Evaluating the impact of an open-data-based lessons and course-based research experiences on student knowledge, skills, and attitudes

该项目旨在通过研究学生在教授有丝分裂（生物学的基础概念）的新课程单元中使用开放数据和科学工具时的学习结果，为国家利益服务。先前的研究表明，基于课程的本科研究经历（CUREs）和其他形式的主动学习可以加深对科学主题的理解，提高学生对科学职业的保留率，并为学生带来其他积极成果。然而，主动学习和治愈在规模上具有挑战性，后者通常需要使用实验室设备和材料，而这些设备和材料通常分布不均。为了应对这些挑战，该项目将开发基于主动学习和CURE的课程单元，这些课程单元使用来自艾伦研究所的免费在线开放数据和工具。此外，项目团队将开发一个标准化的概念清单来衡量学生对有丝分裂的理解，使用概念清单调查这些课程对学生学习成果的影响，并最终发布教学工具和研究结果。该项目的关键创新将是a)促进对开放数据作为一种教学工具对学生态度和知识的影响的理解，b)创建和发布经过验证的基于开放数据的课程，以及c)开发和发布关于有丝分裂的经过验证的概念清单（CI），这是一种用于捕获学生对某个主题核心概念理解的工具。如果将开放数据用于主动学习或完全虚拟的CURE会对学生的学习和态度产生显著的好处，这表明开放数据可以在教学环境中使用，以降低进入和保留科学研究的一些社会和经济障碍，并增加获得该领域有影响力的经验的机会。这项研究的结果将为跨主题的教学提供信息，说明开放数据对学生科学思维、学习参与、知识保留和在该领域的持久性的影响。该项目的目标是系统地评估在课堂环境中使用开放数据和研究工具对学生理解、科学思维、信心和态度的影响，特别是在学习有丝分裂的生物过程的背景下。该项目中使用的开放数据和工具之前是由艾伦研究所的一个部门艾伦细胞科学研究所制作的，其中包括数千张高分辨率、荧光标记的活体人类细胞3D图像，以及附带的可视化和定量分析工具。这项研究将把这些开放资源的有效用例和影响扩展到教育领域。该项目将产生两个主要产品：a)两个关于有丝分裂的课程，使用开放数据进行主动学习或用于CURE，也将在研究结束时作为开放教育资源（OERs）发布；b)一个关于有丝分裂的经过验证的CI。这些产品将用于量化这些不同课程对学生的科学思维技能、有丝分裂知识（用CI测量）、对自己知识的信心、继续学习的兴趣和其他态度结果的影响。本研究旨在将治愈的好处扩展到没有实验室选择的环境中，并为对实施治愈感兴趣的教育工作者提供新的工具和选择。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。通过其参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。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 studying learning outcomes when students use open data and scientific tools in novel curriculum units that teach mitosis, a foundational concept in biology. Prior studies have indicated that course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) and other forms of active learning led to deeper understanding of scientific topics, improved retention in science careers, and other positive outcomes for students. However, active learning and CUREs are challenging to scale, and the latter usually require access to lab facilities and materials which are often inequitably distributed. To address these challenges, this project will develop active learning-based and CURE curriculum units that use free, online open data and tools from the Allen Institute. In addition, the project team will develop a standardized concept inventory for measuring student understanding of mitosis, investigate the impacts of those curricula on student learning outcomes using the concept inventory, and ultimately release both the teaching tools as well as the research results. The key innovations of this project will be a) to advance understanding of the impacts of open data as a teaching tool on student attitudes and knowledge, b) to create and release validated open-data-based lessons, and c) to develop and release a validated concept inventory (CI) on mitosis, a tool used to capture student understanding of core concepts on a topic. If use of open data for active learning or a full virtual CURE generates significant learning and attitude benefits for students, this indicates that open data may be used in teaching settings to lower some of the social and economic barriers to entry and retention in scientific research and increase access to impactful experiences in the field. The findings from this study would inform teaching across topics on the impact of open data on student scientific thinking, engagement with learning, retention of knowledge, and persistence in the field.The goal of this project is to systematically evaluate the impact of using open data and research tools in a classroom setting on student understanding, scientific thinking, confidence, and attitudes, specifically in the context of learning the biological process of mitosis. The open data and tools used in this project have been previously produced by the Allen Institute for Cell Science, a division of the Allen Institute, and include thousands of high-resolution, fluorescently-tagged 3D images of live human cells with accompanying visualization and quantitative analysis tools. This study would extend the validated use cases and impact of these open resources into the world of education. This project will produce two primary products: a) two curricula on mitosis using open data for active learning or for a CURE, which will also be released as open educational resources (OERs) at the end of the study, and b) a validated CI on mitosis. These products will be used to quantify the impact of these variant curricula on students’ scientific thinking skills, knowledge of mitosis (measured with the CI), confidence in their own knowledge, interest in continuing study, and other attitudinal outcomes. This study aims to extend the benefits of CUREs to settings where a laboratory-based option is not available, and to provide new tools and options to educators interested in implementing CUREs. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its 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.