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

guno@ou.edu

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??