Research-based Professional Development for Science Faculty and Its Impact on Student Learning

该项目旨在通过了解旨在改善教学实践的专业发展框架的实施如何影响学生的学习来服务于国家利益。这项研究，在一个公共的，广泛的访问，大学进行的目的是应用从专业发展研究在K-12水平和大学水平的经验教训。这个项目是专门设计的，以更好地了解如何广泛的专业发展，为干跨几个专业的教师可以改变教学实践和影响学生学习干。该框架将在宾夕法尼亚州的加州大学使用，以（a）实施一种称为学习社区的专业发展，（B）确定专业发展的特点和特征如何与学生的学习和科学教师的实践，以及（c）有助于将该框架扩展到其他STEM部门和高等教育机构的最佳实践的证据。 该项目的范围包括两个目标。 第一个目标是实施和评估主要是本科院校的专业发展，这是最低限度的选择性（95%的录取率），具有较低的四年毕业率（33.6%），低社会经济（42%）和学生的比例高少数群体（21%）。 第二个目标是增加学生的内容知识和科学素养在本科科学课程的专业发展框架，已经验联系到学生学习K-12设置。 研究问题，这将有助于确定这一目标及其目标是否得到满足：（a）什么是框架知情的学习社区教师的知识，技能，态度和信念的影响？(b)参与框架知情学习社区对教师使用主动学习教学实践的影响是什么？以及（c）教师参与框架知情学习社区对其学生的科学素养和内容知识有何影响？ 研究结果将通过专业STEM协会的教育部门以及通过出版记录该方法实施和成果的手稿进行传播。 参与的教师将被鼓励写一个叙述，描述他们使用新的教学实践和收集的学生学习数据，并提交他们的工作，他们的专业组织的年度会议，和特定学科的科学教育期刊。制作的材料将通过该机构的网站公开提供。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。 通过机构和社区转型的轨道，该计划支持的努力，以改变和改善高等教育机构和学科社区的STEM教育.这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估支持.

This project aims to serve the national interest by understanding how the implementation of a professional development framework designed to improve instructional practice impacts student learning. This study, conducted at a public, broad-access, university has been designed to apply lessons learned from professional development research at both the K-12 level and at the college level. This project is specifically designed to better understand how extensive professional development for STEM faculty across several majors can transform teaching practices and impact student learning in STEM. The framework will be used at California University of Pennsylvania to (a) implement a type of professional development known as learning communities, (b) determine how the characteristics and features of professional development relate to student learning and practices of science faculty, and (c) contribute to evidence on best practices for extending the framework to other STEM departments and higher education institutions. The project’s scope includes two goals. The first goal is to implement and evaluate professional development at a primarily undergraduate institution which is minimally selective (95% acceptance rate), has a low four-year graduation rate (33.6%), and a high percentage of low socioeconomic (42%) and students from minoritized groups (21%). The second goal is to increase students’ content knowledge and scientific literacy in undergraduate science courses with a professional development framework that has been empirically linked to student learning in K-12 settings. The research questions which will help determine whether this goal and its objectives were met are: (a) What is the impact of framework-informed learning communities on instructors’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs? (b) What is the impact of participating in framework-informed learning communities on instructors’ use of active learning instructional practices? and (c) What is the impact of participating in framework-informed learning communities for instructors on their students’ scientific literacy and content knowledge? Results from the study will be disseminated through professional STEM societies’ education divisions and through publication of manuscripts documenting both implementation and outcomes of the approach. Participating instructors will be encouraged to write a narrative describing their use of new instructional practices and collected student learning data, and to submit their work to their professional organizations’ annual meetings, and discipline-specific science education journals. Materials created will be made available publicly through the institution’s website. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities.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.