Creating Validated Learning Objectives to Improve Course Design and Student Outcomes in Introductory Biology

该项目旨在通过帮助美国满足对合格的STEM专业人员和具有科学素养的公民的需求来服务于国家利益。学习目标是学生在授课后应该知道和能够做的事情的陈述。在一门精心设计的科学课程中，课程、考试和其他评估都与学习目标紧密相连。然而，尽管这些基础课程是本科STEM教育中最重要的课程之一，但还没有为专业或非专业的大学生物学入门制定出一套被广泛接受的学习目标。该项目将吸引全国300多名生物学教师为这些课程制定一套全面的学习目标。此外，它还将1)制作一份用户指南，为刚开始实施学习目标的教师提供支持；2)发布学习目标和课程目标在专业和非专业课程中如何比较的分析；3)启动第一个关于大学理科教师如何以及为什么开始将学习目标纳入他们的课程的大规模研究。学习目标的广泛使用有可能改善面向专业和非专业的生物入门课程的设计，全国每年招收超过50万名学生。反向课程设计是科学教学的基本组成部分，从明确的总体课程目标和更细粒度的学习目标开始。大学生物学教师和学生已经从2011年愿景与变革报告以及BioCore和BioSkills指南中阐明的一般课程目标中受益。这个项目将补充和扩展这项先前的工作，通过产生第一套国家验证的学习目标集，用于专业和非专业的生物入门课程。这些学习目标将通过与焦点小组和国家调查进行的迭代过程来起草、修订和验证，这些调查旨在纳入代表不同机构类型和地点的300多名教职员工的反馈。一旦为每门课程建立了一致的学习目标，项目团队将分析专业和非专业课程的目标有何不同，并使用访谈、焦点小组和调查来研究美国不同类型机构的生物学教师如何在他们的课程中使用学习目标。其目标是开辟一个新的领域，研究1)教师如何设计他们的课程，以及2)使用学习目标和其他落后的课程设计元素如何影响学生的表现。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by helping the United States meet the need for qualified STEM professionals and scientifically literate citizens. Learning objectives are statements of what students should know and be able to do after instruction. In a well-designed science course, the curriculum and the exams and other assessments are tightly linked to learning objectives. However, no widely accepted set of learning objectives has been developed for introductory college biology for majors or nonmajors, even though these foundational courses are some of the most important in undergraduate STEM education. This project will engage over 300 biology faculty nationwide in creating a comprehensive set of learning objectives for these courses. In addition, it will 1) produce a user’s guide to support instructors who are new to implementing learning objectives, 2) publish an analysis of how learning objectives and course goals compare in the majors and nonmajors courses, and 3) launch the first large-scale study of how and why college science faculty begin incorporating learning objectives into their courses. Widespread use of learning objectives has the potential to improve the design of introductory biology courses for majors and nonmajors, which nationally enroll over 500,000 students each year.Backward course design is a fundamental component of scientific teaching and begins with explicit lists of overall course goals and more-granular learning objectives. College biology faculty and students have already benefitted from the general course goals articulated by the 2011 Vision and Change Report and the BioCore and BioSkills Guides. This project will complement and extend this previous work by producing the first nationally validated set of learning objectives for majors and non-majors introductory biology courses. These learning objectives will be drafted, revised, and validated through an iterative process conducted with focus groups and national surveys designed to incorporate feedback from over 300 faculty members representing a diversity of institution types and locations. Once consensus learning objectives are established for each course, the project team will analyze how the goals of majors and nonmajors courses differ and use interviews, focus groups, and surveys to research how biology faculty at different types of institutions across the U.S. are using learning objectives in their courses. The goal is to open a new field of inquiry on 1) how faculty design their courses, and 2) how using learning objectives and other elements of backward course design affects student performance. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.