Evolving the culture of biology: Promoting graduate teaching assistant professional development to foster inclusion, efficacy, and evidence-based practices

本项目旨在通过在生物学中实施循证教学实践服务于国家利益。基于改善本科生物学教育现状的持续需求，研究团队计划为管理人员、STEM教师和工作人员开发培训。生物学文化的发展（ECB）学者们将依次在各自的机构培训研究生和本科生助教。这项工作的目的是通过参与教师专业发展（助教-教学专业发展，TA-TPD），促进研究生助教和本科生学习助理适应和实施有意的、包容的、基于证据的教学实践。计划举办六个区域ECB研讨会，这将扩展该团队先前通过NSF本科教育研究协调网络倡议支持的工作。以教师为中心的系统改革（TCSR）模式指导了这一努力。研究和评价活动将调查讲习班的效力以及项目活动和因素与项目预期成果之间的关系。有三个相互关联的目标：(1)发展区域研讨会，主办来自至少十个独特机构的欧洲央行学者研讨会，在四年内与大量机构建立联系，同时减少旅行费用；(2)让每位欧洲央行学者参与一个基于情境的反思过程，以发展或加强其所在机构现有的助教教学专业发展（TA-TPD）活动。(3)以形成性、总结性和知识生成为目的，采用混合方法研究设计，评估工作坊和TA-TPD的有效性。基于以教师为中心的系统改革模型，在评估的同时，研究团队计划开展一项混合方法的研究工作，该研究工作以以下研究问题为指导：欧洲央行计划对欧洲央行学者及其机构的影响是什么？参与教学专业发展活动的助教有何成果？将通过前后调查、焦点小组和文件分析收集丰富的数据，使用定量描述方法和定性衍生框架，这些框架以经验数据和以教师为中心的系统改革模型（背景因素、个人因素、教师思维和信念以及教学实践）为基础。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。通过机构和社区转型轨道，该计划支持高等教育机构和学科社区的STEM教育转型和改善。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 project aims to serve the national interest by implementing evidence-based teaching practices in biology. Based on the ongoing need to improve the state of undergraduate biology education, the research team plans to develop training for administrators, STEM faculty, and staff. The Evolving the Culture in Biology (ECB) Scholars will, in turn, train graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants at their institutions. The effort will be designed to foster the adaptation and implementation of intentional, inclusive, evidence-based teaching practices by graduate teaching assistants and undergraduate learning assistants through participation in teacher professional development (Teaching Assistant – Teaching Professional Development, TA-TPD). A set of six regional ECB Workshops are planned, which will extend the team’s prior work that was supported through the NSF Research Coordination Networks for Undergraduate Education initiative. The Teacher-Centered Systemic Reform (TCSR) model guides the effort. The research and evaluation activities will investigate the effectiveness of the workshops and the association of project activities and factors with the expected outcomes of the project.There are three interconnected objectives: (1) Develop regional workshops that will host workshop ECB Scholars from at least ten unique institutions, reaching a vast number of institutions over the four years, while reducing expenses for travel; (2) Engage each ECB Scholar to participate in a contextually rooted reflective process to develop or enhance existing the Teaching Assistants Teaching Professional Development (TA-TPD) activities at their institutions. (3) Evaluate the efficacy of workshops and TA-TPD using a mixed methods research design for formative and summative purposes and the generation of knowledge. Based on the Teacher-Centered Systemic Reform model and in parallel with the evaluation, the research team plans to conduct a mixed methods research effort that is guided by the following research question: What are the impacts of the ECB program on ECB Scholars and their institutions? What are the outcomes for Teaching Assistants who participation in Teaching Professional Development activities? A rich set of data will be collected through pre-post surveys, focus groups, and document analysis using quantitative descriptive approaches and qualitatively-derived frameworks that are grounded in the empirical data and the Teacher-Centered Systemic Reform model (contextual factors, personal factors, teacher thinking and beliefs, and instructional practices). The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities.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.