Collaborative Research: Navigating from Vision to Change with Bio-MAPS

该项目在具体定义NSF-AAAS报告《愿景与变革》中概述的核心概念和能力方面迈出了重要的一步，并提供了在本科生物学教育中进行程序化评估的工具。这个项目的智力价值来自于一种叫做Bio-MAPS（生物学-测量科学成就和进步）的工具的开发、验证和实地测试。具体来说，正在进行四项生物地图评估：分子和细胞生物学、生理学和神经科学、生态学和进化，以及全面的综合测量。该研究团队正在与不同院校的生物学教师合作，这些院校涵盖了高等教育的各个领域，旨在制定一个框架，概述学生在不同大学阶段应该知道和能够做些什么。来自Bio-MAPS的数据有望通过以下方式产生更广泛的影响并促进课程改革：1)诊断学生不顾指导而挣扎的领域，2)允许两年制社区学院评估他们为学生转到四年制大学做准备的情况，3)激励和指导教师和机构讨论在项目层面上实施变革，4)帮助管理人员将有限的资源集中在需要修改的课程方面，5)挑战教师重新设计课程以促进学生的学习。生物系也可以使用Bio-MAPS评估来证明学生学习的证据。许多机构现在需要学生学习的证据，以及项目如何满足不同学生群体需求的数据。这种对有形学习成果的关注要求学校有一种量化衡量学生在课程中的进步的方法。生物地图可以提供一种衡量学生在课程中的进步的方法。其他科学学科可能也有兴趣为他们的学生开发类似的评估。该项目由生物科学理事会和本科教育司教育和人力资源理事会共同资助，作为其支持本科生物学教育的愿景和变革的努力的一部分。

This project takes major steps towards concretely defining core concepts and competencies outlined in the NSF-AAAS report, Vision and Change, and provides tools to allow programmatic assessment in undergraduate biology education. The intellectual merit of this project derives from the development, validation, and field-testing of tools called Bio-MAPS (Biology-Measuring Achievement and Progression in Science). Specifically, four Bio-MAPS assessments are being produced: molecular and cellular biology, physiology and neuroscience, ecology and evolution, and an overall comprehensive measure. The research team is working with biology faculty at diverse institutions that span the breadth of higher education to develop a framework that outlines expectations for what students should know and be able to do at different collegiate levels. Data from Bio-MAPS are expected to provide dramatic broader impacts and catalyze curricular reform by: 1) diagnosing areas in which students struggle despite instruction, 2) allowing two-year community colleges to evaluate how well they are preparing students for transfer to four-year institutions, 3) inspiring and directing faculty and institutional conversations about enacting change at the programmatic level, 4) helping administrators focus limited resources on aspects of the curricula needing revision, and 5) challenging faculty to re-design courses to scaffold student learning. Biology departments can also use Bio-MAPS assessments to demonstrate evidence of student learning for accreditation processes.Many agencies now require evidence of student learning and data on how well programs meet the needs of diverse student populations. This focus on tangible learning outcomes requires that institutions have a means of quantitatively measuring student progression through a curriculum. Bio-MAPS can provide a means of measuring student progress through a curriculum. Other science disciplines may be interested in developing similar assessments for their students.This project is being funded jointly by the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Directorate of Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to support Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education.