The major focus of Grinnell College's NSF-AIRE grant is to encourage
interdisciplinary collaboration in the sciences. Science is an
evolutionary process in which disciplinary boundaries break down
and new avenues of inquiry arise that blend together formerly
distinct areas. If Grinnell College is to graduate science students
who can link knowledge between disciplines to search out new knowledge,
we recognize that we must reduce our strong departmental identities
and become more interdisciplinary. The task is well begun. The
Biology and Chemistry departments have introduced a new major
in Biological Chemistry whose core courses will be jointly developed
and taught by faculty in both departments. In addition, a neuropsychologist
is working with a neurophysiologist to develop interdisciplinary
courses in neuroscience. This project will be further assisted
by a newly-hired biochemist who research involves characterization
of the structure and function of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.
To encourage and support these sorts of interdisciplinary collaborations and to measure their efforts, we are using our AIRE award in three programs.
Postdoctoral Teacher/Scholar Fellowships
A major component of our AIRE grant is establishing four postdoctoral teacher/scholar fellowships to strengthen interdisciplinary efforts in the sciences in four ways. First, since the Fellows have academic appointments in two departments, they can function as catalysts for establishing long-term collaborative teaching and research between those departments. Second, since they teach regular courses they are in a position to introduce new investigation and new techniques into the classroom while their mentors assist them in providing content and pedogogical advice. Third, the Fellows allow us to include more students in our ongoing student/faculty research programs and to offer a wider variety of research experiences. And fourth, we believe that the Fellows will carry their experiences of engaging students in doing science both in and out of the classroom to the institutions where they begin their careers.
We have appointed three NSF-AIRE Fellows. They are Earle Adams in molecular biology/biochemistry, Nancy Remple-Clower in neuroscience, and Christina Caruso in biostatistics. All three had extensive undergraduate research experiences that were formative in their decisions to become scientist/teachers. The search for a material scientist was unsuccessful and we have been unable to appoint a suitable person in that area. We are now conducting a search for a postdoctoral fellow who would hold appointments in the Psychology and Mathematics departments. This Fellow would work with Dr. David Lopatto, Professor of Psychology, on his study of student/faculty research collaborations (see below) as well as teach statistics.
Earle Adams' background is at the interface of biology and chemistry with an emphasis on physical methods. His undergraduate and graduate training were in chemistry departments, with specialization in NMR structure determination of biological molecules. His current postdoctoral work at Yale University is in the School of Medicine where he has developed NMR techniques for studying in vitro and in vivo metabolites of drugs. His interdisciplinary training provides the chemistry department with expertise in current biophysical research at the time that they are participating in course development for a new biological chemistry major.
Dr. Adams will work with Professor Elaine Marzluff, a physical chemist. Professor Marzluff's research uses mass spectrometry to probe protein structure and interactions. This is a complementary technique to NMR, so Dr. Adams will participate in these projects. In addition, the Chemistry Department has recently installed a new 400 MHz Bruker NMR. Dr. Adams will bring new NMR methodology to Grinnell College in his work with students on protein structure.
Dr. Adams will participate in course development for Grinnell's new biological chemistry major, especially a new "Introduction to Biological Chemistry" course. Physical chemistry is a required course for the Biological Chemistry major and Dr. Adams will work with Professor Marzluff to develop new modules and laboratories to reflect the increasingly biological interests of students in that course. He will also be involved in teaching the course and laboratories. In addition, he will participate in our non-majors chemistry course and have the opportunity to sit in on biology and chemistry courses at Grinnell. It is Dr. Adams goal to teach chemistry and biological sciences at the undergraduate level so this teaching and research experience, in addition to providing Grinnell with new expertise, should give him a good foundation t from which to work.
Nancy Remple-Clower has a B.A. degree in psychology from Bethel College in Newton, Kansas, where she conducted research on factors influencing maternal behavior in sheep. She earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of California, San Diego, looking at human amnesia and a non-human primate model of human amnesia. Her graduate research was funded by a NSF graduate fellowship. During a research postdoctoral appointment at Boston University, Dr. Remple-Clower turned to neuroanatomy while studying the organization of the prefrontal cortical connections with temporal cortices and the hypothalamus.
In her first semester at Grinnell (Spring, 2000), Dr. Remple-Clower will co-teach a course in neurobiology with Dr. Clark Lindgren, Associate Professor of Biology. In addition to preparing and delivering some of the lectures, preparing and grading exams, and preparing and running laboratories, Dr. Remple-Clower will work with Dr. Lindgren to set the overall organization, philosophy, and extent of topics and methods covered in the course. In her second semester (Fall, 2000), Dr. Remple-Clower will co-teach a physiological psychology course with Dr. Ken Short, Assistant Professor of Psychology. In her third and/or fourth semester(s), she will co-teach one (or two) new neuroscience course(s) with Drs. Lindgren and Short. The new neuroscience course(s) will be designed with Dr. Remple-Clower input during her first two semesters at Grinnell. If this AIRE project is successful, the new course(s) will replace the current neurobiology and physiological psychology courses and will serve as the starting point in developing a Neuroscience curriculum at Grinnell College.
