Supporting Conceptual Learning and Disciplinary Thinking in Chemistry through Peer Review and Revision

通过同行评审和修订支持化学中的概念学习和学科思维

• 批准号: 2121123
• 负责人: Ginger Shultz
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-10-01 至 2024-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2121123&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Supporting; Conceptual; Learning; Disciplinary; Thinking

This project aims to serve the national interest by amplifying the role of peer review and revision in supporting student learning of chemistry content via writing. Writing-to-Learn, including peer review and revision, provides learning opportunities that are distinct from traditional undergraduate science instruction. However, it is challenging for instructors to provide meaningful feedback on writing, particularly in large courses. Thus, incorporating peer review and teaching students to use peer feedback to revise makes writing more feasible while also providing additional learning opportunities for students. This project serves the national interest by improving chemistry education at the undergraduate level. The project also has potential to improve understanding of an evidence-based instructional practice and how it can be used to develop better chemists and a more scientifically literate public. This project will examine students’ peer reviews and revisions in response to writing assignments in three undergraduate chemistry courses. In addition, the project team will interview students to understand their perceptions of and approaches to peer review and revision. Informed by the analysis of student writing and interviews, interventions that enhance peer review and revision will be developed and evaluated. Outcomes from this project will include a better understanding of how students engage in peer review and revision in chemistry courses and materials designed to support their more effective use. This project will investigate the use of peer review and revision to amplify Writing-to-Learn assignments supporting conceptual learning and disciplinary thinking in chemistry. The project design is guided by theories of learning and writing, including Distributed Cognition and the Sociocultural Theory of Writing. Distributed Cognition describes how learners can construct knowledge supported by social interactions and external representations. The Sociocultural Theory of Writing considers how social and cultural contexts inform the process of writing and how the act of writing can lead to knowledge development. The specific objectives of this project are to (1) identify the characteristics of peer review comments and revisions that effectively support conceptual learning and the development of disciplinary thinking; (2) characterize students’ perceptions of and approaches to peer review and revision; and (3) assess how interventions that engage students in reflective processes support learning through peer review and revision. To accomplish the first objective, the project team will qualitatively analyze students’ peer review comments and revisions in response to Writing-to-Learn assignments implemented in organic chemistry, biochemistry, and physical chemistry courses. The project team will address the second objective via student interviews, and feedback surveys focused on how students approach providing feedback and using their peers’ feedback when revising their own writing. Findings from the first two objectives will inform the development of two interventions, back-reviews and revision reflections, that will be implemented in the three chemistry courses. The utility of the interventions will be examined by artifact analysis of the back-reviews, written reflections, and peer review comments and revisions. Project findings will be disseminated widely to chemistry educators and STEM education researchers by publishing findings and intervention materials in journals, presenting at conferences, and by conducting instructor workshops and webinars. While the research for the grant will be situated within a chemistry context, the findings will have implications more broadly for disseminating Writing to Learn as an evidence-based instructional practice in STEM. The NSF IUSE: EHR program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.

该项目旨在通过扩大同行评审和修订在支持学生通过写作学习化学内容中的作用来服务于国家利益。学习，包括同行评审和修订，提供了学习的机会，是从传统的本科科学教学不同。然而，教师提供有意义的写作反馈是具有挑战性的，特别是在大型课程中。因此，结合同侪互评和教学生使用同侪反馈来修改，使写作更可行，同时也为学生提供了额外的学习机会。该项目通过改善本科阶段的化学教育为国家利益服务。该项目也有可能提高对循证教学实践的理解，以及如何利用它来培养更好的化学家和更有科学素养的公众。本计画将检视学生对三门本科化学课程的写作作业所作的同侪评论与修改。此外，项目团队将与学生进行访谈，以了解他们对同行评审和修订的看法和方法。通过对学生写作和访谈的分析，将制定和评估加强同行评议和修订的干预措施。该项目的成果将包括更好地了解学生如何参与化学课程和材料的同行评审和修订，以支持他们更有效地使用。这个项目将调查使用同行评审和修订，以扩大从学习到学习的任务，支持概念学习和学科思维的化学。项目设计以学习和写作理论为指导，包括分布式认知和写作的社会文化理论。分布式认知描述了学习者如何在社会互动和外部表征的支持下构建知识。写作的社会文化理论考虑社会和文化背景如何告知写作过程，以及写作行为如何导致知识发展。本项目的具体目标是：（1）确定有效支持概念学习和学科思维发展的同行评审评论和修订的特征;（2）描述学生对同行评审和修订的看法和方法;（3）评估让学生参与反思过程的干预措施如何通过同行评审和修订支持学习。为了实现第一个目标，项目团队将定性分析学生的同行评审意见和修改，以响应在有机化学，生物化学和物理化学课程中实施的“从学习到学习”作业。项目团队将通过学生访谈和反馈调查来解决第二个目标，反馈调查的重点是学生如何在修改自己的写作时提供反馈和使用同伴的反馈。从前两个目标的调查结果将告知两个干预措施，回顾和修改的反思，这将在三个化学课程实施的发展。干预措施的效用将通过对后评、书面反思和同行评议意见和修订的人工分析进行检查。项目研究结果将通过在期刊上发表研究结果和干预材料，在会议上发表，以及通过举办教师研讨会和网络研讨会，向化学教育工作者和STEM教育研究人员广泛传播。虽然赠款的研究将位于化学背景下，但研究结果将更广泛地传播写作学习作为STEM中以证据为基础的教学实践。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。该奖项反映了NSF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。