SICB 2021 Conference Symposium: Biology Beyond the Classroom: Experiential Learning through Authentic Research, Design, and Community Engagement

该奖项将资助在综合与比较生物学学会（SICB）年会上举行的研讨会，讨论如何有效地吸引科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）学科的不同群体的学生。该会议通常会吸引大约2000名科学家，他们中的大多数负责教授大学课程，并将能够迅速实施教学改革，以更好地支持学生。来自不同机构的16位演讲者将介绍他们在创新教学方法方面的工作，为与会者提供必要的培训。该项目还将支持促进一个由有抱负的青少年科学家领导的社区外展研讨会，这些科学家将分享他们在社区中加强科学理解的经验。研讨会的演讲和研讨会将为综合生物学家提供必要的专业发展，以满足大学水平教师的需求，并确保高等教育机构更加公平。此外，在整个会议期间，将为所有SICB与会者提供一个关于体验式STEM学习的“询问教育专家”展位。结果将通过出版物和社交媒体传播，参与者将向SICB的研究和教育资源在线开放获取数据库提交教学材料，从而扩大会议以外的影响。该项目为将于2021年1月在华盛顿特区举行的综合与比较生物学学会（SICB）年会上举行的以教育为重点的研讨会提供支持。研讨会演讲者将展示吸引本科生和研究生参与体验式科学学习的创新方法。具体而言，研讨会将重点介绍三种高影响力的实践，使学生能够将他们的科学学习带到课堂之外，以提高相关性和真实性：1)基于课程的本科研究（CUREs）， 2)创客空间中的数字制造，以及3)服务或社区学习。虽然每个主题都是独特的，但都提供了传统讲座的替代方法，并已被证明有效地吸引了传统上在STEM劳动力中代表性不足的不同群体的学生。此外，每位演讲者将在SICB期刊《综合与比较生物学》上发表一篇论文。此外，研讨会参与者将提交两篇联合论文，一篇是综述，另一篇将提供对STEM教育领域当前面临的重大挑战的见解，并就未来十年扩大参与所必需的关键转变提出建议。研讨会的演讲和成果将促进有效教学实践和研究方法的知识，以调查这些实践的有效性，为综合生物学家和教育工作者提供听众，他们中的许多人没有接受过教学或教育研究方面的正式培训。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 award funds a symposium to be held at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) on effective teaching approaches for engaging diverse groups of students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The meeting typically attracts approximately 2,000 scientists, most of whom are responsible for teaching university courses and will be able to quickly implement changes in their teaching to better support students. A total of 16 symposium speakers from a range of institutions will present their work on innovative teaching approaches, providing essential training for attendees. This project will also support the facilitation of a community outreach workshop led by aspiring teenage scientists who will share their experiences enhancing science understanding in their neighborhoods. Together, the symposium presentations and workshop will provide essential professional development for integrative biologists to fill a need among university-level instructors and ensure more equitable institutions of higher education. In addition, an “Ask an Education Expert” booth on experiential STEM learning will be available to all SICB attendees throughout the meeting. Results will be disseminated through publications and social media, and participants will submit pedagogical materials to SICB’s Research and Education Resources online, open-access database, thereby expanding the impact beyond the meeting. This project provides support for an education-focused symposium at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) to be held in Washington, D.C., in January 2021. Symposium speakers will showcase innovative approaches for engaging undergraduate and graduate students in experiential science learning. Specifically, the symposium will highlight three high-impact practices that allow students to take their science learning outside of the classroom for increased relevance and authenticity: 1) Course-based undergraduate research (CUREs), 2) Digital fabrication in makerspaces, and 3) Service- or Community-based learning. Although each topic is unique, all provide an alternative approach to traditional lectures and have proven effective at appealing to diverse groups of students who are traditionally underrepresented in the STEM workforce. Further, each symposium speaker will contribute a manuscript for publication in the SICB journal, Integrative and Comparative Biology. In addition, symposium participants will contribute to two joint papers, one a review and the other which will provide insights into grand challenges currently facing the field of STEM education and recommendations for key shifts that are necessary to broaden participation in the next decade. The symposium presentations and deliverables will advance knowledge of effective teaching practices and research methods to investigate the efficacy of those practices for an audience of integrative biologists and educators, many of whom have not received formal training in teaching or education research.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.