Collaborative Research: Development of Learning Progressions for Biochemistry - Concept Linkage through the College Curriculum

生物化学以及大学课程中先于生物化学的课程是许多科学和相关专业途径职业的基础。这个改进本科STEM教育项目将专注于研究，以定义学生必须理解的基本概念和原则，以成功地从普通化学导航到有机化学再到生物化学，并绘制本科化学和生物化学学生在发展专业知识时可能采取的路径。通过从两所截然不同的机构（一所高度选择性的文科学院和一所大型州立大学）招募学生参与研究，研究结果将与广泛的大学生相关。此外，该项目将建立一个大学教师社区，他们致力于开发工具，帮助学生在他们所教授的课程中学习适当水平的关键概念。为了定义一般化学和有机化学的学习进展，使生物化学概念的复杂理解，研究人员在韦尔斯利学院和南佛罗里达大学将设计，进行和分析半结构化的采访与教师谁教相关的化学和生物学课程，以及100名本科生从开始到高级水平。研究人员将选择两到三个基本概念，通过课程扩展到学习进展中，包括识别上下锚。在项目后期，将根据访谈结果开展一项调查。该调查将对更多的学生进行管理，并将对回答进行分析，以改进学习进度。这项研究有望有助于了解学生如何将知识从一门课程转移到另一门课程，以及跨课程可以建立哪些类型的联系来帮助学生学习。它还将促进教师在化学，生物学和生物化学课程和学科之间的合作。

Biochemistry and the courses that precede it in the college curriculum are foundational for careers in many sciences and related professional pathways. This Improving Undergraduate STEM Education project will focus on research to define the essential concepts and principles that students must understand to successfully navigate from general chemistry to organic chemistry to biochemistry, and to map the paths that undergraduate chemistry and biochemistry students may take in developing expertise. By recruiting students from two very different institutions (a highly selective liberal arts college and a large state university) to participate in the research, the findings will be relevant for a wide range of college students. In addition, the project will build a community of college instructors who are committed to developing tools to help students learn key concepts at the appropriate levels in the courses they teach. To define learning progressions in general chemistry and organic chemistry that allow for sophisticated understanding of concepts in biochemistry, researchers at Wellesley College and the University of South Florida will design, conduct, and analyze responses to semi-structured interviews with faculty who teach the relevant chemistry and biology courses, as well as with 100 undergraduate students from beginning to advanced level. The researchers will select two to three essential concepts to be expanded into learning progressions through the courses, including identification of lower and upper anchors. Later in the project, a survey will be developed based on findings of the interviews. The survey will be administered to larger numbers of students, and the responses will be analyzed to refine the learning progressions. This research is expected to contribute to understandings of how students transfer knowledge from one course to another, and what types of connections can be made across courses to assist student learning. It will also promote faculty collaboration across chemistry, biology, and biochemistry courses and disciplines.