Investigating How Life Science Students Develop Lasting Skill in Making Connections Between Physics and Biology

该项目旨在通过改进大学物理入门课程的教学来服务于国家利益，生命科学和卫生专业的许多学生都在学习这些课程。生命科学物理学入门(IPLS)课程旨在让数千名将物理学入门作为进入健康职业或学习生命科学的必修课的学生接触到物理学，并使他们感到兴奋。这些课程强调生命科学专业人员认为对生命科学学生最有用的物理概念和能力，这些课程介绍了适当的生物医学背景下的概念和能力。由于物理学是卫生专业和生命科学日益重要的基础，帮助未来的从业者变得更有技能和积极性在他们的工作中使用物理学具有巨大的潜力来改进他们的工作。过去的研究表明，IPLS课程是有效的，可以对学生对物理的态度以及他们在以后的工作中使用物理解决生物问题的技能产生持久的积极影响。该项目旨在了解国际学习方案课程如何在多个机构取得这些成果。特别是调查人员将探索所涵盖的主题、所采用的教学策略以及所传达的信息如何影响学生在课程中的体验。这项研究的结论将指导其他大学在推出或修改自己的IPLs课程时取得类似的结果。研究者将解决两个核心研究问题：(1)IPLs课程如何支持学生对物理的兴趣、自我效能感和跨学科认同感的发展(综合起来，即“物理亲和力”)？(2)IPLs课程如何支持学生成功地应用物理来模拟和分析生物情境？具体来说，这门课程的课程、教学和人际关系元素如何与成为熟练的问题解决者的过程相联系？为了回答这些问题，调查人员将使用现有的调查工具、学生的书面反思、学生将物理应用于生物的合成任务的书面作业、对学生的采访，以及其他任务。该项目的一些产品将包括一项“物理亲和力”调查(将包括与自我效能、成就目标、跨学科态度和动机有关的元素)、反思提示和综合任务、一套供IPLS开发人员和教师使用的指南，以及一套学生发展概况，说明不同学生如何以不同的方式发展技能和物理亲和力。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 improving instruction in the introductory college physics courses that are taken by many students in the life sciences and health professions. Introductory Physics for Life Sciences (IPLS) courses are designed to make physics accessible and exciting for the thousands of students who take introductory physics as a requirement for entering the health professions or studying the life sciences. Those courses emphasize physical concepts and competencies that life science professionals have identified as most useful for life science students, and the courses present the concepts and competencies in appropriate biomedical contexts. Since physics is an increasingly important foundation for the health professions and the life sciences, helping future practitioners become more skilled and motivated to use physics in their work has great potential to improve their work. Past studies have shown that IPLS courses can be effective and can have a long-lasting positive impact on students' attitudes toward physics and on their skill in using physics to solve biological problems in their later work. This project aims to understand how IPLS courses achieve those outcomes at multiple institutions. In particular, the investigators will explore how the topics covered, the pedagogical strategies employed, and the messages conveyed shape students' experiences in the course. The conclusions of this research will guide other colleges to achieve similar outcomes as they launch or revise their own IPLS courses.The investigators will address two central research questions:(1) How does an IPLS course support the development of students' interest in physics, a sense of self-efficacy, and an interdisciplinary identity (taken together, "physics affinity")?(2) How does an IPLS course support students in successfully applying physics to model and analyze biological situations? Specifically, how do the course's curricular, pedagogical, and interpersonal elements connect to the process of becoming a skilled problem-solver?To answer those questions, the investigators will use existing survey instruments, students' written reflections, students' written work on synthetic tasks applying physics to biology, interviews with students, and other tasks. Some products of the project will include a "physics affinity" survey (which will include elements related to self-efficacy, achievement goals, interdisciplinary attitudes, and motivation), reflection prompts and synthesis tasks, a set of guidelines for IPLS developers and instructors, and a set of student developmental profiles that illustrate how different students develop skills and physics affinity in different ways. 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.