A scientific thinking skill-based curricular overlay for introductory psychology at 2-year and 4-year colleges

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Willamette University a $389,544 Project Grant through its STEM Education (formerly Education and Human Resources) program (CFDA 47.076) to develop, evaluate, and disseminate a Skill-Based Curricular Overlay (SBCO) for introductory psychology courses at 2-year and 4-year colleges. The SBCO aims to bolster scientific thinking skills in addition to content coverage, meeting the recognized need to incorporate stronger scientific thinking training in introductory STEM courses. The project will generate research-validated materials that can be easily incorporated and adapted by instructors with diverse experience and teaching in various settings, serving as a replicable framework for skill-based training applicable to other scientific skills and disciplines. The award period is from Oct 1, 2023 to Sep 30, 2026. No sub-awards are planned for this project.

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest through improved education in first-year college science courses. Recognizing the importance of repeated, scaffolded practice, the project introduces and assesses a novel curricular approach to training scientific skills, applied here to three scientific learning outcomes specific to introductory psychology. In particular, this engaged student learning: level i project will generate a set of research-validated materials that can be incorporated and adapted by introductory psychology instructors with a range of teaching experience and teaching in a variety of contexts including both 2- and 4-year college settings. As an innovative approach to scientific skill training, the curricular approach designed by the project also serves as a replicable framework for skill-based training that can be applied to other scientific skills and/or disciplines. The overarching goals of the project are to develop, evaluate, and disseminate a skill-based curricular overlay (sbco) to bolster scientific thinking in introductory psychology courses at 2-year and 4-year institutions. This will meet the need, recognized by the american psychological association and other stem disciplinary organizations, to incorporate stronger training of scientific thinking skills in introductory courses, in addition to content coverage. Using backward design, the sbco systematically identifies precursor skills and subskills of key scientific thinking learning outcomes and targets them in a scaffolded, iterative way, including aligned class examples, homework assignments, and exam questions relevant to the main content domains of introductory psychology. A plug-and-play structure and accompanying instructor guides will allow an instructor to easily graft the sbco onto existing course structures with minimal course revision or need for new technology or special resources. In order to ensure materials are responsive to different instructional contexts and student needs, development and evaluation of the sbco will occur in two distinct settings: at a 2-year and 4-year college. Throughout development, input from student and faculty advisory boards at both institutions will be considered through a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) lens to ensure fairness and accessibility of materials for all students who enroll in undergraduate introductory psychology courses. A comprehensive assessment plan will provide a summative assessment of the effectiveness of the sbco at both institutions prior to broader dissemination to the teaching community. The NSF iuse: EDU program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of stem education for all students. Through the engaged student learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. 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.- subawards are not planned for this award.