Research and Evaluation of Scientific Literacy for Pre and Early Freshmen STEM Majors

该项目提出了科学素养的定义：理解科学研究和知识的性质和发展;了解STEM的跨学科性质;具备评估科学证据和解释的能力;有能力有效参与科学讨论;表现出定量素养/推理、科学推理和批判性思维的能力;拥有STEM职业机会的相关知识;拥有科学家身份和STEM自我效能感，以及其他在STEM成功的相关态度和行为;最后，参与团队学习和发现的能力。要评估学生的批判性科学思维和理解能力，例如学生有效参与科学讨论的能力，需要开发更好的评估工具。这个拟议的项目有两个主要的研究问题：1）什么是预和早期新生STEM专业的科学素养水平，因为它涉及到个人STEM能力，以及科学素养水平和学生的成功，性别和种族之间的关系是什么？2）什么是学生学习科学素养最有效的教育/教学方法？该研究将在不同类型的高等教育机构进行，并将进行研究，以开发适当的科学素养评估工具，专门评估STEM能力（例如概念知识，能力，能力，行为和STEM自我效能），以促进STEM专业的完成。 数据将通过15所高等教育机构的网络收集，这些机构代表了广泛的种族和民族，特别是非洲裔美国男学生。除了拟议的经过测试的科学素养概念教育战略外，开发一个包容性的、国家认可的评估工具，有可能提高对STEM职业感兴趣的多数和少数群体学生的成功率和毕业率。

The project proposes a definition of scientific literacy as: an understanding of the nature and development of scientific research and knowledge; knowledge of the interdisciplinary nature of STEM; possessing the ability to evaluate scientific evidence and explanations; having the ability to participate productively in scientific discourse; demonstrating an aptitude for quantitative literacy/reasoning, scientific reasoning and critical thinking; possessing a relevant knowledge of career opportunities in STEM; possessing a scientist identity and STEM self-efficacy, as well as other relevant attitudes and behaviors for success in STEM; and finally, the ability to participate in team learning and discovery. To assess for a students' critical scientific thinking and understanding, such as a student's ability to participate effectively in scientific discourse requires development of better assessment tools. This proposed project has two major research questions: 1) What is the level of scientific literacy of pre and early freshmen STEM majors as it relates to individual STEM competencies, and what is the relationship between the level of scientific literacy and student success, gender and ethnicity? And 2) What are the most effective educational/pedagogical methods for students to learn scientific literacy?The study will be conducted at different types of institutions of higher education, and research will be conducted to develop an appropriate scientific literacy assessment tool that specifically assesses STEM competencies (e.g, conceptual knowledge, abilities, aptitudes, behaviors and STEM self-efficacy) that facilitate completion of a STEM major. Data will be collected over a network of 15 higher education institutions representing a broad range of race and ethnicities, especially African American male students. The development of an inclusive, nationally recognized assessment tool, in addition to the proposed tested educational strategies for the instruction of scientific literacy concepts, has the potential to improve the success and graduate rate of students from both majority and minority populations interested in STEM careers.