high-impact learning: undergraduate research from freshman experience to senior capstone, and back...
TRANSCRIPT
HIGH-IMPACT LEARNING:UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
FROM FRESHMAN EXPERIENCE TO SENIOR CAPSTONE, AND BACK AGAIN
GORDON E. UNODEPT. OF MICROBIOLOGY AND PLANT BIOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA
LIFE IS NOT ABOUT FINDING YOURSELF
LIFE IS ABOUT CREATING YOURSELF
CONVERGENCE OF NATIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATION “REFORM” PROJECTS
• College Board’s Revision of All Advanced Placement (AP) Science Courses (Bio, Chem, Phys, Env Sci)
plus History, Languages and Culture
• HHMI List of Competencies for Incoming and Graduating Medical Students
• Vision and Change (AAAS and NSF project)
• Next Generation Science Standards from the NRC
• Introductory Biology Project (IBP): ibp.ou.edu
WHAT DO THESE PROJECTS HAVE IN COMMON?
1.Focus On Student Outcomes: Competencies (What do we want our students to know, understand, and
be able to do?)2.Emphasis On Skills And Investigation
(Critical Thinking, Inquiry, and Science Process; Authentic Research)3.Attention To Learning And Understanding (Student-Centered Classes; Metacognition; Appropriate Assessments; Dealing with Misconceptions; Mathematics Preparation)4.Using Evidence-based Activities (What Works?)5.Content: Less Is More; Use of Themes Throughout
What Can Students Do With Their Knowledge? (Connect to Other Concepts and Disciplines; Interdisciplinary Synthesis; Apply Knowledge to New Situations)
AACU’s LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes
Beginning in school, and continuing at successively higher levels across their college studies, students should prepare for 21st century challenges by gaining:
KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN CULTURES AND THE PHYSICAL AND NATURAL WORLD
Through study in the sciences, mathematics, social sciences, humanities, histories, languages, and arts
Focused by engagement with big questions, both contemporary and enduring
INTELLECTUAL AND PRACTICAL SKILLS
Inquiry and analysisCreative and critical thinkingWritten and oral communicationQuantitative and information literacyTeamwork and problem-solving
Practiced extensively, across the curriculum, in the context of progressively more challenging problems, projects, and standards of performance
PERSONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Civic knowledge and engagement – local and global
Intercultural knowledge and competenceEthical reasoning and actionFoundations and skills for lifelong learning
Anchored through active involvement with diverse communities and real-world challenges
INTEGRATIVE AND APPLIED LEARNING
Synthesis and advanced accomplishment across general and specialized studies
Demonstrated through the application of knowledge, skills, and responsibilities to new settings and complex problems
AACU HIGH-IMPACT PRACTICES: HELPING STUDENTS REACH LEARNING OUTCOMES
1) First-year Seminars and Experiences
2) Common Intellectual Experiences
3) Learning Communities
4) Writing Intensive Courses
5) Collaborative Assignments and Projects
6) Undergraduate Research
7) Diversity/Global Learning
8) Service Learning, Community-based Learning
9) Internships
10) Capstone Courses and Projects
WHY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH?
Improves student retention
Increases/maintains student interest in discipline
Active form of teaching/learning that stays with student (powerful teaching/learning tool)
Other reasons??
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUALITY MENTOR OF UNDERGRADUATE INVESTIGATORS?
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH MENTORS ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO STUDENTS?
The Mentor:1) is knowledgeable about the student’s project2) is well known professionally3) is intellectually brilliant4) has external funding5) is enthusiastic6) works at the frontiers of knowledge7) is available to student8) provides feedback on student progress9) provides clear expectations
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH MENTORS ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO STUDENTS?
The Mentor:1) is knowledgeable about the student’s project**2) is well known professionally3) is intellectually brilliant4) has external funding5) is enthusiastic**6) works at the frontiers of knowledge7) is available to student**8) provides feedback on progress**9) provides clear expectations**
WHO CAN MENTOR?
Faculty---of all kinds
Post-doctoral Fellows
Graduate Students
Seasoned Advanced Undergraduates (Peers)
Student Advisors
Local/Regional Members of the Community
WHAT ARE SOME KIND OF CAPSTONE EXPERIENCES?
Research Paper/Thesis on Independent Study
Poster/Presentation at Professional Meeting
An Original Performance/Exhibit of Artwork
Portfolio of Best Work
Class/Seminar
Internship
OTHERS??
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD CAPSTONE?
For instance, debates and piano recitals are quality high-impact practices. Are they good capstone activities?
CAPSTONE QUESTIONS
Does the work have to be original/creative and make a contribution to the discipline?
Does the work have to be interesting to both the student and the mentor?
Does the work have to be presented to and evaluated by the “public” or “peers?”
Does the work have to have a social or real-world aspect to it?
