NSF # 2247898
Addressing Water Security: towards Student Retention, Improved Relevance, and Increased Readiness
Principal Investigator: Davida Smyth Co-Principal Investigator:Walter Den
The goal of this project is to address three challenges associated with the Water Resources Science and Technology (WaTR) program at TAMU-SA. First is low enrollment in the program, particularly for women. Second is the opportunity to integrate consideration of local water issues into the existing WaTR and STEM curricula. Third is limited access to opportunities for pre-and in-service professional and career development for students and current water professionals. This project will promote water workforce readiness and advancement for those currently employed in the water workforce. It will improve recruitment by working with admissions personnel and through outreach activities at high schools and community colleges. The project team will work alongside local water utility providers and stakeholders and utilize peer mentoring by current students and alumni of the program, and current graduate students enrolled in the M.S. degree component. The project leaders will develop a sustainable educational pathway of enhanced courses that is amplified through connecting coursework to issues of local concern; student engagement with cutting-edge and emerging water science technology; culturally relevant, context-based pedagogies; field experiences and tours of local plants; and internships with water-related collaborators. Lastly, the project will promote readiness for all students, through community science programs, high-impact projects, classroom-based undergraduate research experiences, and new or revised research-intensive courses to lay the groundwork for research careers and training. Through recruitment, relevance, and readiness, the project seeks to diversify the pre- and in-service professionals addressing water issues in regional, state, national, and international contexts, and to respond to the local pressing issues of water access, protection, and conservation. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build the capacity for transformational improvement at HSIs. Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of the HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) on developing understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs are supported by this program.
NSF # 2126154
Vision and Change in Undergraduate General Education Biology Courses
Principal Investigator: Gordon Uno
Co-Principal Investigator: Heather Rissler, Tamar Goulet, Karla Fuller, Davida Smyth
This project will leverage the national effort, Improvement of General Education Life Science courses (IGELS), that was organized in late 2020. IGELS is comprised of multiple scientists and science educators who teach in, conduct research about, and/or provide professional development for General Education Life Science (GELS) instructors. The IGELS Steering Committee proposes to: 1) survey current instructors of GELS courses across the U.S. to determine the level of their knowledge and implementation of the V&C principles; 2) use the collected information to create a BioLifeSkills guide that can serve as a framework for course revision and a template for tailored professional development and mentoring activities for GELS faculty that reflect relevant aspects of V&C; 3) expand the activities of the national IGELS network, a coalition of individuals and groups to discuss and resolve issues related to GELS courses and to assist faculty teaching GELS courses; and 4) modify useful existing curricular resources and developing a framework of core skills and essential concepts for GELS students to promote scientific literacy. This project will impact several hundred instructors of introductory general education biology courses and thousands of students, however, the groundwork for building sustained professional development, producing a useful curriculum framework, and facilitating future collaborations will greatly multiply the number of those who benefit. IGELS will use its connections with a diverse community of faculty to identify the best ways to promote evidence-based teaching and learning methods for GELS courses that form an infrastructure of equity and inclusion. IGELS work will focus on exemplary programs that improve the relevance of course materials, increase student interest and retention, and promote metacognitive strategies for all students to improve self-efficacy and learning. For GELS students with an interest in science and biology but, for whatever reason, have not chosen biology as a major, this project also may help them find their sole introduction to biology as a first step in an alternative path into STEM-related careers. This project is funded by the Program Description 21-7412, Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education.
NSF # 2345355
HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: Green Chemistry: Advancing Equity, Relevance, and Environmental Justice
Principal Investigator: Nasrin Mirsaleh Kohan
Co-Principal Investigator: Davida Smyth, John Beatty, Gustavo Salazar, Amanda Gonczi
The Advancing Equity, Relevance, and Environmental Justice (G-CHEM) project will 1) Develop introductory general chemistry undergraduate curricula that incorporates green chemistry and environmental justice principles; 2) Contribute to a library of green chemistry experiments for use in the introductory chemistry curriculum; 3) Assess student chemistry-related content knowledge and chemistry interest; 4) Train other HSI faculty to implement green-chemistry curricula. There are two primary measures that will be used to determine impact, Chemistry knowledge and Chemistry Interest. It is anticipated that the scaffolded program will ensure that students have substantial and sustained learning opportunities through modified labs and real-world experiential learning activities. The project will ensure students have the knowledge and skills needed to make informed decisions based on their knowledge of green chemistry while impacting their communities by identifying and addressing issues of environmental justice. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.
NSF # 1827035
RCN-UBE: A National Network for Integrating the Study of Microbiomes into Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences
Principal Investigator: Theodore Muth
Co-Principal Investigator: Avrom Caplan, Davida Smyth
The REMNet will provide and distribute tools for metagenomic analysis tools and lesson plans appropriate for undergraduate classes and will advance our understanding of the diversity of local environmental microbiomes. The REMNet will work closely with the American Society of Microbiology (ASM) at national meetings such as the ASM-Conference for Undergraduate Educators and Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students to recruit new members. Existing microbiome CURE research projects at the City University of New York, the lead institution of the Authentic Research Experience in Microbiology, currently serve hundreds of students from diverse ethnic and academic backgrounds each year; this RCN-UBE project will expand this effort to a national scale as new schools are recruited. The REMNet will broaden participation in microbiome research by undergraduates and will lead to the development of new resources and a standardization of the tools used for microbiome data analysis.