Collaborative Research: Exploring Connections Between Instructional Practice and Student Learning in Inorganic Chemistry Learning Environments

理解教学、课程环境和学生学习之间的复杂关系对于科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）教育的改进至关重要。本项目旨在通过研究无机化学教学的几个方面与大学生学习分子水平对称之间的联系，为国家利益服务。分子水平对称是理解三维结构如何影响物质性质的关键概念。目前，对于教师如何教授对称知识，以及学生如何利用他们对对称的理解来解决问题，人们知之甚少。该项目计划收集和分析全国无机化学课程的数据，以描述教学实践、课程环境及其与学生学习的联系。这项工作的结果将用于为无机化学教师开发基于证据的专业发展材料，以加强学生对分子水平对称的学习。该项目将由北卡罗来纳大学格林斯博罗分校和威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的一个合作研究小组进行。项目团队将采用教师专业知识共识模型，该模型将教与学之间的关系置于多种因素的框架中，如教师和学生的信念、行为和知识。教师和学生研究参与者将从全国不同类型机构的26门无机化学课程中招募。需要解决的研究问题包括：(1)无机化学教师的教学信念如何影响他们在对称教学中的课堂实践？(2)教学对称的课堂实践是如何从个人教学内容知识（PCK）、PCK技能和课堂环境的相互引导中产生的？(3)如何将学生在对称方面的成绩与课堂实践联系起来？(4)学生放大器和过滤器如何解释学生在不同课堂实践中的不同结果？(5)什么构成了对称教学的主题专业知识？为了解决这些研究问题，项目团队计划使用聚合混合方法进行多个嵌入式案例研究。各种定量和定性数据流将为每个案例提供信息。数据来源将包括对教师和学生的访谈、对称教学的视频观察、课程人工制品以及学生的学习和技能评估。在构建每个案例的过程中，项目团队将采用归纳和演绎编码相结合的方法，先对定性数据进行分析，然后再与定量数据进行整合。一个专家咨询小组将监督项目的成功，并在具体的决策点提供重要的反馈。该项目的成果将通过研讨会、会议报告和期刊出版物向研究人员和教育工作者传播。该项目有望促进我们对对称的学习和教学的理解，以及各种教与学的关系。因此，这些发现将有可能改善本科化学教育，并将引起来自各种STEM学科的教育研究人员的兴趣。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。通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。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。

Understanding the complex relationships among teaching, course environments, and student learning is important to inform improvements in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. This project aims to serve the national interest by studying the connections between several aspects of inorganic chemistry instruction and college students’ learning about molecular-level symmetry, a concept that is essential for understanding how three-dimensional structures influence the properties of substances. Currently, little is known about how instructors teach about symmetry or how students use their understanding of it to solve problems. This project plans to collect and analyze data from inorganic chemistry courses around the country to characterize teaching practices, course environments, and their connections to student learning. The results of this work will be used to develop evidence-based professional development materials for inorganic chemistry instructors to enhance student learning about molecular-level symmetry.The project will be conducted by a collaborative research team from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The project team will employ the Consensus Model of Teacher Professional Knowledge, which positions the relationship between instruction and learning within a framework of multiple factors, such as instructor and student beliefs, behaviors, and knowledge. Faculty and student research participants will be recruited from twenty-six inorganic chemistry courses from a variety of institution types across the nation. The research questions to be addressed include: (1) How do the teaching beliefs of inorganic chemistry instructors impact their classroom practices when teaching symmetry? (2) How do classroom practices for teaching symmetry emerge from the mutual bootstrapping of personal pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), PCK & skill, and classroom context? (3) How can student outcomes for symmetry be traced to classroom practices? (4) How can student amplifiers and filters explain different student outcomes across different sets of classroom practices? and (5) What constitutes topic-specific professional knowledge for teaching symmetry? To address these research questions, the project team plans to conduct multiple embedded case studies using convergent mixed methods. A variety of quantitative and qualitative data streams will inform each case. Data sources will include interviews with faculty members and students, video observations of symmetry instruction, course artifacts, and student learning and skills assessments. In constructing each case, the project team will use a combination of inductive and deductive coding methods to analyze qualitative data prior to integrating with quantitative data. An expert advisory panel will monitor the success of the project and provide important feedback at specific decision-making points. The results of this project will be disseminated to researchers and educators via workshops, conference presentations, and journal publications. The project is expected to advance our understanding of the learning and teaching of symmetry, as well as various instruction-learning relationships. Thus, the findings will have potential to improve undergraduate chemistry education and will be of interest to education researchers from a variety of STEM disciplines. 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.