RAPID: Collaborative Proposal: Effects of Institutional Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic on Undergraduate Faculty and Students Across STEM Disciplines

新型冠状病毒病2019 （COVID-19）大流行导致全国范围内学术机构前所未有的中断。因此，迫切需要了解这种中断对美国本科STEM教育的严重影响。该项目将研究因COVID-19大流行和随后的制度变革而导致的教师和学生的经历。在不确定时期启动，该项目将：(1)在国家恢复里程碑实现之前捕捉本科教育经历的短暂性；(2)为危机期间适应本科STEM教育的努力提供信息。项目组将收集有关院校特点和危机沟通信息的数据，以及个别教师和学生的经验。将对这些数据进行分析，以确定2019冠状病毒病大流行影响STEM本科教育教学的途径。该项目的研究结果将用于为高等教育机构制定可行的建议，包括危机沟通策略、危机时期的教学指导方针和资源清单。由于STEM劳动力在正常和灾难情况下对美国的经济健康起着至关重要的作用，这种快速收集数据并从这种情况中学习的努力将有助于社会的安全和福祉。预计研究结果还将支持更具弹性、更具全球竞争力的下一代STEM工作者。该项目的具体目标是：(1)考察本科教师和学生应对COVID-19大流行的教学经验；(2)研究教师和学生的反应对本科STEM教学的影响；(3)利用调查结果为学院和大学制定可操作的建议，以最好地准备和保护其教职员工和学生以及本科STEM教育的完整性。这些活动的目标是回答关键的研究问题：机构的COVID-19政策如何影响教师和学生对STEM教学和学习的态度、看法和行为？对本科STEM教师和学生来说，哪些教学资源最重要？随着时间的推移，这些对本科STEM教育的影响是如何发展的？考虑到形势的迅速变化，回答研究问题所需的个人层面的数据本质上是短暂的。教师和学生不太可能准确地回忆起他们能够适应变化的程度，变化带来痛苦的程度，以及他们如何应对事件。利用综合高等教育数据系统，将从具有代表性的院校随机分层抽样中招募教师和学生，参与在线调查和半结构化访谈，这些调查和访谈在三个时间点进行。本项目以危机沟通、组织科学和灾害管理的研究文献为基础，解决了本科STEM教育研究中与教师和学生对破坏性环境的反应、使他们对破坏性环境具有弹性的机构特征以及从破坏性环境中学习的机构方面的差距。调查结果将通过一个公共网站分发给各高等教育机构，该网站与培养教职员工在适应中断的教育环境时的复原力最关键的资源有关。此外，参与的机构和个人将收到定制的报告和资源。通过评估2019冠状病毒病的直接影响，该项目旨在加强本科教育基础设施，在中断期间和之后改善STEM教育的提供，并帮助保护正在经历这场危机的教师和学生的福祉。该RAPID奖由本科教育司（教育和人力资源理事会）改进本科STEM教育项目颁发，资金来自《冠状病毒援助、救济和经济安全（关怀）法案》。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。

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in unprecedented, nation-wide disruption of academic institutions. As a result, there is an urgent need to understand the acute effects of this disruption on undergraduate STEM education in the U.S. This project will examine experiences of faculty and students resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent institutional changes. Initiated during a time of uncertainty, this project will: (1) capture the ephemeral nature of undergraduate education experiences before national recovery milestones are achieved; and (2) inform efforts to adapt undergraduate STEM education during crises. The project team will collect data about institutional characteristics and crisis communication messages, as well as about experiences of individual faculty and students. These data will be analyzed to identify pathways through which the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced teaching and learning within undergraduate STEM education. The findings of this project will be used to develop actionable recommendations for institutions of higher education, including crisis communication strategies, guidelines for pedagogy in times of crisis, and checklists of resources. As the STEM workforce plays a critical role in the economic health of the U.S. in normal and disaster situations, this effort to rapidly collect data and learn from this situation will contribute to the security and well-being of society. It is expected that the results will also support a more resilient, globally competitive next generation of STEM workers. The project’s specific aims are to: (1) examine teaching and learning experiences of undergraduate faculty and students in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) examine the effects of faculty and student reactions on undergraduate STEM teaching and learning; and (3) leverage findings to develop actionable recommendations for colleges and universities to best prepare and protect their faculty, staff, and students and the integrity of undergraduate STEM education. The goal of these activities is to answer key research questions: How do institutions’ COVID-19 policies influence faculty and student attitudes, perceptions, and behavior related to STEM teaching and learning? What teaching and learning resources were most important for undergraduate STEM faculty and students? How do these effects on undergraduate STEM education develop over time? Given the rapidly changing nature of the situation, individual-level data that are needed to answer the research questions are inherently ephemeral. Faculty and students are unlikely to accurately later recall the extent to which they were able to adapt to changes, the extent to which changes created distress, and how they coped with events. Using the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, faculty and students from a stratified random sample of representative institutions will be recruited to participate in an online survey and semi-structured interviews conducted across three time points. Grounded in the research literatures of crisis communication, organizational science, and disaster management, this project addresses gaps in undergraduate STEM education research related to faculty and student reactions to disruptive contexts, characteristics of institutions that make them resilient toward disruptive contexts, and institutional learning from disruptive contexts. The findings will be disseminated to institutions of higher education and through a public web site relating to the resources most critical for fostering resilience among faculty and staff when adapting to a disrupted educational context. In addition, participating institutions and individuals will receive customized reports and resources. By evaluating the immediate impact of COVID-19, this project aims to enhance the undergraduate education infrastructure, improve the delivery of STEM education during and after disruptions, and help to protect the well-being of faculty and students collectively experiencing this crisis. This RAPID award is made by the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program in the Division of Undergraduate Education (Education and Human Resources Directorate), using funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.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.