Evolving the culture of biology: Promoting graduate teaching assistant professional development to foster inclusion, efficacy, and evidence-based practices

该项目旨在通过在生物学中实施循证教学实践来服务于国家利益。基于改善本科生物学教育状况的持续需求，研究团队计划为管理人员、STEM教职员工和工作人员开展培训。进化中的生物学文化(ECB)学者将反过来在他们的机构培训研究生和本科生助教。这一努力将通过参与教师专业发展(教学助理--教学专业发展，TA-TPD)，促进研究生助教和本科生助教调整和实施有目的的、包容性的、以证据为基础的教学做法。欧洲央行计划举办一系列六个地区性研讨会，这些研讨会将扩展该团队之前通过NSF本科教育研究协调网络倡议支持的工作。以教师为中心的系统改革(TCSR)模式指导着这一努力。研究和评估活动将调查研讨会的成效以及项目活动和因素与项目预期结果的联系。有三个相互关联的目标：(1)发展区域研讨会，主办研讨会，在四年中接触到来自至少十个独特机构的欧洲央行学者，同时减少差旅费用；(2)邀请每一位欧洲央行学者参与一个植根于背景的反思过程，以发展或加强其机构现有的教学助理专业发展(TA-TPD)活动。(3)使用形成性和终结性目的的混合方法研究设计以及知识的生成来评估研讨会和TA-TPD的有效性。基于以教师为中心的系统改革模式，在评估的同时，研究团队计划进行一项混合方法的研究工作，其指导思想是以下研究问题：欧洲央行计划对欧洲央行学者及其机构有什么影响？参与教学专业发展活动的助教会有什么结果？以经验数据和以教师为中心的系统性改革模式(背景因素、个人因素、教师思维和信念，以及教学实践)为基础的定量描述性方法和定性衍生框架将通过岗位前调查、焦点小组和文件分析收集丰富的数据集。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。通过机构和社区转型轨道，该计划支持高等教育机构和学科社区转变和改进STEM教育的努力。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 implementing evidence-based teaching practices in biology. Based on the ongoing need to improve the state of undergraduate biology education, the research team plans to develop training for administrators, STEM faculty, and staff. The Evolving the Culture in Biology (ECB) Scholars will, in turn, train graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants at their institutions. The effort will be designed to foster the adaptation and implementation of intentional, inclusive, evidence-based teaching practices by graduate teaching assistants and undergraduate learning assistants through participation in teacher professional development (Teaching Assistant – Teaching Professional Development, TA-TPD). A set of six regional ECB Workshops are planned, which will extend the team’s prior work that was supported through the NSF Research Coordination Networks for Undergraduate Education initiative. The Teacher-Centered Systemic Reform (TCSR) model guides the effort. The research and evaluation activities will investigate the effectiveness of the workshops and the association of project activities and factors with the expected outcomes of the project.There are three interconnected objectives: (1) Develop regional workshops that will host workshop ECB Scholars from at least ten unique institutions, reaching a vast number of institutions over the four years, while reducing expenses for travel; (2) Engage each ECB Scholar to participate in a contextually rooted reflective process to develop or enhance existing the Teaching Assistants Teaching Professional Development (TA-TPD) activities at their institutions. (3) Evaluate the efficacy of workshops and TA-TPD using a mixed methods research design for formative and summative purposes and the generation of knowledge. Based on the Teacher-Centered Systemic Reform model and in parallel with the evaluation, the research team plans to conduct a mixed methods research effort that is guided by the following research question: What are the impacts of the ECB program on ECB Scholars and their institutions? What are the outcomes for Teaching Assistants who participation in Teaching Professional Development activities? A rich set of data will be collected through pre-post surveys, focus groups, and document analysis using quantitative descriptive approaches and qualitatively-derived frameworks that are grounded in the empirical data and the Teacher-Centered Systemic Reform model (contextual factors, personal factors, teacher thinking and beliefs, and instructional practices). 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.