RCN-UBE Incubator: Transforming Assessment and Feedback in Undergraduate Biology Education

国家需要更多的STEM毕业生，以满足劳动力需求，并应对气候变化和新传染病等社会挑战。学生开始在这些领域学习，但在几门课程后突然离开，这是非常常见的，这种减员不成比例地影响到已经代表性不足的学生，如妇女和有色人种学生。一个可能的解释是，本科生物教育在很大程度上依赖于高风险的测验和考试，学生们发现这些测验和考试使他们失去动力，创造了一种令人生畏的“淘汰”文化。这是令人沮丧的，但与此同时，这些学生必须掌握高度的内容，成功地从社区学院过渡到四年制课程，然后到学士后科学课程或职业。该研究协调网络将通过创建一个不仅来自生物学而且来自教学奖学金（SoTL）领域的学者网络来推进本科生生物学教育，以确定和促进教育工作者使用更有效，非传统的评估，评分和反馈方法，但尊重全面的生物学教育所带来的限制。这个项目的目标是改善本科生物学教育的评估和反馈，使我们扩大和多样化的学生在这些领域的学习，而不牺牲卓越的标准。一个代表从社区学院到主要是本科文科学院到HBCU再到以研究为重点的大型大学的各种机构的网络将追求以下目标：建立研究网络;在这些不同的机构范围内使用定量和定性设计，以确定有问题的评估和反馈的来源，使用新的方法，以及实施创新的障碍;在几个领先的生物学和教学会议上介绍对当前本科生物学评估和反馈的障碍和挑战的见解;并使用收集的数据制定一个完整的建议，将实施和测试新方法的有效性。目前的孵化器的目的是澄清在本科生物学教育的现状传统的方法仍在使用，新的方法正在尝试，其相对的成功和失败，以及限制和障碍，特别是生物学的研究，应牢记在任何新的工具的发展。研究结果将为一项更大规模的研究奠定基础，该研究将开发和测试新的评估和反馈工具的有效性，这些工具鼓励而不是阻碍广泛参与生物学研究，从而改善学生的学习和表现，并培养一支准备更充分、更多样化的STEM劳动力队伍。生物基础设施部作为应对本科生物学教育中的愿景和变革所带来的挑战的努力的一部分：行动呼吁（http：//visionandchange/finalreport/）。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

The Nation needs more STEM graduates in order to meet workforce needs and address societal challenges such as climate change and new infectious diseases. It is very common for students to begin study in these fields only to abruptly leave after a few courses, and this attrition disproportionately affects already underrepresented students such as women and students of color. One possible explanation is that undergraduate biology education largely relies on high-stakes quizzes and exams that students find demotivating, creating an intimidating “weed out” culture. This is dismaying but at the same time, these students must master a high degree of content to successfully transition from community colleges to four-year programs and then to post-baccalaureate science programs or careers. This Research Coordination Network will advance undergraduate biology education by creating a network of scholars not only from biology but also from the field of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) to identify and facilitate educator use of more effective, nontraditional approaches to assessment, grading, and feedback that nonetheless respect the constraints presented by a comprehensive biology education. The goal of this project is to improve assessment and feedback in undergraduate biology education such that we expand and diversify students studying in these fields while not sacrificing standards of excellence. A diverse network representing institutions ranging from community colleges to primarily undergraduate liberal arts colleges to HBCUs to large research-focused universities will pursue the following aims: establish the research network; use quantitative and qualitative designs within these diverse range of institutions to identify sources of problematic assessments and feedback, use of novel approaches, and barriers to implementation of innovations; present at several leading biology and teaching conferences the insights on current barriers and challenges to undergraduate biology assessment and feedback; and use data gathered to formulate a full proposal that will implement and test effectiveness of novel approaches. The purpose of the current incubator is to clarify the current state in undergraduate biology education—the traditional methods still being used, new methods being attempted and their relative successes and failures, and the constraints and barriers particular to the study of biology that should be kept in mind in the development of any new tools. The results will form the basis for a larger study which will develop and test the effectiveness of new tools for assessment and feedback that encourage rather than discourage wide participation in the study of biology, thereby improving student learning and performance and producing a better prepared and more diverse STEM workforce.This project is being funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure as part of 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.