Developing and Testing a Model to Support Student Understanding of the Sub-Microscopic Interactions that Govern Biological and Chemical Processes

这个项目设计、开发和测试连贯的跨学科教学材料，以支持高中生对原子和分子之间发生相互作用所涉及的力和能量学的综合理解，并探索学生的学习是如何随着时间的推移而进步的。教学材料侧重于“K-12科学教育框架”(NRC，2011)和“大学理事会成功标准”(College Board，2009)中确定的物理核心理念。这两个研究问题是：(1)当学生经历了一套跨学科的教学材料时，学习如何随着时间的推移而进步？这些教材旨在帮助他们在很小的范围内朝着与互动相关的重要学习目标前进；(2)各种学习活动如何支持综合理解的发展？该项目在密歇根州的三个学区实施，这些学生传统上在科学方面并不成功。其中两个学区服务于拥有不同种族学生的城市社区；第三个学区服务于农村社区，主要是高加索社区。为了开发和测试教学材料和相关评估，该项目与协和联盟合作，采用以结构为中心的设计过程(基于以证据为中心的评估和学习目标驱动的设计的原则过程)；使用物理和基于计算机的模型和模拟；并借鉴先前和正在进行的关于假设学生在理解物质的结构、性质、相互作用和转化的道路上的学习进展的工作。课程分为四个单元：(1)电学导论，(2)水，(3)大分子，(4)生物分子，每个单元持续2至6周。在对可用性进行测试后，这些单元将经历两个额外的阶段。第一阶段包括试点测试，在两个地点至少有一名教师，每个地点两个教室，每个单位产生100-120名学生的信息。第二阶段包括现场测试具有更大样本的单元。使用能量分析来确定样本大小，该项目测试了两种不同的单元序列：(A)四名教师、八个教室和200名学生在上生物或化学之前将单元作为一个学期的课程使用；(B)四名教师、八个教室和200名学生在一门化学或生物课程的适当点位使用单元。来自同一学区的8名教师、16个教室和400名不使用单元的学生作为对照组。采用混合方法收集和分析数据。数据收集战略包括：(A)测试前和测试后，(B)单元评估，(C)学生的兴趣和态度，(D)评估学生的学习进程，(E)课堂观察，(F)学生课堂作业分析，以及(G)与学生和教师的访谈。数据解释策略包括：(A)对来自访谈的学生和教师的回答进行编码，(B)识别模式，以及(C)使用项目-反应理论(IRT)程序将学生的反应置于学习过程中。使用了一系列方法来评估所用工具的有效性和可靠性，包括：(A)结构效度，(B)内容效度，和(C)IRT程序。项目外部评价涉及形成性和总结性两个方面。主要项目成果包括：(A)一个为期一学期、了解研究情况并经过实地测试的课程，该课程由四个综合单元组成，包括具体的目标、学习任务、现象，以说明和支持在关键点上的理解、阅读材料和嵌入式评估；(B)与这些单元相一致的计算机模拟；(C)教师的教育材料；(D)衡量学生理解和态度的有效和可靠的工具；以及(E)一套研究手稿，重点是新材料如何运作并促进学生学习关键的具有挑战性的想法。

This project designs, develops, and tests coherent interdisciplinary instructional materials to support high school students' integrated understanding of the forces and energetics involved in interactions that occur between atoms and molecules, and explores how students' learning progresses across time. Instructional materials focus on physical science core ideas identified in "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" (NRC, 2011), and "College Board Standards for College Success" (College Board, 2009). The two research questions are: (1) How does learning progress over time when students experience a set of interdisciplinary instructional materials designed to help them advance toward important learning goals related to interactions at very small scales?; and (2) How do the various learning activities support the development of integrated understanding? The project is implemented in three Michigan school districts with students who traditionally do not succeed in science. Two of the school districts serve urban communities with ethnically diverse student populations; the third serves a rural, primarily Caucasian community. To develop and test instructional materials and associated assessments, the project joins efforts with the Concord Consortium and employs the Construct-Centered Design process (a principled process based on evidence-centered assessment and learning goal-driven designs); uses physical and computer-based models and simulations; and draws on previous and ongoing work on a learning progression of the hypothetical students' path in their understanding of the structure, properties, interactions, and transformations of matter. Four instructional units are produced: (1) Introduction to Electrical Forces, (2) Water, (3) Larger Molecules, and (4) Bio-Molecules, with a duration of two to six weeks each. After testing for usability, the units go through two additional phases. Phase I comprises pilot testing with at least one teacher at two sites, two classrooms each, yielding information from 100-120 students per unit. Phase II consists of field testing the units with a larger sample. Using a power analysis to determine sample size, the project tests two different sequences of the units: (a) four teachers, eight classrooms, and 200 students use the units as a single semester course before taking biology or chemistry; and (b) four teachers, eight classrooms, and 200 students use the units in appropriate points within a chemistry or biology course. Eight teachers from the same school districts, 16 classrooms, and 400 students who do not use the units, serve as the comparison group. A mixed-methods approach is used to collect and analyze data. Data collection strategies include: (a) pre- and post- tests, (b) unit-embedded assessments, (c) students' interest and attitudes, (d) assessments to place students in the learning progression, (e) classroom observations, (f) analysis of student classroom work, and (g) interviews with students and teachers. Data interpretation strategies include: (a) coding of students' and teachers' responses from interviews, (b) identification of patterns, and (c) using item-response theory (IRT) procedures to place students' responses in the learning progression. A range of methods are used to assess validity and reliability of instruments used, including: (a) construct validity, (b) content validity, and (c) IRT procedures. Project external evaluation addresses both formative and summative aspects. Key project outcomes include: (a) a research-informed and field-tested semester-long course comprising four integrated units with specific objectives, learning tasks, phenomena to illustrate and support understanding at key points, reading materials, and embedded assessments; (b) computer simulations aligned with the units; (c) educative materials for teachers; (d) valid and reliable instruments to measure students' understanding and attitudes; and (e) a set of research manuscripts focused on how the new materials work and promote student learning of key challenging ideas.