Promoting Motivation for Underrepresented Groups in Undergraduate Biology Courses

描述（由申请人提供）：这是至关重要的，以促进利益和动机，为代表性不足的少数民族（UEM）学生在生物学入门课程，因为这些课程作为一个网关连续的课程和职业生涯在生物医学科学。我们提出了两个社会心理干预的实验场测试：价值观肯定技术侧重于学生的个人价值;效用价值干预侧重于课程内容的价值或有用性。到目前为止，既没有干预措施已经在大学生物课程进行了测试，也没有这些干预措施一起在同一个过程中进行了测试。我们认为，这些干预措施可以结合起来，以促进动机和表现为生物学代表性不足的学生。我们提出了一个大规模的现场实验，2200名学生在介绍生物学课程在华盛顿大学，以及一套补充实验室实验，以检查这些干预措施的工作机制。我们将评估价值肯定和效用价值干预措施的单独和综合影响，在为期一年的介绍生物学序列采取的生物科学专业在UW-麦迪逊。我们将跟踪四个队列（N=2200）的生物学导论学生纵向从他们的入学介绍生物学课程，通过他们从大学毕业。我们的目标是：1）测试价值肯定干预在受威胁群体的生物学入门课程中的有效性（代表性不足的少数族裔学生和第一代学生）的以下结果：课程保留率、课程表现和对生物学的兴趣2）检查受威胁群体生物学入门课程中效用价值干预的有效性，以获得以下结果：3）测试两种干预措施的组合，以确定它们是否相加或协同作用，以促进受威胁群体在生物课程中的动机和表现。此外，我们计划使用纵向设计来测试这两种干预措施对学生随后的课程学习、专业选择和毕业时的职业规划的长期影响，测试我们的假设，即这些干预措施应该有效地促进生物医学职业的动机。最后，我们将通过系统地改变干预措施的参数，并在大规模的纵向现场实验中测量假设的介质，并通过在实验室研究中进行实验研究，来研究这些干预措施的工作机制。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): It is critically important to promote interest and motivation for underrepresented ethnic minority (UEM) students in introductory biology courses, because these courses serve as a gateway to successive courses and careers in the biomedical sciences. We propose an experimental field test of two social psychological interventions: the values affirmation technique focuses on the student's personal values; the utility value intervention focuses on the value or usefulness of course content. To date, neither intervention has been tested in college biology courses, nor have these interventions been tested together in the same course. We believe that these interventions can be combined to promote motivation and performance for underrepresented students in biology. We propose a large-scale field experiment with 2200 students in introductory biology courses at UW, as well a set of complementary laboratory experiments to examine the mechanisms through which these interventions work. We will evaluate the separate and combined effects of Values Affirmation and Utility Value interventions in the year-long introductory biology sequence taken by biological science majors at UW- Madison. We will follow four cohorts (N=2200) of introductory biology students longitudinally from their enrollment in the introductory biology course through their graduation from college. Our goals are 1) to test the effectiveness of the values affirmation intervention in introductory biology classes for threatened groups (underrepresented ethnic minority students and first-generation students) for the following outcomes: retention in the course, course performance, and interest in biology 2) Examine the effectiveness of the utility value intervention in introductory biology classes for threatened groups for the following outcomes: retention in the course, course performance, and interest in biology, 3) Test the two interventions in combination to determine whether they work additively or synergistically to promote motivation and performance in biology courses for threatened groups. In addition, we plan to test the long-term effects of both interventions on students' subsequent course-taking, choice of major, and career plans at graduation, using a longitudinal design, testing our hypothesis that these interventions should be effective in promoting motivation for biomedical careers. Finally, we will examine the mechanisms through which these interventions work, by systematically varying the parameters of the interventions and measuring hypothesized mediators in the large-scale, longitudinal field experiment and by conducting experimental research in laboratory studies.