Developing Computational Efficacy and Skill Within an Inclusive Community of Practice in the Natural Sciences

该项目旨在通过在实践社区(COP)中培养生物和化学专业学生的计算思维(CT)技能和计算自我效能来服务于国家利益。对生物和化学学科的学生进行的计算培训通常不足以使学生为各自学科的各种项目和应用程序开发计算工具。为了提高学生的计算知识和技能，该项目计划在生物和化学专业的课程中加入四种计算干预措施。这些干预措施包括两个研讨会、一个编码讲习班和结对编程项目。该项目旨在调查这四种计算干预措施对学生的CT技能、计算自我效能感、职业兴趣和结果的影响。该项目的目标参与者是一年级和二年级的本科生，他们通常没有为生物、化学和其他STEM专业做好准备。拟议的项目还将产生一种新的、简化的CT评估工具，可以广泛部署到更大规模的研究中。该项目包括一个由三个州的两个主办机构和四个卫星机构组成的联盟。跨越联盟的COP将包括从事互惠交流、指导、教学和学习的新手到经验丰富的实践者。项目人员的目标是确定在学生的CT技能和计算自我效能方面做出最大贡献的核心干预措施和关键组成部分，并确定在每个环境中激励参与的因素。项目团队希望找到方法，在联盟内的多种类型的机构中有效地扩大和调整项目。该项目旨在促进目前关于生物和化学专业教育和计算技能发展的最佳做法的知识基础。项目成果将分发给各种同行评议的教育期刊、区域和国家会议。研讨会材料和讲师资源将在项目网站上提供，这将促进更多联盟合作伙伴的入职。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 by building students’ computational thinking (CT) skills and computing self-efficacy in biology and chemistry majors in a community of practice (CoP). The computational training for students in biology and chemistry disciplines is typically insufficient in preparing students to develop computing tools for various projects and applications in their own disciplines. In order to improve students’ computing knowledge and skills, this project plans to incorporate four computational interventions in the curricula of biology and chemistry majors. The interventions include two seminars, a coding workshop, and pair programming projects. The project intends to investigate the effect of these four computational interventions on students’ CT skills, computing self-efficacy, career interests, and outcomes. The target participants in this project are first- and second-year undergraduate students who are typically unprepared for biology, chemistry and other STEM majors. The proposed project will also produce a novel, streamlined CT assessment instrument that can be widely deployed for larger-scale research.The project includes an alliance consisting of two host and four satellite institutions across three states. The CoP spanning the alliance will include novice to experienced practitioners engaging in reciprocal communication, mentorship, teaching, and learning. Project personnel aim to determine the core interventions and key components contributing to the greatest gains in students’ CT skills and computing self-efficacy and to identify factors that motivate participation within each setting. The project team hopes to identify ways to effectively scale and adapt the projects across multiple types of institutions within the alliance. The project intends to advance the current knowledge base about best practices in education and development of computational skills for biology and chemistry majors. The project results will be disseminated to various peer-reviewed education journals, regional and national conferences. The workshop materials and instructor resources will be available on the project website, which will facilitate onboarding for additional Alliance partners. 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.