Building a Sustainable Community College CURE Program

建立可持续发展的社区大学 CURE 计划

• 批准号: 2211697
• 负责人: Melanie Harvey
• 金额: $ 55.59万
• 依托单位: Johnson County Community College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-10-15 至 2026-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2211697&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Building; Sustainable; Community; College; CURE

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). This project will serve the national interest by developing course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) for students attending Johnson County Community College (JCCC) through a faculty-team approach aimed at creating a culture of research at a two-year college. CUREs provide opportunities for students to participate in scientific research and the dissemination of results that have the potential to be of interest to a broad community of scientists, researchers, and ultimately the public. The project team will develop and support CUREs for students across STEM disciplines including astronomy, cell and microbiology, chemistry, environmental science, geology, horticulture, human biology, organismal biology, and physics). A developmental approach to enhance students’ deeper knowledge of research will guide the creation and enhancement of CUREs that are aligned with the sequence of courses offered in the programs of study in science. The project will leverage and investigate the power of faculty professional development, faculty learning communities, and an institutional change framework to engage faculty in the ever-changing priorities of community colleges in their mission to educate and train the nation’s future scientists and technicians. At JCCC, CUREs will become components of the regular requirements for the programs of study in the sciences. Building on current work in professional development, the CUREs will also become the cornerstone of a faculty-team approach to institutional change and to sustaining CUREs at JCCC. This project will address common barriers to the implementation of CUREs at community colleges as the CUREs are designed by creating an institutional culture that combines teaching and learning with research and a robust program assessment of expected outcomes at the institution. Faculty teams will develop, pilot, and revise curriculum to ensure that current and future faculty have resources and support to tackle potential barriers. Based on an institutional change framework, the project team will investigate the implementation of CUREs and create a model for sustaining CUREs at community colleges. The framework focuses and builds on (a) creating institutional accountability, (b) creating strategic partnerships, and (c) expanding CUREs by leveraging the curriculum. In addition, the effort draws on current work by an established faculty learning community that is fostering STEM discipline-based education research at the community college level. A mixed methods evaluation study supported by a targeted investigation of CUREs will generate knowledge about critical factors associated with successful CUREs and a shift in the culture of teaching and learning. To disseminate the approach and resources, the project team will host two workshops and a conference for faculty at the institution and science faculty who are teaching at colleges in the Midwest. Speakers with expertise in CUREs, faculty, and community college administrators will present and discuss CUREs, focusing on opportunities and challenges associated with implementing them at community colleges. The NSF program description on Advancing Innovation and Impact in Undergraduate STEM Education at Two-year Institutions of Higher Education supports projects that advance STEM education initiatives at two-year colleges. The project description promotes innovative and evidence-based practices in undergraduate STEM education at two-year colleges.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.

该奖项的全部或部分资金根据《2021 年美国救援计划法案》（公法 117-2）提供。该项目将通过教师团队的方法，为就读约翰逊县社区学院 (JCCC) 的学生开发基于课程的本科生研究经验 (CURE)，从而服务于国家利益，旨在在两年制学院营造研究文化。 CURE 为学生提供了参与科学研究和传播成果的机会，这些成果可能引起广大科学家、研究人员以及最终公众的兴趣。该项目团队将为 STEM 学科的学生开发和支持 CURE，包括天文学、细胞和微生物学、化学、环境科学、地质学、园艺、人类生物学、有机生物学和物理学。提高学生更深入研究知识的发展方法将指导 CURE 的创建和增强，这些 CURE 与科学学习项目中提供的课程顺序相一致。该项目将利用和调查教师专业发展、教师学习社区和制度变革框架的力量，让教师参与社区学院不断变化的优先事项，以完成教育和培训国家未来科学家和技术人员的使命。在 JCCC，CURE 将成为科学研究项目常规要求的组成部分。在当前专业发展工作的基础上，CURE 还将成为 JCCC 教师团队方法变革和维持 CURE 的基石。该项目将解决社区大学实施 CURE 的常见障碍，因为 CURE 是通过创建一种将教学与研究相结合的机构文化以及对机构预期成果的强有力的项目评估来设计的。教师团队将开发、试点和修订课程，以确保当前和未来的教师拥有资源和支持来应对潜在的障碍。基于制度变革框架，项目团队将调查 CURE 的实施情况，并创建一个在社区大学维持 CURE 的模型。该框架的重点是（a）建立机构问责制，（b）建立战略伙伴关系，以及（c）通过利用课程扩大 CURE。此外，这一努力还借鉴了现有教师学习社区当前的工作，该社区正在社区大学层面促进基于 STEM 学科的教育研究。由 CURE 有针对性的调查支持的混合方法评估研究将产生与成功 CURE 相关的关键因素以及教学文化转变的知识。为了传播该方法和资源，项目团队将为该机构的教师和在中西部大学任教的科学教师举办两次研讨会和一次会议。具有 CURE 专业知识的演讲者、教师和社区大学管理人员将介绍和讨论 CURE，重点关注与在社区大学实施 CURE 相关的机遇和挑战。 NSF 关于“推进两年制高等教育机构本科 STEM 教育的创新和影响力”的项目描述支持推进两年制学院 STEM 教育计划的项目。 该项目描述促进两年制大学本科 STEM 教育的创新和循证实践。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。