Postdoctoral Fellowship: STEMEdIPRF: Development and Implementation of a Novel Measure of Student Evolution Acceptance

进化是生物学的核心解释理论，也是生命科学教学的关键组织框架。关于这一理论的争议可能会抑制学生理解进化作为对地球上生命的统一性和多样性的科学解释的方式的能力，以应对科学挑战。这种理解对毕业后的职业生涯至关重要。该计划旨在通过调查学生对进化论的理解、推理和态度来评估教学策略的有效性，这些策略可以解决学生对进化论的关注。该项目旨在帮助教育工作者开发更有效的教学策略和资源，帮助大学生更好地理解与进化论有关的概念。该项目的目标是：(1)描述本科生接受进化论的情况，并确定学生为其观点提供的理由；(2)开发一种新的调查工具来衡量学生对进化论的接受程度；(3)确定趋势和推理模式。半结构化访谈将与不同的学生样本进行，归纳编码将用于识别相关模式。这项分析的结果将为建立一项调查提供信息，该调查将在多所大学的生物学课程中进行试点，并评估其有效性和可靠性。该项目由STEM教育博士后研究奖学金（STEM Ed PRF）计划资助，旨在提高STEM， STEM教育，教育和相关学科的近期博士的研究知识，技能和实践，以促进他们从事基础和应用研究的准备，从而推进该领域的知识。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。

Evolution is the central explanatory theory of biology and a key organizational framework for teaching and learning in the life sciences. Controversies concerning this theory can inhibit students’ abilities to understand the ways in which evolution functions as is a scientific explanation for the unity and diversity of life on Earth to address scientific challenges. This understanding is critical for post-graduation careers. The proposed project is designed to assess the effectiveness of teaching strategies that address student concerns about evolution through the creation of a survey that would examine student understanding, reasoning, and attitudes relating to evolution. The project aims to help educators develop more effective pedagogical strategies and resources for helping college students better understand the concepts relating to evolution. The goals of this project are to (1) characterize the landscape of evolution acceptance among undergraduate students and identify the reasoning students provide for their views, (2) develop a new survey tool for measuring student acceptance of the theory of evolution, and (3) identify trends and reasoning patterns. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with a diverse sample of students and inductive coding will be used to identify relevant patterns. The results of this analysis will inform the creation of a survey that be piloted in biology courses at multiple universities and assessed for validity and reliability. This project is funded by the STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) program that aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field.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.