Discipline-Based Education Research: Understanding and Improving Learning in Undergraduate Science and Engineering

National Research Council

doi:10.17226/13362

Consensus Study Report

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Discipline-Based Education Research

Understanding and Improving Learning in Undergraduate Science and Engineering

(2012)

The National Science Foundation funded a synthesis study on the status, contributions, and future direction of discipline-based education research (DBER) in physics, biological sciences, geosciences, and chemistry. DBER combines knowledge of teaching and learning with deep knowledge of discipline-specific science content. It describes the discipline-specific difficulties learners face and the specialized intellectual and instructional resources that can facilitate student understanding.

Discipline-Based Education Research is based on a 30-month study built on two workshops held in 2008 to explore evidence on promising practices in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. This book asks questions that are essential to advancing DBER and broadening its impact on undergraduate science teaching and learning. The book provides empirical research on undergraduate teaching and learning in the sciences, explores the extent to which this research currently influences undergraduate instruction, and identifies the intellectual and material resources required to further develop DBER.

Discipline-Based Education Research provides guidance for future DBER research. In addition, the findings and recommendations of this report may invite, if not assist, post-secondary institutions to increase interest and research activity in DBER and improve its quality and usefulness across all natural science disciples, as well as guide instruction and assessment across natural science courses to improve student learning. The book brings greater focus to issues of student attrition in the natural sciences that are related to the quality of instruction. Discipline-Based Education Research will be of interest to educators, policy makers, researchers, scholars, decision makers in universities, government agencies, curriculum developers, research sponsors, and education advocacy groups.

Contributor(s): National Research Council; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; Board on Science Education; Committee on the Status, Contributions, and Future Directions of Discipline-Based Education Research; Susan R. Singer, Natalie R. Nielsen, and Heidi A. Schweingruber, Editors

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Suggested Citation

National Research Council. 2012. Discipline-Based Education Research: Understanding and Improving Learning in Undergraduate Science and Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13362.

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Publication Info

282 pages | 6 x 9 |

ISBNs:

Paperback: 978-0-309-25411-3
Ebook: 978-0-309-25414-4

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/13362

Chapters		skim
Front Matter	i-xviii
Executive Summary	1-4
Section I: Status of Discipline-Based Education Research	5-6
1 Introduction	7-18
2 The Emergence and Current State of Discipline-Based Education Research	19-42
Section II: Contributions of Discipline-Based Education Research	43-44
3 Overview of Discipline-Based Education Research	45-56
4 Identifying and Improving Students' Conceptual Understanding in Science and Engineering	57-74
5 Problem Solving, Spatial Thinking, and the Use of Representations in Science and Engineering	75-118
6 Instructional Strategies	119-139
7 Some Emerging Areas of Discipline-Based Education Research	140-162
Section III: Future Directions for Discipline-Based Education Research	163-164
8 Translating Research into Teaching Practice: The Influence of Discipline-Based Education Research on Undergraduate Science and Engineering Instruction	165-185
9 Future Directions for Discipline-Based Education Research: Conclusions and Recommendations	186-204
References	205-256
Appendix: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff	257-264

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