TURBO: The Undergraduate Saco River Biodiversity Observatory -- A Long-Term Ecological Research-Style Research Experience to Enhance STEM Education

在一个依赖科学和技术的社会中，STEM教育对于成功越来越重要，但大学生对STEM学习课程的坚持程度通常很低，这些课程通常由传统的讲座和标准的实验室练习主导。将本科生的研究机会纳入课程已被证明可以增加学生的学习和坚持。该项目将实施跨学科课程，为新英格兰大学文理学院的所有STEM学生提供真实的研究经验。研究人员将通过开发新的课程模块，刺激本科生研究项目，开展跨学科会议，重点关注项目的主题，并实施有针对性的教师发展，利用萨科河的当地河口创造一个以项目为导向的学习体验。调查人员将研究在何种程度上增加动手，跨学科的方法来学生学习导致增加学生的保留和坚持在STEM。在学院的所有STEM部门，至少有29门课程，超过1,600名学生注册将同时对评估，监测或建模方面的萨科河河口。学生将调查城市，盐沼，潮间带和开放水域栖息地，并应用生态学，生理学，分子生物学，植物学，动物学，数学，化学和物理学的方法。一个中央数据库和门户网站将使数据可用于大学内和公众的跨学科数据挖掘。研究人员旨在证明，基于科尔布学习理论的体验式学习可以加深学生对科学家在长期的NSF计划长期生态研究（LTER）中所实践的研究过程的理解。这些活动将包括小组合作解决问题，使用大型数据集，并参与数据的创建和共享。这种方法也将帮助学生理解科学，而不是死记硬背-作为一种可以质疑和产生的东西。此外，该项目将使用基于地点的教育来吸引学生参与项目和STEM。通过这种方法，（1）周围的现象是课程开发的基础，（2）学生成为知识的创造者而不是消费者，（3）学生的问题是决定学习内容的核心，（4）教师作为经验丰富的指导者和共同学习者，（5）学校和社区之间的墙变得可渗透，并经常被跨越。通过在大学四年中反复接触基于地方的教育，本科生将获得STEM的渐进，深入的经验，这将使他们能够将发现过程与学习和知识创造联系起来，并为他们成为领导者，教师和创新者做好准备。

STEM education is increasingly important for success in a society that depends on science and technology, but college students' persistence in STEM programs of study, which are often dominated by traditional lectures and standard lab exercises, is generally low. Integrating undergraduate research opportunities into the curriculum has been shown to increase student learning and persistence. This project will implement an interdisciplinary curriculum that provides authentic research experiences for all STEM students in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of New England. The investigators will create a project-oriented learning experience using the local estuary of the Saco River by developing new course modules, stimulating undergraduate research projects, conducting an interdisciplinary conference focusing on the project's theme, and implementing targeted faculty development. The investigators will examine the extent to which the increased hands-on, interdisciplinary approaches to student learning lead to increased student retention and persistence in STEM.Across all STEM departments in the college, at least 29 courses with an enrollment of more than 1,600 students will work simultaneously on assessing, monitoring, or modeling aspects of the Saco River estuary. Students will investigate urban, salt marsh, intertidal, and open water habitats and apply methods of ecology, physiology, molecular biology, botany, zoology, mathematics, chemistry, and physics. A central database and web portal will make the data available for interdisciplinary data mining within the university and by the public. The investigators aim to demonstrate that experiential learning based on Kolb's learning theory can deepen students' understanding of the process of research as practiced by scientists in a long-standing NSF program, Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER). The activities will include working in groups to solve problems, using large data sets, and participating in the creation and sharing of data. Such an approach will also help students to comprehend science as more than rote learning -- as something that can be questioned and produced by them. Furthermore, the project will use place-based education to draw students into the project and into STEM. With this approach, (1) surrounding phenomena are the foundation for curriculum development, (2) students become creators rather than consumers of knowledge, (3) students' questions are central in determining what is studied, (4) teachers act as experienced guides and co-learners, and (5) the wall between school and community becomes permeable and is crossed frequently. Through repeated exposure to place-based education over their four years at the university, undergraduates will gain progressive, in-depth experiences with STEM, which will enable them to connect the process of discovery with learning and knowledge creation and will prepare them to be leaders, teachers, and innovators.