My PhD: Incorporating Student-Centered Assessments into the core of PhD Training

STEM（科学，技术工程和数学）课程的博士培训通常包括课程工作，资格考试和论文研究。每个组成部分主要侧重于学科特定的概念和技能，研究经常与顾问的补助金。 这可能是理想的学生寻求终身教职或独立的研究职位。然而，博士毕业生的机会和兴趣越来越广泛。 认识到职业成果的日益多样化，需要将职业探索和专业发展纳入博士培训。为了实现这一目标，这个国家科学基金会研究生教育创新（IGE）奖给北卡罗来纳州大学将开发一个模型，以最大限度地提高以学生为中心的博士培训与个性化的能力，名为“MyPhD”，它可以通过任何STEM研究生课程。MyPhD预计将无缝整合个性化，可翻译的技能发展（例如，领导、沟通、管理）与传统上要求的学科特定能力（例如，科学知识、技术技能、数据解释）。 虽然一些博士课程为学生提供了发展专业技能的机会，但它们往往是自愿的和课外的，由于潜规则，文化和期望的隐藏课程，特别是对于第一代学生或历史上被排斥的群体，可能会导致不公平。此外，专业技能没有正式评估的主要机制，以监测进展，在博士培训计划，如资格考试，委员会会议，和论文/论文答辩。 因此，这些学术博士里程碑的传统设计似乎已经过时，缺乏灵活性来解决学生的职业目标，并且缺乏基于证据的支持。 为了改变博士培训，MyPhD将制定以证据为基础的指导方针，促进在学生的博士培训中发展个性化的以学生为中心的能力和评估，这些能力和评估可以定制以更好地匹配职业兴趣。 这种方法预计将增加博士课程的保留率，加速学生在毕业后职业生涯中的进步，减少培训中的不平等，改善项目环境，并提高学生的福祉。以下目标，最初侧重于生物医学博士课程，将有助于该项目实现其目标：1）评估当前的评估方法，以确定学生的进展，重点是资格考试和论文/论文委员会的做法及其与程序定义的能力的关系; 2）制定和实施以学生为中心和以能力为基础的资格考试方法，并直接将该方法与多个课程中的现行做法进行比较; 3）开发和实施以学生为中心和以能力为基础的方法，由论文委员会对学生进行评估，并直接将该方法与多个项目中的现行做法进行比较; 4）通过直接比较学生的成果以及学生和教师对使用现行做法进行培训的看法来评估拟议的转型。研究生教育创新（IGE）计划的重点是研究生教育的研究。IGE的目标是试验、测试和验证研究生教育的创新方法，并产生将这些方法推广到更广泛的社区所需的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

PhD training in STEM (Science, Technology Engineering, and Mathematics) programs generally includes course work, qualifying exams, and dissertation research. Each component focuses primarily on discipline-specific concepts and skills with research frequently related to an advisor’s grant. This may be ideal for students seeking tenure track faculty or independent research positions. However, the opportunities and interests of PhD graduates are increasingly broad. Recognizing the growing diversity of career outcomes warrants the need to incorporate career exploration and professional development into PhD training. Towards this goal, this National Science Foundation Innovations of Graduate Education (IGE) award to the University of North Carolina will develop a model to maximize student-centered PhD training with individualized competencies, entitled “MyPhD”, which can be adopted by any STEM graduate program. MyPhD is expected to seamlessly integrate individualized, translatable skill development (e.g., leadership, communication, management) with traditionally required discipline specific competencies (e.g., scientific knowledge, technical skills, data interpretation). Although some PhD programs provide opportunities for students to develop professional skills, they tend to be voluntary and extra-curricular leading to potential inequity due to the hidden curriculum of unspoken academic rules, culture, and expectations, particularly for first generation students or those from historically excluded groups. Moreover, professional skills are not formally assessed in the primary mechanisms for monitoring progress in PhD training programs such as qualifying exams, committee meetings, and the thesis/dissertation defense. As such, the traditional designs of these academic doctoral milestones seem antiquated, lack flexibility to address student career goals, and lack evidence-based support. To transform PhD training, MyPhD will develop evidence-based guidelines that facilitate the development of individualized student-centered competencies and assessments throughout a student’s doctoral training that can be customized to better match career interests. This approach is anticipated to increase retention in PhD programs, accelerate student advancement in careers post-graduation, decrease inequity in training, enhance program environments, and increase student wellbeing. The following objectives, with an initial focus on biomedical PhD programs, will help the project to achieve its goals: 1) evaluate current assessment methods for determining student progression with a focus on qualifying exams and thesis/dissertation committee practices and their relationship to program-defined competencies; 2) develop and implement student-centered and competency-based approaches to qualifying exams and directly compare the approach to current practices within multiple programs; 3) develop and implement student-centered and competency-based approaches to student evaluation by dissertation committees and directly compare the approach to current practices within multiple programs; 4) evaluate the proposed transformation by directly comparing student outcomes and student and faculty perceptions of training using current practices to the proposed MyPhD approach. The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program is focused on research in graduate education. The goals of IGE are to pilot, test and validate innovative approaches to graduate education and to generate the knowledge required to move these approaches into the broader community.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.