Evaluating the impact of an open-data-based lessons and course-based research experiences on student knowledge, skills, and attitudes

该项目旨在通过研究学生在教授生物学基本概念有丝分裂的新课程单元中使用开放数据和科学工具时的学习成果来服务于国家利益。先前的研究表明，基于课程的本科生研究经验（CURES）和其他形式的主动学习导致了对科学主题的更深入理解，提高了科学职业的保留率，以及学生的其他积极成果。然而，主动学习和CURE在规模上具有挑战性，后者通常需要获得实验室设施和材料，而这些设施和材料通常分布不均。为了应对这些挑战，该项目将开发基于主动学习和CURE的课程单元，使用艾伦研究所的免费在线开放数据和工具。此外，项目小组将制定一个标准化的概念清单，以衡量学生对有丝分裂的理解，利用概念清单调查这些课程对学生学习成果的影响，并最终发布教学工具和研究结果。该项目的关键创新将是：a）促进理解开放数据作为教学工具对学生态度和知识的影响，B）创建和发布经过验证的基于开放数据的课程，以及c）开发和发布经过验证的有丝分裂概念清单（CI），用于捕获学生对主题核心概念的理解的工具。如果使用开放数据进行主动学习或完整的虚拟CURE为学生带来显着的学习和态度益处，这表明开放数据可以用于教学环境，以降低进入和保留科学研究的一些社会和经济障碍，并增加获得该领域有影响力的经验。本研究的发现将为跨主题的教学提供关于开放数据对学生科学思维、参与学习、知识保留和坚持该领域的影响的信息。本项目的目标是系统地评估在课堂环境中使用开放数据和研究工具对学生理解、科学思维、信心和态度的影响，特别是在学习有丝分裂的生物过程中。该项目中使用的开放数据和工具以前由艾伦研究所的一个部门艾伦细胞科学研究所制作，包括数千个高分辨率的荧光标记的活人类细胞3D图像，以及附带的可视化和定量分析工具。这项研究将把这些开放资源的有效用例和影响扩展到教育领域。该项目将产生两个主要产品：a）两个关于有丝分裂的课程，使用开放数据进行主动学习或用于CURE，这也将在研究结束时作为开放教育资源（OER）发布，以及B）关于有丝分裂的验证CI。这些产品将被用来量化这些不同的课程对学生的科学思维能力，有丝分裂的知识（用CI测量），对自己的知识的信心，继续学习的兴趣，以及其他态度的结果的影响。本研究旨在将CURE的益处扩展到无法使用基于实验室的选项的环境中，并为有兴趣实施CURE的教育工作者提供新的工具和选项。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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by studying learning outcomes when students use open data and scientific tools in novel curriculum units that teach mitosis, a foundational concept in biology. Prior studies have indicated that course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) and other forms of active learning led to deeper understanding of scientific topics, improved retention in science careers, and other positive outcomes for students. However, active learning and CUREs are challenging to scale, and the latter usually require access to lab facilities and materials which are often inequitably distributed. To address these challenges, this project will develop active learning-based and CURE curriculum units that use free, online open data and tools from the Allen Institute. In addition, the project team will develop a standardized concept inventory for measuring student understanding of mitosis, investigate the impacts of those curricula on student learning outcomes using the concept inventory, and ultimately release both the teaching tools as well as the research results. The key innovations of this project will be a) to advance understanding of the impacts of open data as a teaching tool on student attitudes and knowledge, b) to create and release validated open-data-based lessons, and c) to develop and release a validated concept inventory (CI) on mitosis, a tool used to capture student understanding of core concepts on a topic. If use of open data for active learning or a full virtual CURE generates significant learning and attitude benefits for students, this indicates that open data may be used in teaching settings to lower some of the social and economic barriers to entry and retention in scientific research and increase access to impactful experiences in the field. The findings from this study would inform teaching across topics on the impact of open data on student scientific thinking, engagement with learning, retention of knowledge, and persistence in the field.The goal of this project is to systematically evaluate the impact of using open data and research tools in a classroom setting on student understanding, scientific thinking, confidence, and attitudes, specifically in the context of learning the biological process of mitosis. The open data and tools used in this project have been previously produced by the Allen Institute for Cell Science, a division of the Allen Institute, and include thousands of high-resolution, fluorescently-tagged 3D images of live human cells with accompanying visualization and quantitative analysis tools. This study would extend the validated use cases and impact of these open resources into the world of education. This project will produce two primary products: a) two curricula on mitosis using open data for active learning or for a CURE, which will also be released as open educational resources (OERs) at the end of the study, and b) a validated CI on mitosis. These products will be used to quantify the impact of these variant curricula on students’ scientific thinking skills, knowledge of mitosis (measured with the CI), confidence in their own knowledge, interest in continuing study, and other attitudinal outcomes. This study aims to extend the benefits of CUREs to settings where a laboratory-based option is not available, and to provide new tools and options to educators interested in implementing CUREs. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its 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.