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Editors’ Introduction
Linda Kauffman, Teaching Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences
Janet Stocks, Assist. Vice Provost for Education
Carnegie Mellon University
By integrating research activities into the mainstream of undergraduate education, educators are transforming the way they and their students think about the college years. The challenge of research has become part of undergraduate education. Student scientists and engineers are engaged in cutting-edge research, student artists are writing new operas, student historians are exploring archives for new understandings of adolescent violence. Many more students participate in learning linked to discovery through inquiry-based activities in courses at every level and in every discipline. These discovery and research activities have invigorated the undergraduate curriculum, and effectively prepared students for the world in which they will live and work by challenging them to work collaboratively to ask questions and explore unstructured problems.
Reinvigorating the Undergraduate Experience: Successful Models Supported by NSF's AIRE/RAIRE Program is a collection of case studies from the institutions recognized by the National Science Foundation for their success in integrating research into undergraduate education. These institutions are private as well as public, Research I universities and four-year colleges, urban and rural, large and small and geographically diverse. While different, the programs implemented at these institutions were each successful in engaging more undergraduates in inquiry-based learning activities. The programs designed for these diverse schools show us what specific undergraduate populations will respond to, what changes an institutional culture will accept, and what dedicated and innovative educators can accomplish. This collection is an answer to the 1998 Boyer Commission Report which called for a fundamental rethinking of the way undergraduate education is conceived and delivered, and can be a guide for achieving the goals of the National Science Foundation.
Background
In 1997, the National Science Foundation awarded three-year grants of $500,000 to 10 research-intensive universities "with the intent of stimulating new thinking on how to better link research with education." These Recognition Awards for the Integration of Research and Education (RAIRE) were given to the Universities of Arizona, Delaware, Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, and to Carnegie Mellon, Duke and Kansas State Universities, the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and the State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNY). In the following year, a second set of Awards for the Integration of Research and Education (AIRE) were given to 10 baccalaureate institutions that excelled in providing undergraduates with an experience rooted in the process of discovery. The AIRE awardees were Coastal Carolina University, Colby College, Grinnell College, Harvey Mudd College, Hope College, Oberlin College, Occidental College, Reed College, Union College and Wellesley College. Each of the 20 grants were used to continue innovative work in bringing research into the education of undergraduates, and to document, communicate and share the outcomes of these efforts nationwide.
The National Science Foundation RAIRE and AIRE awards are part of a larger effort being undertaken by many educators around the country to expand student involvement in research or discovery-based activities, by which young people can develop skills they can use for life-long inquiry and learning. NSF's 1994 Strategic Plan called specifically for "support of activities which infuse education with the joy of discovery and an awareness of its connections to exploration through directed inquiry, careful observation, and analytical thinking for students at all levels." In 1997, Norman L. Fortenberry, Director of NSF's Division of Undergraduate Education pointed out that "the distinction between research and (self) discovery/inquiry is one of audience, not process ... Indeed, the only fundamental difference between research and inquiry-based learning is the prior state of knowledge of the broader community. In research it is unknown by all; in inquiry it is only unknown by the learner."
Purpose of the Collection
This volume details the many ways that research and inquiry-based education can be implemented. This set of case studies can serve many purposes; most importantly, it can be a significant practical resource to institutions of all kinds interested in enhancing connections between research and education. The variety of programs, courses and reorganization schemes we report provide models suitable for many different institutions. By including practical suggestions for implementation and describing the pitfalls and difficulties, we hope to support change in other institutions. This collection can also be a stimulus for expanding thinking about what can be defined as research by looking at success in unusual settings, and with unlikely student populations.
These chapters can be found in two forms. Short summaries of each of the chapters are in print form and can be
ordered online using the online publication order
form. More expanded versions of each chapter, along with links to related websites,
are here.
Some of the chapters found in this collection report on what the schools did that they might not have been able to do without the influx of funds from the RIARE or AIRE awards. In these cases we’ve asked the authors to comment on what might be done by schools who do not have these funds. Other chapters focus more on activities taking place at these institutions that led to their successful competition for the RAIRE or AIRE award. In these cases we’ve asked the authors to briefly report how the NSF funds were used.
