Assessment/Research (91) Biological Sciences (61) Intellectual Merit: This project is examining the impact that the development and teaching of biology curricula by undergraduates has on developing a deep understanding of biological concepts and affinity for the discipline. The project is developing this as a model for engaged STEM learning for students within a liberal education. This project is building on four years of prior experience involving students deeply in educational outreach (in biology) to a public elementary school and a public high school. Students design and teach biology curriculum modules as a means to discovering, engaging with, and committing to learning in the biological sciences. Students are pushed to draw on and develop a range of skills and abilities: collaborative problem solving, communication, and flexible thinking. Students immerse themselves in the content and inquiry process fundamental to science in order to communicate with others. Both K-12 and college students have experienced learning gains as a result of this activity. This project is deepening our understanding of these strategies and systematically documenting their impact.
The following questions are being addressed: How does STEM disciplinary learning deepen when undergraduates teach? What key dimensions of learning are enhanced by "Learning by Teaching?" How does "Learning by Teaching" affect these key dimensions in ways other kinds of coursework does not? What scaffolding and infrastructure are needed for "Learning by Teaching" to be successfully integrated into a curriculum? Because the impact on learning from student involvement in curriculum development and teaching is not fully captured by traditional assessments, this project is also developing, assessing, and refining a rubric to analyze the evidence of student learning as documented within the lesson plans they create. Within this rubric, three learning goals are being tracked: comprehension (of disciplinary content and process); flexibility (in the creative transfer and communication of knowledge); and engagement (the qualities of motivation and confidence that aid learning) along a novice-expert competency continuum.
Broader Impact: This project has an unusually broad impact on STEM education by involving multiple student populations: expanding the involvement of traditionally disenfranchised college students in science, deepening the engagement of biology majors in a culminating academic experience, and reaching scientifically underserved public school children with dynamic, inquiry-based science curricula. Evidence has been gathered showing that the partnership is changing teacher practices in the K-12 schools. The dissemination of findings are benefiting from partnerships with the Carnegie Academy for Science Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
