RCN-UBE: Northwest PULSE-A Community of Practice for Departmental Transformation Using Vision and Change

华盛顿州立大学获得了一项奖励，以资助RCN-UBE网络，以促进本科生生命科学教育伙伴关系（PULSE）的使命。PULSE旨在激励生命科学院系进行《愿景》和《本科教育变革：行动呼吁》（AAAS, 2011）所建议的变革。来自两年制学院、文理学院、综合性大学和研究型大学的研究员被选为PULSE领导力研究员，他们在2012-13年期间工作，制定方法，帮助各院系实施《愿景与变革》报告中提出的建议。在所有类型的本科院校中，生物学教学方式的这种改进有望导致以下方面的提高：1)学生对生命科学核心概念的学习；2)生命科学学生的保留率；3)为所有学生成为更好奇、更有科学素养的公民做好准备。尽管个别教师非常积极地在课堂上进行改革，但部门和机构的改革却更加困难。这项建议将通过建立一个地理上接近的机构网络来解决这一挑战，这样它们就可以在各自实施部门变革的行动中相互支持和建议。PULSE领导研究员开发了工具和资源，将由西北地区不同类型的参与机构进行实地测试。例如，将提供部门自我评估的准则和训练有素的大使的访问，以协助各部门对生命科学课程的教学方式进行改革。在该奖项的每一年，来自高等教育机构的15个参与机构将确定教师，管理人员和学生团队参加在线培训课程，面对面研讨会和后续活动，包括生物讲师的区域研讨会。NW PULSE的工作目标是在部门一级进行变革，其中一个关键方面是进行系统思维方法的培训。这使机构团队能够认识到他们的部门是一个系统，他们可以影响其行为，并帮助他们理解和确定杠杆点，从而使他们能够在他们的家庭机构中充当变革推动者。我们希望这个实践社区能够提高人们对《愿景与变革》报告中提出的建议的认识，加快不同部门采纳这些建议的步伐，并更好地了解不同校园的变化是如何发生的。网络活动的结果将与生命科学界分享，主要是通过www.pulsecommunity.org网站以及与其他倡导改变西北地区生命科学教育的团体的持续合作。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，以支持应对《本科教育的愿景与变革：行动呼吁》http://visionandchange.org/finalreport/所提出的挑战

An award has been made to Washington State University to fund an RCN-UBE network to promote the mission of the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education (PULSE). PULSE seeks to stimulate life science departments to undertake the type of transformative changes recommended by Vision and Change in Undergraduate Education: A Call to Action (AAAS, 2011). Fellows from two-year colleges, liberal arts colleges, comprehensive universities and research universities were selected as PULSE Leadership Fellows, and they worked during the 2012-13 year to develop approaches to help departments implement recommendations made in the Vision and Change report. Such improvements in how biology is taught at all types of undergraduate institutions are expected to lead to increases in: 1) student learning of core concepts in the life sciences, 2) retention rates for students in the life sciences, and 3) preparation for all students to be more curious and scientifically literate citizens. Although individual faculty members have been very active in instituting reforms in their classrooms, departmental and institutional transformation has been more difficult. This proposal will address this challenge by creating a network of institutions in geographical proximity so they can support and advise one another as each moves to implement departmental change. Tools and resources have been developed by the PULSE Leadership Fellows that will be field-tested by the different types of participating institutions in the Northwest. For example, rubrics for departmental self-assessment and visits by trained Ambassadors will be provided to assist departments in adopting reforms in how life science courses are taught. During each year of this award, fifteen participating institutions from across the spectrum of Institutions of Higher Education will identify teams of faculty, administrators, and students to participate in on-line training sessions, in-person workshops, and follow up activities, including a regional symposium for biology instructors. The NW PULSE efforts target change at the department level and a key aspect is training in a systems-thinking approach. This enables institutional teams to recognize their department as a system whose behavior they can influence and helps them to understand and identify leverage points, thus empowering them to act as change agents at their home institutions. It is hoped that this Community of Practice will increase awareness of the recommendations made in the Vision and Change report, accelerate the pace of adopting those recommendations by different departments, and lead to a better understanding of how change happens on diverse campuses. Results from the network's activities will be shared with the life sciences community, primarily via the www.pulsecommunity.org website and by continued partnerships with other groups advocating for change in life science education in the Northwest.This project is funded jointly by the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Directorate of Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education in support of efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Education: A Call to Action http://visionandchange.org/finalreport/