Discipline-Based Education Research Understanding and Improving Learning in Undergraduate Science and Engineering (2012) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 The Emergence and Current State of Discipline-Based Education Research
2 The Emergence and Current State of Discipline-Based Education Research
Pages 19-42
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From page 19... ...
. At this time, the focus was on the quality of science education based on the judgment of disciplinary experts rather than on a research program to improve that quality.
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The rise of PER was probably a result of the national concern about science education in the late 1950s and 1960s, which led to the involvement of natural scientists in efforts to improve science education (Cummings, 2011; Matthews, 1994)
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From page 21... ...
With several national and international topical meetings for PER each year, physics education researchers have clearly become a vigorous community. 1 For the policy statement, see http://www.aps.org/policy/statements/99_2.cfm [accessed April 19, 2012]
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From page 22... ...
Currently, PER is published primarily in the two AAPT journals, American Journal of Physics and The Physics Teacher, or in the APS journal, Physical Review Special Topics -- Physics Education Research. Although PER has expanded in the 40 years of its existence, it is still a fledgling field (Cummings, 2011)
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From page 23... ...
In 1994, the Gordon Research Conferences established the "Innovations in College Chemistry Teaching" conference, now the "Chemistry Education Research and Practice" conference, to feature the frontiers of cutting-edge CER. The Journal of Chemical Education (published by the Division of Chemical Education of the ACS)
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From page 24... ...
Some other federal and private funding programs that support bench chemistry research do not typically invite CER proposals. The Emergence of Engineering Education Research Although engineering shares many teaching and learning concerns with the science disciplines -- after all, engineering students take about one-third of their courses in science and math -- it is markedly different from other fields.
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From page 25... ...
Engineering education research has a strong presence in the Educational Research and Methods Division of the American Society for Engineering Education and at their two yearly conferences. The annual Research on Engineering Education Network conference is entirely devoted to engineering education research, and the Collaboratory for Engineering Education Research6 provides online communities and resources for EER scholars analogous to On the Cutting Edge in the geosciences (described under "The Emergence of Geoscience Education Research")
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From page 26... ...
argues that future progress for EER will involve collaboration with experts in a variety of other disciplines, including psychology, education, and communication. The Emergence of Biology Education Research Similar to physics, chemistry and engineering concerns about the quality of biology education emerged at the start of the twentieth century.
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; Advances in Physiology Education (established 1996) ; and Cell Biology Education, later renamed CBE-Life Sciences Education (established 2002)
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In 1996 an NSF advisory panel on geoscience education recommended that the Directorate for Geosciences and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources both "support research in geoscience education, helping geoscientists to work with colleagues in fields such as educational and cognitive psychology, in order to facilitate development of a new generation of geoscience educators" (National Science Foundation, 1997)
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From page 29... ...
in GER through their college of education, college of science, or a combination.9 Employers of geoscience education researchers are primarily large state universities. Geoscience education researchers find collegial support in the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT)
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From page 30... ...
For many decades, JGE was primarily a journal for geoscience faculty to exchange teaching ideas and pedagogical content knowledge. In 2001, the journal began a regular column on research in education, applying ideas from other DBER fields to geoscience education.
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This section addresses the current status of the DBER fields, with an emphasis on individuals and programs housed in disciplinary departments. Our discussion is guided by a taxonomy developed by Fensham (2004)
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We elaborate on the structural criteria here because they offer a useful framework for creating a more coherent picture of the current status of DBER across the fields of physics education research, chemistry education research, engineering education research, biology education research, geoscience education research, and astronomy education research. Academic Recognition Fensham's (2004)
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From page 33... ...
. This pathway into DBER is particularly common in newer fields such as biology education research, geoscience education research, engineering education research, and astronomy education research.
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More work is needed to understand the trajectories of students who complete graduate study in chemistry education research, engineering education research, biology education research, geoscience education research, and astronomy education research. 14 For a description of BER graduate programs, see https://saber-biologyeducationresearch.
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From page 35... ...
Although a small number of DBER postdoctoral positions arise through individual or institutional grants, no specific funding program currently exists to support DBER postdoctoral fellows. The best insights into postdoctoral positions in DBER can be gleaned from an analysis of the NSF Postdoctoral Fellowships in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education (PFSMETE)
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From page 36... ...
The proportion of border crossers in each discipline of DBER varies, and quantifying how many self-identified discipline-based education researchers arose through this frontier path is difficult because the relevant data have not been systematically collected or compiled. A clear need exists to follow the academic trajectories of border crossers, as well as those DBER scholars whose graduate training was in a formal DBER program.
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From page 37... ...
Most DBER-specific journals (e.g., American Journal of Physics, Chemistry Education Research and Practice, Journal of Biological Education, Journal of Chemical Education) have less status, with impact factors below 0.80, or in the case of the Journal of Geoscience Education, are not included in impact factor indices.
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From page 38... ...
The most common situation across the fields of DBER is for a disciplinary department to have one discipline-based education researcher on the faculty. Within a few universities, organizational structures or centers support DBER scholars and foster DBER scholarship, for example, the Center for Research on College Science Teaching at Michigan State University and the Center for Research and Engagement in Science and Mathematics Education at Purdue University.
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From page 39... ...
network.17 On these campuses, CIRTL engages graduate and postdoctoral students and faculty members in the exploration of best practices for undergraduate teaching and learning in science and engineering. The Science Education Initiatives at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the University of British Columbia18 promote collaborative DBER across five science departments in a variety of ways, including through the education of postdoctoral science teaching fellows.
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From page 40... ...
One example is a joint effort between the geoscientists at Carleton College's Science Education Research Center and a group of biology education researchers working on genomics education curriculum development and research.19 Additionally, the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) -- initially developed to measure novice-to-expert-like perceptions in physics learners -- was adapted for chemistry and biology learners as a result of collaborations among DBER groups at the University of Colorado and the University of British Columbia (Semsar et al., 2011)
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From page 41... ...
Professional societies have a role to play in both establishing and disseminating professional standards, as is happening in physics education research and chemistry education research. Biology education research faces the particular challenge of communicating with more than 100 professional biological research societies within the United States.
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From page 42... ...
These border crossers are particularly common in the fields of biology education research, geoscience education research, and astronomy education research. • Conducting DBER and using DBER findings are distinct but inter dependent pursuits.
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