Enhancing STEM Student Learning through Faculty Development: Workshops for New Physics and Astronomy Faculty

研讨会的目标是：1.让大部分物理学和天文学教师在获得终身教职之前获得终身教职；2.帮助学员了解物理学和天文学教育学的最新发展以及对教育学变化的评估；3.与学员合作，将研讨会的想法和材料整合到他们的课堂中，以对学生的学习、他们的部门和他们自己的专业发展产生积极影响。智力优势：直接从研究生院或博士后职位进入教授职位的物理和天文学教师通常没有从事物理和天文教育研究(PER和AER)已证明有效的教学类型的经验。新物理和天文学系讲习班，由国家物理教育领域的领导人举办的全体会议和小组讨论相结合，向参与者介绍研究发现在积极吸引学生参与学习方面有效的教学方法。这些教学方法中的大多数都是在国家科学基金会的资助下开发的，研讨会提供了一个重要手段，将这些有效的教学战略传播给一大部分新的终身教职--物理和天文学教师。此外，该讲习班还向新的物理和天文学教师介绍教学的学术知识以及在一般专业发展的框架内评估和评价学生学习的方法。更广泛的影响：这个为期五年的项目预计将在大约60%的物理和天文学系招聘大约600名新的物理和天文学教员，占所有新教员的40%-50%。2006-2007年对该项目进行的外部评估表明，新学院讲习班对讲习班参与者的学生、学生的学习及其所在部门产生了积极影响。该项目最初几年的一些讲习班参与者曾担任其部门的主席，他们在新学院讲习班的经验对其部门教授的课程产生了积极影响，并改变了部门对什么是有效教学的看法。此外，新物理和天文学学院的研讨会被其他科学学会用作开发类似计划的典范。所有这些活动结合在一起，可以在加强本科STEM教育方面发挥变革性的作用。

The goals of the workshop are to: 1. Reach a large fraction of the physics and astronomy faculty in tenure-track positions prior to their receiving tenure; 2. Help participants develop knowledge about recent developments in physics and astronomy pedagogy and the assessment of changes in pedagogy; and 3. Work with participants to integrate workshop ideas and materials into their classrooms in a way that has a positive impact on their students' learning, their departments and their own professional development. Intellectual Merit: Physics and astronomy faculty who enter the professorate directly from graduate school or from a postdoctoral position typically have not had experience with the type of teaching that physics and astronomy education research (PER and AER) has shown to be effective. The New Physics and Astronomy Faculty Workshops, with a combination of plenary sessions and small breakout groups run by national leaders in physics education, introduce participants to pedagogical methods that research has found to be effective in actively engaging students in learning. Most of these pedagogical methods have been developed with NSF funding, and the workshop provides an important means of disseminating these effective teaching strategies to a large fraction of new tenure-track physics and astronomy faculty. Further, the workshop introduces new physics and astronomy faculty to the scholarship of teaching and to methods of assessing and evaluating student learning within a framework of general professional development. Broader Impacts: The five-year project expects to engage approximately 600 new physics and astronomy faculty members, or 40-50% of all new faculty, in about 60% of physics and astronomy departments. External evaluation of the project carried out in 2006-2007 shows that the New Faculty Workshop has had a positive impact on the workshop participants' students, the students' learning, and their departments. A number of the workshop participants from the early years of the project have served as chairs of their departments, and their experience with the New Faculty Workshop has positively influenced the courses taught in their departments and changed departmental views on what constitutes effective teaching. In addition, the New Physics and Astronomy Faculty Workshops are being used as models for developing similar programs by other scientific societies. All of these activities taken collectively can play a transformative role in enhancing undergraduate STEM education.