Collaborative Research--Visually Exploring US Demographic Change: Creating Exemplary Curricula and Developing Faculty Expertise

社会科学-其他（89）智力优点。这个项目结合了web应用程序“社会资源管理器”，它使定量的社会模式和人口变化的可视化易于访问，以及基于研究的教学支持，用于在本科社会科学课程中使用这个工具。该项目正在探索使用“社会探索者”在教学和学习关键社会科学概念和数据分析技能方面的潜在影响，例如了解人口分布和人口变化，通过创建几个课程模块，这些模块包含了使用“社会探索者”进行教学的经过验证的教学方法，以及相关文档，以帮助其他人将这些模块适应自己的教学环境。这些模块被放置在一个在线档案中，该档案将成为教师用户创建的其他模块的收集点和传播源。本档案的设计基于当前关于有效教与学的认知理论。它促进学生的主动学习，为每个模块打下领域知识的基础，为支持学习建模评估，并促进对教师自身环境的灵活适应。“Social Explorer”以易于理解的格式提供人口统计信息：交互式专题数据地图（在更大的上下文中呈现某个区域的数据的报告），以及跨地理（国家、州、县、人口普查区）和跨时间可视化复杂数据模式的简单工具。从1790年到现在，美国各县的大量数据以及从1910年到现在的人口普查区的每十年的数据都可以获得。更广泛的影响：该项目正在扩大“社会探索者”的公众使用，使许多社会科学学科的学者能够利用这一资源进行自己的教学。以下一系列活动共同加强了这个项目的影响：使用“社会资源管理器”创建有效课程的在线档案。最终，这些课程将由社会科学教授的设计团队创建，并使用丰富的支持材料进行注释，以促进适应，包括资源链接和学生作业样本。2. 使用“Social Explorer”为本科课程教师建立在线协作和讨论空间。3. 对“社交浏览器”的工具和文档进行改进，以支持教学用途。教学支持和课程的设计是基于当前关于改善本科教育、评估驱动型教学和学习认知模型的研究。

Social Sciences - Other (89) Intellectual Merit. This project combines the web application "Social Explorer," which makes visualization of quantitative social patterns and demographic change easily accessible, with research-based instructional support for using this tool in teaching undergraduate social science classes. The project is exploring the potential impact of this use of "Social Explorer" in teaching and learning key social science concepts and data analysis skills, such as understanding population distributions and demographic change, through the creation of several curriculum modules that embody proven instructional approaches for teaching with "Social Explorer" as well as associated documentation to help others adapt these modules to their own teaching context. The modules are being placed in an on-line archive that is slated to become a collection point and dissemination source for other modules created by faculty users. The design of this archive is based on current cognitive theory on effective teaching and learning. It is promoting active learning for students, grounding each module in domain knowledge, modeling assessment in support of learning, and facilitating flexible adaptation to an instructor's own context. "Social Explorer" provides demographic information in an easily understood format: interactive thematic data maps (reports that present data for an area in a larger context), and simple tools to visualize complex data patterns across geographies (nation, state, county, census tract) and across time. Extensive data are being made available for US counties from 1790 to the present, and for census tracts for each decade from 1910 to the present.Broader Impacts: This project is expanding the public use of "Social Explorer" so that scholars from many social science disciplines are able to make use of this resource for their own teaching. Together the following set of activities are enhancing the impact of this project:1. Creating an online archive of effective lessons using "Social Explorer." Ultimately these lessons will be created by design teams of social science professors, and annotated with rich support materials to facilitate adaptation, including links to resources and samples of student work. 2. Establishing an online collaboration and discussion space for undergraduate course instructors using "Social Explorer." 3. Implementing improvements to "Social Explorer's" tools and documentation to support instructional uses.The design of instructional support and curriculum is being modeled on current research on improving undergraduate education, assessment-driven instruction, and cognitive models of learning.