Community College Anatomy and Physiology Education Research (CAPER)

人体解剖学和生理学（A&amp；P）是近50万本科生的必修课，其中许多人就读于社区学院（cc）。这些学生平均年龄29岁，希望通过进入护理或牙科助理等联合医疗保健职业来改变他们的生活。然而，伴随着这种希望文化的是严峻的社会和经济现实。许多学生是退伍军人，从《退伍军人权利法案》中获得经济支持，许多人在上学的同时还在工作，许多人正在养家糊口。这些负担加剧了学生的焦虑。虽然CC以专注于教学而闻名，但CC教师的工作量很大，专业发展的机会很少。其结果是可以预见的：一个教师高度倦怠和学生高失败率的环境。社区大学解剖学和生理学教育研究（CAPER）项目通过采用一种新的方法来指导教师的专业发展，解决了这个问题。具体来说，CC教师将成为调查实施循证教学实践（EBIPs）后学生表现和焦虑变化的研究的共同调查者。在科学课堂中引入引导性探究和合作小组学习等实践已被证明可以促进学生的学习，并为有色人种和女性学生营造一个更公平的学习环境。通过参与这个项目，CC讲师将为该领域贡献新的数据，并改变他们自己的实践。然后，这些教师将在他们的学校和专业社区中担任a&p教育的领导者。CAPER项目采用基于证据的方法来促进转型。社区大学体育教师将结合一个专业发展课程，设计和实施一个小规模的教育研究项目，调查以学生为中心的教学策略的影响。他们还将参与一项更大规模的研究，考察不同教学法的情感影响。个别研究项目将使用经过验证的工具来检测实施EBIP导致的学生成功指标的变化。研究结果将完善我们对EBIP在社区大学不同学生群体中的有效性的理解。除了他们的个人项目外，教师们还将与多机构合作，研究EBIPs可以通过改善学习和建立社区来减轻焦虑对学生表现和记忆的负面影响。教师对这个项目的贡献将成为学生压力这一日益相关的话题的基础。最后，研究小组将结合有效的调查工具、访谈和课堂观察协议来监测教师的看法和实践。使用研究前/研究后设计将揭示CAPER项目是否能够促进向更多以学生为中心的教学实践的过渡。会议报告、博客和文章的传播策略将确保信息到达最终用户手中，这是促进变革的第一步。特别是，这些讲师将能够很好地影响其他CC讲师的实践，无论是在他们的机构内还是在专业组织内，如人体解剖学和生理学学会、社区大学生物学教育研究网络和生理学教育者实践社区。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Human Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) is a required course for nearly half a million undergraduate students, many of whom enroll in community colleges (CCs). Averaging 29 years of age, these students hope to transform their lives by entering allied health care careers such as nursing or dental assisting. Yet, accompanying this culture of hope are stark social and economic realities. Many students are military veterans and receive financial support from the GI Bill, many work as well as attend school, and many are raising families. These burdens result in heightened levels of student anxiety. While CCs are known for their focus on teaching, CC instructors are burdened with heavy workloads and few opportunities for professional development. The result is predictable: an environment where there is high instructor burnout and high student failure rates. The Community College Anatomy and Physiology Education Research (CAPER) project addresses this issue by taking a novel approach to instructor professional development. Specifically, CC instructors will become co-investigators in research studies investigating changes in student performance and anxiety following implementation of evidence-based instructional practices (EBIPs). Introducing practices such as guided inquiry and cooperative group learning into science classrooms has been shown to promote student learning and to foster a more equitable learning environment for students of color and women. By participating in this project, CC instructors will contribute new data to the field as well as change their own practices. These instructors will then act as leaders in A&P education within their schools and their professional communities. The CAPER project takes an evidence-based approach to fostering transformation. Community College A&P instructors will combine a professional development course with the design and implementation of a small-scale educational research project investigating the impact of a student-centered teaching strategy. They will also participate in a larger scale study examining the affective impact of different pedagogies. The individual research projects will use validated instruments to detect changes in student success measures resulting from EBIP implementation. The results will refine our understanding of EBIP effectiveness in the diverse student populations found at community colleges. In addition to their individual projects, instructors will collaborate in a multi-institutional effort examining the hypothesis that EBIPs could alleviate the negative impacts of anxiety on student performance and retention by improving learning and building community. The instructors' contributions to this project will be foundational to the increasingly relevant topic of student stress. Finally, the research team will monitor instructor perceptions and practices using a combination of validated survey instruments, interviews, and classroom observation protocols. Using a pre-/post- research design will reveal if the CAPER project was able to promote transition to more student-centered instructional practices. A dissemination strategy of conference presentations, blogs, and articles will ensure that the information reaches the end users, the first step in promoting change. In particular, the instructors will be well-situated to influence the practices of other CC instructors, both within their institutions and within professional organizations such as the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society, the Community College Biology Education Research network, and the Physiology Educators Communities of Practice.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.