Promising Practices in Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Summary of Two Workshops (2011) / Chapter Skim
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2 Linking Learning Goals and Evidence
2 Linking Learning Goals and Evidence
Pages 5-20
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From page 5... ...
explained that the American Chemical Society sponsors Chemistry in Context, a longterm curriculum development project. The curriculum breaks the mold of traditional general chemistry courses by integrating key chemistry concepts 5
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In addition, no evidence has been collected on the number of faculty members using the curriculum or about why they select it. Most of the available evidence related to the motivation goals and student knowledge goals is gathered locally by instructors for the purpose of improving instruction and is not disseminated beyond the department or campus.
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At the same time, the global challenge of sustainability drives a need for scientifically and technologically informed citizens and encourages higher education institutions and professional societies to focus STEM curricula on this real-world challenge. For example, the Curriculum for the Bioregion Initiative of the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education has engaged STEM faculty to define sustainability learning outcomes (see http://www.evergreen.edu/washcenter/project.
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He has conducted research on student learning among eight cohorts of freshmen enrolled in an evolutionary ecology course each year from 2000 to 2007, revising the course based on his research. He observed that, because practitioner research incorporates many aspects of traditional scientific epistemology but excludes other aspects, it constitutes a unique and complementary "way of knowing" that can improve science teaching and student learning.
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As a result, there are gaps in the available evidence related to the three student learning goals he listed.
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asked Grant whether he had evidence to support his claim that student scores improved because he had acknowledged and validated their struggles with learning the concepts and had made learning more personal, relevant, and accessible to them. Grant acknowledged that he lacked evidence for the claims and called for research on how students develop a learning community and become motivated to learn science.
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From page 11... ...
Mestre suggested inviting a skeptical faculty member to test his or her students' understanding of basic concepts in the discipline. He predicted that this approach would demonstrate that the students in lecture courses do not understand these concepts as well as ones who have been taught using active learning methods.
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Middlecamp responded to Slakey that a scaffold in Chemistry in Context would be the real-life issue, such as "the air we breathe" or "the water we drink." Grant said that people have very different definitions of the word "scaffold"; he thinks of it as an awareness of one's own learning process and how one builds understanding in response to instruction. Mestre responded that he uses class time to scaffold student learning, drawing on his own expertise, and asks students to read more basic content material outside class.
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Robin Wright explained that her group focused on three types of learning goals for students: (1) core concepts and ways of knowing in the particular STEM discipline; (2)
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• There are many different kinds of evidence related to learning goals and no single best way to collect these kinds of evidence. • Pre- and posttests are valuable to measure change in specific abili ties or attitudes, and grading rubrics are very helpful to ensure that pre- and posttests are graded consistently.
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Redish opened his remarks by using examples from the established field of physics education research to disagree with Adam Gamoran's earlier observation that the evidence underlying promising practices in STEM is primarily local and anecdotal. Redish said research in physics education has been under way for 30 years and that the physics education research community includes a literature base and regular conferences.
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Third, the evidence suggests that a critical element in successfully implementing these instructional environments appears to be getting students mentally engaged. Cautioning that much more research is needed to understand the specific factors involved in student learning of physics, Redish (2008)
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Active learning strategies for teaching large biology classes, based partly on this research, are being actively disseminated. For example, the National Academies Summer Institutes on Undergraduate Education in Biology drew more than 200 participants in 2004-2008, including faculty representing 65 institutions in 36 states.
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From page 18... ...
In this context, King said, faculty members are developing new teaching practices based partly on general cognitive research and partly on findings from research in other STEM disciplines, as well as on findings emerging from geosciences education research. These new teaching practices include promoting active learning, deploying an array of assessment strategies, engaging students in problem solving while in the field, using visualizations and other applications of computer technology, and creating relevant case studies.
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From page 19... ...
Redish agreed and described his own efforts to create assessments that address the higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy, such as by including essay questions and multiple-choice problems that are difficult to answer without a solid conceptual understanding of a physical system. Wood and King discussed the importance of being transparent with students about learning goals and methods as a way to promote learning.
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From page 20... ...
Heidi Schweingruber asked about the relative emphasis in the disciplines on deep conceptual knowledge versus thinking about how students understand inquiry and the nature of science. Redish responded that, although there is strong agreement about the importance of conceptual knowledge, it is integrated differently into the different epistemologies of the disciplines.
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