WHAT SHOULD BE THE GOALS FOR A CAPSTONE?
LET’S BREAK UP INTO GROUPS…..
1) Natural Sciences
2) Humanities
3) Social Sciences
4) Interdisciplinary
A Capstone Should…..
Allow students to integrate and apply what they learned throughout their undergraduate experience.
Cement a student’s disciplinary affiliation and provide a rite of passage into the profession.
Are you trying to develop a “Mini-Me?”
CAPSTONE GOALS
ALL CAPSTONES ARE CHARACTERIZED BY….Mentorship—collaborative interaction, mentor guides
student into deeper intellectual engagement
Originality—entirely or partially, meaningful contribution to discipline
Acceptability—employ appropriate techniques and methodologies of discipline
Dissemination—product peer-reviewed, critiqued, judged by disciplinary standards
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE STUDENT?
What skills do you want your students to use/develop during capstone?
What do you want your students know, value, and be able to do by the end of the capstone?
WHAT ARE THE FIVE MOST IMPORTANT COMPETENCIES OF STUDENTS AT THE
END OF THEIR CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE?
(IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY KNOW, UNDERSTAND, VALUE, AND CAN DO)
How would you recognize a successful capstone student?
AS YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT COMPETENCIES……
Moving Students From Passive Consumers of Knowledge/Art…to Active Producers of Knowledge/Art
Moving Students From Naïve, Dependent Investigators…to Competent, Confident, Independent Investigators
Moving Students From Being Students to Being Teachers
STUDENT COMPETENCIES
DESIRABLE COMPETENCIES OF YOUR SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS
Ask unique/relevant questions Survey a field and find an empty niche Apply knowledge to new situations Make connections between ideas or concepts Appreciate, accept, and use evidence Be creative and innovative Work well with others Understand and use the major concepts and investigative process of the discipline Use critical thinking skills effectively and often
CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
• Observe and Ask Good Questions• Hypothesize and Predict• Design an Investigation• Collect, Process, and Interpret Data• Draw Conclusions• Infer and Generalize• Communicate/Discuss• Relate Cause and Effect (vs. correlation)• Recognize Assumptions and Evaluate• Apply Knowledge to New Situations• Determine What You Don’t Know
QUESTIONS ABOUT IMPLEMENTING HIGH-IMPACT PRACTICES
Is once enough? Must it be repeated? If so, how often?
When to introduce in student’s program?
How do you scaffold experiences throughout a degree to prepare a student for the culminating activity?
Providing feedback—what kind, when? By whom?
How do we prepare faculty to implement high-impact practices?
How do you get more faculty to participate (ramping up)?
WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN IN THE FRESHMAN EXPERIENCE TO HELP POINT STUDENTS TOWARD THEIR CAPSTONE?
Intentionality How do we as a college/university become more intentional about the preparation of our students for a capstone experience?
FRESHMAN SEMINAR1) Expose students to the methodologies, practices and results of the discipline2) Read and review scholarly and peer-reviewed papers3) How to keep research records/notes4)How to use equipment/library/literature/
master works 5)How to write an abstract/summary6) How to identify a research question7) Introduce on-campus research/scholarly/
creative activities
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1) What do you want your students to know, value, and be able to do at the end of your program?
2) What learning outcomes/competencies are most desirable/beneficial for your students?3) What are the best high-impact practices/interventions to help your students? 4) How do you set the bar high enough to challenge
students without eliminating many of them before they even start?
5) How do you know where your students are in relation to your/their goals?
MORE QUESTIONS
6) How do you get more students involved?7) What are student barriers to overcome?8) Should you focus on program-level
or individual interventions?10) How do you know what your students know
and can do?11) How can you tell if you are “successful?”
(What are you going to evaluate?)
EVEN MORE QUESTIONS
12) What is the best progression of classes/experiences for students in your program?13) How do you link the 1st course in the discipline
to the capstone—what is the pathway? 14) Do you need to connect with colleagues in regional high schools? 15) How do you get colleague buy-in?16) How do you make your program systemic and
sustain it? 17) How does your program fit into other majors
on your campus?
PROMOTE A CAMPUSWIDE COMMITMENT TO CHANGE
Mobilize all stakeholders (students to administrators) to commit to improve the quality of undergraduate education
Support the development of a community of scholars dedicated to advancing sciences and science of teaching
Advocate for increased status, recognition, and rewards for innovation in teaching and improving student success
Require graduate students on training grants to participate in training in how to teach
Provide teaching support and training to all faculty, but especially postdoctoral fellows and early-career faculty
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH RESOURCES
Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR)www.cur.org“How to Mentor Undergraduate Researchers”“Broadening Participation in Undergraduate
Research”CUR Focus Quarterly/CUR Focus on the Web
AACU High-Impact Practices
Others??