Inclusive Course Design for Enhancing Active Learning in STEM

该项目旨在通过创造有关教师专业发展对学生成功和参与STEM课程的影响的新知识，为国家利益服务。有大量证据表明，包容性教学和循证学习策略可以提高学生在STEM课程中的表现。另外，有充分的证据表明STEM教师发展的最佳实践。然而，很少有研究通过测量教师实践的变化直接将教师的专业发展与学生的成功联系起来。该项目旨在通过针对教师的重点研讨会和跨学科教师学习社区的持续参与，改变一家大型研究密集型机构五个STEM部门的课堂文化。它计划调查教师的专业发展如何以及在多大程度上影响学生的参与和成功，包括教师在研讨会上转变的课程和学生随后学习的课程。该项目旨在研究：(1)教师因专业发展计划而对教学实践产生的变化，(2)教师对所做变化的影响的看法，以及(3)这些变化对学生参与度、归属感和成功结果的影响。对教师实践和看法的分析将通过纵向收集的多个数据流进行三角测量，包括课堂观察、教学工件的文本分析、对教师的教学知识和决策的采访，以及教师对其教学实践的调查。学生数据将包括课程作业的表现、对课程活动的反思，以及在课堂上采集的生物识别传感器数据，以衡量学生的参与度。该项目计划包括5个系（地球科学、化学、数学与统计、物理和生物）的30名STEM讲师，并就研究型教学实践的教师发展的实施和价值向系和学院提供信息。NSF IUSE:EDU项目支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过其机构和社区转型轨道，该计划支持在高等教育机构和学科社区中转变和改善STEM教育的努力。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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by creating new knowledge about the impact of faculty professional development on student success and engagement in STEM courses. There is overwhelming evidence that inclusive teaching and evidence-based learning strategies increase students' performance in STEM classes. Separately, there is ample evidence on best practices for STEM faculty development. However, few studies directly link faculty professional development to student success via measurement of changes in faculty practices. This project aims to change classroom culture across five STEM departments at a major research-intensive institution through focused workshops for faculty and ongoing engagement in an interdisciplinary faculty learning community. It plans to investigate in what ways and to what extent faculty professional development can impact student engagement and success, including both courses transformed by faculty in the workshops and subsequent courses taken by the students. The project intends to research: (1) changes to teaching practice that faculty make as a result of the professional development program, (2) faculty perceptions of the impact of changes made, and (3) the impact of these changes on student engagement, sense of belonging, and success outcomes. Analysis of faculty practices and perceptions will triangulate across multiple data streams collected longitudinally, including classroom observations, textual analysis of teaching artifacts, interviews with faculty about their pedagogical knowledge and decisions, and faculty surveys of their teaching practices. Student data will include performance on course assignments, reflections on course activities, and biometric sensor data taken during class to measure students' engagement. This project plans to include 30 STEM instructors in five departments (geosciences, chemistry, mathematics & statistics, physics, and biology), and to inform departmental and college policies on the implementation and value of faculty development for research-based instructional practices. The NSF IUSE:EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its 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.