represented by the eight categories defined by the Teaching Practices Inventory, designed to examine the use of research-based teaching practices. The Measures of Behaviors includes faculty self-reported data, analysis of collaboration and sharing via social networking analysis, and validation of self-reports using the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM. The Measures of Attitudes includes the development and deployment of an attitudinal survey based on the Stages of Concern Questionnaire. The resulting data will be analyzed in combination with qualitative data from faculty focus groups and interviews addressing structural barriers. The central research questions for this project are: (1) What high-impact practices are faculty using in their general education science, math, and social science courses, and what is their prevalence? (2) What faculty-perceived barriers/concerns exist with respect to adoption of high-impact practices? (3) What is the weighted effect that the extent of high-impact practice use, density of the faculty network, and self-identified stages of concern have on institutional effectiveness metrics and department-reported assessments of student learning? 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 efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities.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.