Student Noticing of Quantitative Data in Introductory Biology Labs

许多技能通常是在生物学入门课程和实验室中教授的，对于成为一名生物学家来说，这些技能非常重要。其中一项技能就是定量推理。定量推理是在生物学背景下使用数学概念的能力，包括处理和解释数字和图形数据。然而，许多生物学入门课程的学生很难将数学课和其他课程中教授的定量推理技能应用到这些生物学背景中。这项拟议的项目旨在了解学生如何在生物入门实验室学习和应用量化技能，方法是通过访谈和观察来表征学生在学习量化推理时注意和注意的内容，产生新的知识，使学生如何将量化技能从其他课程转移到生物环境中。这些结果将为如何最好地支持学生在生物课堂上学习定量推理提供洞察。此外，通过参加会议和研讨会，并与导师和顾问委员会合作，该项目将为研究人员提供专业发展和学习STEM教育研究的定性方法的支持。开创性的愿景与变化报告将定量推理确定为本科生物学学生的核心能力之一。尽管它很重要，但很少有研究学生如何在生物学背景下学习定量推理的工作，过去的大多数工作都是评估具体的干预措施或衡量学生对定量推理的态度。这个项目将考察学生如何通过探索学生将知识从数学转移到生物课堂来学习定量推理。该项目将使用学生注意框架来调查学生在生物入门实验中创建、分析和解释图形数据时所识别和感知的内容，并探索这种学生注意的差异如何影响知识的传递。该项目将解决以下两个研究问题：1)学生在生物入门实验中学习量化技能时注意到的主题、模式和过程是什么(即，识别、回忆和应用于其他上下文)？2)学生注意到的差异如何影响学生量化技能的学习？拟议的项目将包括对学生使用他们在生物入门实验室收集的定量数据进行的记录观察，从而能够表征学生的焦点中心。该项目还将包括半结构化面试，允许更多地探索学生的焦点中心。经过验证的工具将被用来衡量学生的定量推理能力和兴趣，并将跟踪变化，看看焦点中心的差异如何影响定量推理的学习。将举行大声思考面试，以进一步确定学生在处理量化数据时的重点。这些数据将对学生在创建和分析图形数据时所感知的内容产生有价值的见解，从而获得更多关于学生如何将知识转移到生物中的信息。最后，该项目将使PI能够通过有针对性的指导和参加讲习班和会议来发展关键的质量技能。该项目由NSF的STEM教育研究中的EHR核心研究能力建设计划(ECR：BCSER)支持，该计划旨在建设研究人员开展高质量STEM教育研究的能力。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。

Many skills are typically taught in introductory biology lectures and labs and are important for success as a biologist. One of these skills is quantitative reasoning. Quantitative reasoning is the ability to use mathematical concepts in biological contexts, which encompasses processing and interpreting numerical and graphical data. However, many students in introductory biology struggle to apply quantitative reasoning skills taught in math classes and other classes to these biological contexts. The proposed project seeks to understand how students learn and apply quantitative skills in introductory biology labs by using interviews and observations to characterize what students notice and attend to when learning quantitative reasoning, generating new knowledge into how students transfer quantitative skills from other classes to biological contexts. These results will provide insight into how to best support student learning of quantitative reasoning in biology classes. In addition, through attending conferences and workshops and working with the mentor and advisory board, the project will provide the investigator with professional development and support for learning qualitative methods for STEM education research.The seminal Vision & Change report identified quantitative reasoning as one of the core competencies for undergraduate biology students. Despite its importance, there have been very few works examining how students learn quantitative reasoning in biological contexts, with most past work instead assessing specific interventions or measuring student attitudes towards quantitative reasoning. This project will examine how students learn quantitative reasoning by exploring students’ transfer of knowledge from mathematics to biology classes. The project will use the student noticing framework to investigate what students recognize and perceive when creating, analyzing, and interpreting graphical data in introductory biology labs, and explore how such differences in student noticing shape the transfer of knowledge. The project will address the following two research questions: 1) What themes, patterns, and processes are students noticing (i.e., recognizing, recalling, and applying to other contexts) when learning quantitative skills in introductory biology labs? 2) How do differences in this student noticing influence students’ learning of quantitative skills? The proposed project will involve running record observations of students working with the quantitative data they collect in introductory biology labs, allowing for characterization of students’ centers of focus. The project will also involve semi-structured interviews, allowing for more exploration of students’ centers of focus. Validated instruments will be used to measure students’ quantitative reasoning ability and interest, and changes will be tracked to see how differences in centers of focus may influence learning of quantitative reasoning. Think aloud interviews will be held to further determine students’ centers of focus when working with quantitative data. These data will generate valuable insight on what students perceive when creating and analyzing graphical data, leading to more information on how students transfer knowledge into biology. Finally, the project will allow the PI to develop key qualitative skills through targeted mentoring and participation in workshops and conferences. The project is supported by NSF's EHR Core Research Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER) program, which is designed to build investigators’ capacity to carry out high-quality STEM education research.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.