In each case we have asked the authors to evaluate the results of their programs. In some cases, a formal evaluation was conducted and results are shared from that analysis. In cases where a formal evaluation was not conducted, we have asked authors to reflect on what they and their institutions have learned from the experience of integrating research and education.
The Practice of Integrating Research and Education
Some colleges and universities have a long history of involving undergraduates in faculty-mentored research or in curricular use of primary data, while others are just getting started. As educators continue to develop and implement research-rich educational programs, there are a number of recurring questions. How do we manage large classes when we use primary data in our teaching? How do we engage our faculty in what promises to be more time-consuming forms of education? How do we stimulate faculty mentored student research in the humanities, arts and social sciences? What constitutes research or scholarship in fields such as architecture, design, music or modern languages? How can research activities be appropriately modified for K-12 education or for outreach projects in the community? In this volume we give examples of how some institutions and faculty have attempted to find answers. In some cases, the attempts were not completely successful, but understanding these experiences can help us define our goals and devise appropriate programs and curricula.
We have divided these chapters learned into three broad areas:
Strengthening and broadening undergraduate research efforts on campus
Faculty and curriculum development
Outreach
Below is a brief overview of what you will find in each of these sections.
Strengthening and broadening undergraduate research efforts on campus: Many undergraduate research opportunities, at both the RAIRE and the AIRE schools, began as a result of individual faculty in the sciences who involved undergraduates in the research they were doing. Often only the brightest upper-level students could participate. Since these students had taken enough courses to be well grounded in the fundamental knowledge of the discipline, faculty felt that they could learn quickly enough to be a good investment. Applying this model to students at different points in their college careers, to students other than the top performers, or to students in disciplines beyond the sciences, has been a challenge at most institutions.
The University of California at Los Angeles has developed a variety of programs targeted to different populations of students. For example, their Student Research Program (SRP) is for entry-level students and involves approximately 900 students in faculty-mentored research in all disciplines (but 80% in the sciences). Their Undergraduate Research Associates Program (URAP) recruits humanities graduate students to mentor undergraduate research projects in the humanities. Other programs are focused on underrepresented minorities, on students conducting senior theses, or on summer research opportunities.
At Wellesley College, a focus on students in the social sciences has created opportunities for summer research projects that are similar to those previously only available to students in the natural and physical sciences on campus. At the University of Arizona and Union College, students are encouraged to pursue research projects abroad through programs that help make connections with researchers in other countries working on projects closely related to the students’ research on campus.
Several schools, including Union College and Carnegie Mellon University, grant funds directly to students to help them offset the expenses of conducting research. Students must write research grant proposals that are reviewed by faculty committees on campus to obtain these funds. Funds are also available for conference attendance and for stipends for full time research during the summer.
More and more schools, as reported by Hope College, Union College, Carnegie Mellon and Stony Brook, are organizing undergraduate research symposia on their campuses. These annual events typically include poster presentations, oral presentations, performances and art exhibits and are many times accompanied by a published abstract book which documents the extent and variety of research taking place on campus. These institutions feel that a public, community celebration of undergraduate research helps to draw more students and more faculty into the undergraduate research efforts on campus even as it provides for dissemination of research results.
At Reed College, undergraduate students are trained as Peer Mentors by conducting research during the summer between their junior and senior years (or sometimes between their sophomore and junior years) in close collaboration with a faculty advisor. During the following academic year, these students work with their faculty advisors to mentor younger students both in the classroom and to support their involvement with undergraduate research projects.
As the pressure on institutions to develop or enhance undergraduate research opportunities increases, so does the call for assessments of the impact of undergraduate research. The University of Michigan, whose Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) was developed as a strategy to increase retention of underrepresented students, has conducted a multi-method longitudinal study of the impact of undergraduate research experiences on the retention of students and on their lives after graduation. Hope College has collaborated with Grinnell, Harvey Mudd and Wellesley Colleges on an assessment of the impact of undergraduate research on student learning. Oberlin College required all faculty receiving new course development grants from their AIRE funds to participate in a workshop about assessing the outcomes of these new courses.
