Biology through art: an innovative, interdisciplinary approach to teaching biology

该项目旨在通过将艺术表现纳入生物学课程来改善生物学教育，从而为国家利益服务。 这种方法建立在生物学艺术增强教学的认知和学术优势的基础上，以提高学生的概念理解和课程参与度。 该项目的基本原理植根于两个国家趋势。 首先，该项目是对国家咨询机构最近呼吁将生物学和科学教育与艺术和人文学科相结合以及强调大学毕业生作为社会中具有科学素养的一员的呼吁的回应。 其次，这个项目服务于一个默默增长的本科生群体：非传统的学生（即，通常是“工作的成年人”）。 为了让不同的学生参与不同的学习偏好，这个项目强调生物学概念的具体，直接表达，并鼓励从不同的角度思考概念。 通过为学生提供机会，以个人的，创造性的方式解释和表达课程材料，这个项目丰富了生物课程的学习经验。 该项目有两个主要目标：1）增加概念理解和2）增加艺术增强生物学课程的课程参与。 为了实现这些目标，该项目将在三年内在36门高级课程中实施三种治疗方法：绘画，写作，控制。 这些治疗方法能够检测由于包含艺术品本身（绘画），或者更一般地说，由于包含替代创造性活动（写作）而带来的学术益处。 评估前和评估后的任务将量化每种治疗的有效性。 主要参与机构服务于不同的人群，包括非传统学生，西班牙裔/拉丁裔学生，现役和退伍军人以及来自农村地区的学生。 该项目包括通过学生艺术品的公开展览进行社区宣传。 形成性项目评估将检查评估数据收集的过程，总结性评估将检查学生概念理解和课程参与的实施结果。 NSF IUSE：EDU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 improving education in biology through the inclusion of artistic expression in biology courses. This approach builds on the demonstrated cognitive and academic benefits of art-enhanced instruction in biology to increase concept comprehension and course engagement by students. This project’s rationale is rooted in two national trends. First, the project is a response to recent calls from national advisory bodies for the integration of education in biology and the sciences with the arts and humanities, as well as emphasis on the college graduate as a scientifically literate member of society. Second, this project serves a silently growing undergraduate population: the non-traditional student (i.e., typically a “working adult”). To engage diverse students with diverse learning preferences, this project emphasizes concrete, immediate expression of concepts in biology, and encourages thinking about concepts from diverse perspectives. By providing opportunities for students to interpret and express course material in personal, creative ways, this project enriches the learning experience in biology courses. This project has two main goals: 1) increase concept comprehension and 2) increase course engagement in art-enhanced biology courses. To achieve these goals, the project will implement three treatments in 36 upper division courses over three years: Drawing, Writing, Control. These treatments enable the detection of academic benefits due to the inclusion of artwork per se (Drawing), or, more generally, due to the inclusion of an alternative creative activity (Writing). Pre- and post-assessment assignments will quantify the effectiveness of each treatment. Primary participating institutions serve diverse populations including non-traditional students, Hispanic/Latino students, active and veteran military members, and students from rural regions. This project includes community outreach through public exhibitions of student artwork. Formative project evaluation will examine the processes through which assessment data are collected, and summative evaluation will examine the outcomes of implementation on student concept comprehension and course engagement. The NSF IUSE: EDU 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.