Responsive Instruction for Emergent Bilingual Learners in Biology Classrooms

在美国，新兴的双语学生群体不仅在数量上不断增长，而且从历史上看，在STEM领域的代表性不足。新兴的双语学生虽然在学术、语言和文化方面具有丰富的优势，但他们并没有获得与同龄人相同的高质量科学教育。在小型试点研究的基础上，在支持新兴双语学生学习基础科学方面取得了成功，该项目旨在支持新兴双语学生在高中生物课堂上的学习。该项目团队将研究教师如何理解并使用一种基于学生文化和语言优势的教学模式，以一种有针对性的方式教授生物学。该团队还将研究这种模式如何影响新兴双语学生对生物学和科学语言实践的学习，以及它如何支持学生作为科学知识者/实干家的身份。该合作将包括两个合作地区，这将使该项目工作影响到佛罗里达州约11,000名高中生和30名生物教师。随着时间的推移，项目团队计划制定和研究三组教师和学生；利用所学信息改进教学模式；并开发可应用于其他环境的课程、网站和其他材料，以支持新兴的双语学生学习生物学。本项目将增加新兴双语学生对生物课的参与，提高他们在科学和工程实践中的成绩和参与度，扩展现有的基于研究的实践，并记录如何利用新兴双语学生的优势和先前的经验。在之前的两项试点研究中，通过一个跨学科团队的合作，项目团队开发了一种教学模式，他们发现这种模式支持新兴双语学生获得高质量的科学学习机会。该模型建立在与文化响应性教学相关的研究基础上；知识资金（包括身份确认和协作工作）；语言响应式教学（包括使用学生的母语和多种模式，以及明确关注学术语言）。采用基于设计的研究，项目团队将从两个主要环境中收集数据：他们的专业发展计划和生物教师的教室。他们将利用这些数据来改进生物教师的教学模式和专业发展。此外，项目团队将研究教师如何使用该模型来支持新兴双语学生的生物参与和成就，以及研究生物教师如何在两个学区实施该教学模型。该项目将致力于三个主要成果：a)开发与不同学习者如何通过参与科学和工程实践来发展生物学语言和内容知识相关的新知识；B)产生关于生物教师如何根据当地情况和学生群体调整响应式教学的新知识；c)为新兴双语学生的生物教师提供一种严谨而实用的教学模式。传播和可持续性包括在一系列会议和期刊上发表和介绍研究结果；在网站上提供完善的教学框架和专业发展材料；与地区领导和决策者的沟通；以及可以更广泛分发的白皮书。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。

The population of students who are emergent bilinguals in the US is not only growing in number but also, historically, has been underrepresented in STEM fields. Emergent bilingual students have not had access to the same high-quality science education as their peers, despite bringing rich academic, linguistic and cultural strengths to their learning. Building on smaller pilot studies and ideas that have shown to be successful in supporting emergent bilingual students’ learning of elementary science, this project seeks to support emergent bilingual students in high school biology classrooms. The project team will study how teachers make sense of and use an instructional model that builds on students’ cultural and linguistic strengths to teach biology in ways that are responsive. The team will also study how such a model impacts emergent bilingual students’ learning of biology and scientific language practices, as well as how it supports students’ identities as knowers/doers of science. The collaboration will include two partner districts that will allow the project work to impact about 11,000 high school students and 30 biology teachers in Florida. Over time, the project team plans to enact and study three cohorts of teachers and students; use the information learned to improve the instructional model; and develop lessons, a website, and other materials that can be applied to other contexts to support emergent bilingual students’ learning of biology. This project will increase emergent bilingual students’ participation in biology classes, improve their achievement and engagement in science and engineering practices, extend current research-based practices, and document how to build on emergent bilingual students’ strengths and prior experiences. In two previous pilot studies through the collaboration of an interdisciplinary team, the project team developed an instructional model that they found supported emergent bilingual students to have high-quality opportunities for science learning. The model builds on research related to culturally responsive instruction; funds of knowledge (including work on identity affirmation and collaboration); and linguistically responsive instruction (including using students’ home languages and multiple modalities, and explicit attention to academic language). Using design-based research, the project team will gather data from two primary settings: their professional development program and biology teachers’ classrooms. They will use these data both to improve the instructional model and professional development for biology teachers. Additionally, the project team will study how teachers use the model to support emergent bilingual students’ biology engagement and achievement, as well as study how biology teachers enact the instructional model in two school districts. The project will work toward three main outcomes: a) to develop new knowledge related to how diverse learners develop language and content knowledge in biology through engaging in science and engineering practices; b) to generate new knowledge about how biology teachers can adapt responsive instruction to local contexts and student populations; and c) to articulate an instructional model for biology teachers of emergent bilingual students that is rigorous, yet practical. The dissemination and sustainability include publishing and presenting findings at a range of conferences and journals; making available the refined instructional framework and professional development materials on a website; communication with district leaders and policymakers; and white papers that can be more widely distributed.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.