Faculty and curriculum development: Whether using problem-based learning in a course or working with primary data to teach astronomy to 300 students in a general education classroom, most of the faculty engaged in this effort are teaching in ways that they themselves were not taught. Faculty members are challenged to be effective mentors, to learn to manage a large class of collaborative groups, and to develop new curricula that engage a variety of students. Several chapter address how the use of teaching fellows or student assistants have supported faculty in these endeavors. Union College, SUNY Stony Brook, Oberlin College and the University of Delaware have created internal funds available to faculty who are designing new curricula that infuses research-like experiences into classroom teaching. This support builds a collection of approaches and content that can inspire and influence other faculty members.
Many schools are looking at their general education requirements and rethinking what a general education should be, given the complexity of the world and the work our students will face. Duke University did a comprehensive, university-wide review of their approach to general education and developed a new model that not only included specific content areas, but also encompasses more general intellectual skills and broad dispositions toward learning. Harvey Mudd College, the University of Missouri at Columbia, Hope College and Grinnell College have all been involved with the design or redesign of courses in order to break down disciplinary boundaries and explore skill and content areas that require interdisciplinary thinking and work. The design and teaching of these courses often stretch the faculty involved in new ways, beyond the disciplinary training that they themselves received.
At the University of Oregon, a very large introductory astronomy class for non-majors is now learning through analysis of primary data with all the noise, ambiguity and uncertainty that is typical of real science. This type of course is a challenge for faculty to design and sometimes a struggle for students to accept, but the learning that takes place is exciting and engaging.
As institutions become convinced that undergraduate research and inquiry-based learning have merit, they also struggle with how to get more faculty members involved. Carnegie Mellon, by establishing an undergraduate research program that reaches all the colleges and divisions, from engineering to theater, has been able to change the faculty culture so that now a majority of faculty are involved in mentoring undergraduates engaged in research. Stony Brook has been successful at changing institutional structures so that the supervision of undergraduates is recognized in annual reports and in promotion decisions.
Colby College used its AIRE grant to hire post-doctoral teaching fellows who helped current faculty by teaching, mentoring and establishing new technologies, while they honed their own teaching and research skills. Hope College used some of its AIRE funds to partially fund faculty who chose to conduct sabbaticals on their campus, where they formed collaborations with Hope faculty that bolstered curriculum reform.
The University of Kansas and Hope College have programs that focus on the professional development of K-12 teachers. Both pre-service and in-service teachers are encouraged to integrate discovery-based methods in the education of their students. Summer workshops and school-year courses have been designed to expose teachers and future teachers to primary research so that they can infuse research into teaching and learning at the pre-college level.
Outreach: Our institutions are all located in communities that could benefit from the research resources and capabilities on our campuses. Coastal Carolina University and Occidental College have taken research into their communities, primarily by working with high school teachers and students to collect and analyze primary data relevant to topics of concern in their communities.
Coastal Carolina University has spearheaded a community water-quality monitoring program in which high school students collect and analyze samples from local streams and rivers. High school teachers are trained during the summer months in the methods and background of this project. During the school year, students work to understand the water quality in their region and propose action plans to improve areas they find problematic. Data from this collection is sometimes used by Coastal Carolina undergraduates in their own undergraduate research projects. These undergraduates have also been involved in the development of curricula with K-12 teachers at a local environmental center.
Occidental College worked with local high school students and their teachers to undertake an academic-year-long research project focused on the scientific topics relevant to their local marine environment. Using a research vessel owned by the college, high school students could design and conduct experiments on the characteristics and quality of the near-shore marine environment. Teachers participated in a two-week long training experience that led to the development of curricula that would engage their students in marine research.
Conclusion
One recurrent theme throughout these chapters is that it is the process, rather than any product or even specific content, that is of value in undergraduate research and discovery-based learning. Learning the process of inquiry in any field provides students with the tools they need to pursue further education. Allowing students to tackle unstructured problems, even at the expense of learning a traditional cannon of facts, provides them with the process knowledge they will need to use in an increasingly complex world where new information must be tested and incorporated with dexterity.
Copyright
© 2003 Council on Undergraduate Research. All rights reserved.
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