Postdoctoral Fellowship: STEMEdIPRF: Humanizing biology content to enhance undergraduate learning and intent to persist in science

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

Highlighting the connections between science content and real-world social problems may help encourage more undergraduates to pursue and persist in science programs. Specifically, humanizing content in biology places science in a social context and allows students to grapple with real-world problems of social justice within the field of biology. This project seeks to serve the national interest by describing the prevalence of humanized content in undergraduate biology contexts and measuring the impact of humanized content on student outcomes including content knowledge and intent to persist in science. This project will provide evidence to educators about how and when to incorporate humanized content most effectively, a potentially crucial aspect to increasing persistence in undergraduate science. Humanized content will be used to integrate the science and society core competency into biology courses. Humanizing content allows students to view science in a social context and grapple with real-world problems of social justice within the field of biology. The central objectives of this study are to: Aim 1. assess the extent to which humanized content is prioritized by national societies, education initiatives, and national assessments; Aim 2. describe the extent to which biology instructors humanize content when covering topics related to the environment and genetics; and Aim 3. assess the impact of humanized content on undergraduate learning and motivation-related affective outcomes. This study is guided by culturally relevant pedagogy to develop humanized content and expectancy violations theory to understand the impact of humanization on undergraduate biology students' learning and affective gains. The investigator will assess the presence (or lack) of humanized content in national standards (Aim 1) and a national sample of course materials from introductory biology courses (Aim 2) to illustrate the current prioritization and implementation of humanized content. Through two randomized controlled trials (Aim 3), the project will experimentally manipulate whether students receive humanized content or not and measure learning and affective outcomes such as intent to persist in science and engagement-related emotions. The project has the potential to change the way biology is taught to underscore its connection to society and capacity to be used for helping others. This project is supported by NSF’s STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) Program. The STEM Ed PRF Program aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.