Seeing the Paths to Change: Evaluating Vision & Change in Undergraduate Biology Education Using a Pathway Modeling Approach

在过去的二十年里，生物学领域在研究成果和研究方法上都取得了巨大的进步。本科生物学教育的“愿景与变革”（Vision and Change，简称V&amp；C）始于近15年前，当时生物科学界讨论这些进步如何挑战学生在本科课程中应该学习的内容的本质。本项目旨在为国家利益服务，对“愿景与改变”运动进行全面评估，以更好地展示它如何为改善本科生物学教育做出贡献（并将继续做出贡献）。该项目将通过确定短期、中期和长期的V&amp；C结果，并以一种向利益相关者提供有用和有帮助的方式“看到”V&amp；C的成功、机会和未来轨迹的方式，来提供一个组织结构。该项目将开发一个可视化且易于理解的理论框架，称为V&amp；C路径模型。V&amp；C路径模型是一种可视化模型，将通过系统整合关于V&amp；C的文献以及关键利益相关者对V&amp；C是什么以及它是如何工作的观点来开发。该项目将使V&amp；C社区能够更深入地了解他们对本科生物学的影响，以及他们在未来几年应该把注意力转向哪些方面，以最大限度地发挥影响。该项目旨在建立一个理论框架，该框架将：a)组织和阐明各种V&amp；C活动和成果；b)巩固目前关于碳的使用和影响的性质和范围的知识体系；c)构建地方和国家层面生态环境评价的未来发展方向。该模型将努力1)识别和解决V&amp；C实现的关键假设；b)优化在各级实施v&&c的计划；C)使地方实施者能够战略性地集中他们的评价工作；d)为国家级研究人员的研究提供组织指南。一旦最初的理论模型被开发出来，模型的内容将通过三个V&amp；C利益相关者群体通过在线焦点小组会议的贡献来验证。这些人包括早期的V&amp；C组织者，当前的V&amp；C实现者，以及组织和系统级的变革者。该项目将制定一项五年计划，以扩大V&amp；C框架的采用。五年计划将与路径模型一起分发，作为规划、决策和评估的可靠工具。随后，路径模型将用于一系列网络研讨会，作为培训和头脑风暴工具，向更广泛的利益相关者通报V&amp；C原则和成果。通过有针对性的传播工作，该项目有可能丰富围绕V&amp；C的全国对话。本项目由本科教育司改善本科STEM教育项目通过其项目描述21-7412资助，该项目要求研究V&amp；C运动对本科生物学教育的影响。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 field of biology has seen dramatic advances in the past two decades, both in its research findings and research methodology. Vision and Change (V&C) in undergraduate biology education began nearly fifteen years ago with conversations in the biological sciences community about how those advances challenge the nature of what students ought to learn in their undergraduate programs of study. This project aims to serve the national interest by undertaking a holistic evaluation of the Vision and Change “movement” to better demonstrate how it has contributed (and continues to contribute) to improving undergraduate biology education. The project will provide an organizing structure by identifying short-, mid-, and long-term V&C outcomes and connecting them in a way that affords stakeholders a useful and helpful way to “see” the successes, opportunities, and future trajectory of V&C. The project will develop a visual and easy-to-understand theoretical framework known as a Pathway Model of V&C. The V&C Pathway Model is a visualization that will be developed through the systematic integration of the literature on V&C as well as key stakeholder perspectives on what V&C is and how it works. The project will enable the V&C community to develop a stronger understanding of what their impact has been on undergraduate biology and what they should turn their attention to in upcoming years to maximize the impact.The project aims to develop a theoretical framework that will: a) organize and articulate the wide variety of V&C activities and outcomes; b) consolidate the current body of knowledge about the nature and extent of V&C's use and impact; and c) structure future directions for V&C evaluation at both the local and national levels. The model will strive to 1) identify and address critical assumptions underlying implementation of V&C; b) optimize plans for implementing V&C at all levels; c) enable local implementers to strategically focus their evaluation efforts; and d) provide national-level investigators with an organizing guide for their research. Once the initial theoretical model is developed, the content of the model will be validated through the contributions of three V&C stakeholder cohorts via online focus group sessions. These include early V&C organizers, current V&C implementers, and organization- and system-level change-makers. The project will develop a five-year plan for expanding adoption of the V&C framework. The five-year plan will be distributed alongside the pathway model as a credible tool for planning, decision-making, and evaluation. Subsequently, the pathway model will be used in a series of webinars as a training and brainstorming tool to inform a wider range of stakeholders on the V&C principles and outcomes. Through focused dissemination efforts this project has the potential to enrich the national conversation around V&C. This project is funded by the Division of Undergraduate Education’s Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program through its Program Description 21-7412 that calls for projects that study the impact of the V&C movement in Undergraduate Biology Education.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.