Christina Caruso earned her B.A. in biology at Oberlin College, doing an honors thesis project analyzing electrophoretic variation and germination requirements in a population of Viola macloskeyi. Her Ph.D. research in ecology at the University of Illinois looked at the effect of environmental variation on adaptive evolution in plant-pollinator interactions. Dr. Caruso is interested in using quantitative genetic techniques to predict evolutionary change in plant populations experiencing different selective pressures.
Dr. Caruso will be collaborating with Assistant Professor Jackie Brown (Biology) to introduce beginning students to basic statistical concepts in a new "Introduction to Biological Inquiry" course. She will also collaborate with Professor Tom Moore (Mathematics) in shaping the topics and examples covered in an intermediate level statistics course, "Applied Statistics", to reflect techniques commonly used in the discipline. She will direct student research into how natural selection on quantitative traits in plants is influenced by competition from other species. These studies emphasize experimental manipulation of densities and advanced statistical techniques. Dr. Caruso will also be able to teach at least one section of Math 115 (Introductory Statistics) for her second year
Science Faculty Development Summer Seminars
The objective of these seminars is to give science faculty from all five departments in the division the opportunity to meet together to develop their ideas and efforts toward integrating research into their classes and enhancing students' participation in their personal research programs. Each seminar is designed to address a specific question or problem. The first seminar of this series was held last June. Ten faculty (five biologists, two chemists, a computer scientist, a psychologist and the assistant director of the Science and Mathematics Learning Center) wrestled with the role, if any, of students as laboratory teaching assistants and/or peer mentors in classes taught in inquiry and workshop formats. The workshop labored to develop a pair of job descriptions for teaching assistants and mentors that detailed what types of guidance students who hold those positions should provide to students, and as importantly, what they should not provide. This goal proved elusive, however, so the participants agree to meet again when they have all had more experience teaching in the new format.
Research and Student Learning Study
We have mounted a three-year study of our current student/faculty research collaborations in an effort to describe a model of our research program and the effects of the program on student learning. Specifically, we targeted summer research for study. As proposed, Prof. David Lopatto supervised four undergraduate research assistants in the first year of this effort. Approximately eighty students working in the science division departments (biology, chemistry, mathematics and computer science, physics, and psychology) under the supervision of thirty faculty members were interviewed at the beginning of the summer. Students were tracked at the midpoint of their ten-week summer research experience and interviewed again as they finished. A full set of interview data for about 65 students was obtained. The information obtained from these interviews has been gathered and formatted into a PowerPoint presentation (view the presentation). A few generalizations have emerged already, including:
1. The selection process for summer research students, comprising both a formal application and informal negotiations with faculty, works effectively to provide a group of students who are well prepared and who have high expectations for success. Only one student withdrew from the program. Fewer than half-dozen others expressed serious criticism of their experience.
2. Faculty use a variety of tactics to find a middle ground between structuring a successful project and allowing students to have input on projects.
3. In the initial phase of the projects faculty-student interactions are intense. Faculty sometimes work side by side with student researchers for five or six hours per day. Later in the project, students work more independently.
4. Most faculty arrange for small groups of students to work as teams or as members of the same laboratory community. While this strategy allowed students to become a "community of learners," peer group relations emerged as an important variable affecting student satisfaction. In the few cases of dissatisfaction students cited their student peers as a reason for their unhappiness.
5. Science faculty have experienced a change in culture. Most faculty now see the summer research projects as opportunities to teach rather than free time to pursue personal research. The summer research projects are integrated with oral presentations, poster sessions, and papers. Faculty universally set improved oral and written presentation skills as a goal for students. Students, however, seldom mention this goal.
6. Approximately 75% of the students did not reach their goal of completing a project. This lack of closure appears to be a motive for the students to continue in their chosen area in the next semester.
7. All students reported using the summer experience as an opportunity to test their graduate school and career plans. One student decided not to major in science. A few students decided to change topics of study within a science. For most students, however, the summer research project affirmed their current plans to continue in science.
A broadened research effort, not proposed in the grant proposal, grew out of an AIRE/RAIRE directors meeting in June. A group organized by Jim Swartz, Dean of the College at Grinnell, met after the official meeting and decided to collaborate on a cross-college survey of the benefits of summer research. Grinnell College created a listserver for the sharing of information. Aided by the sage advice of educational consultant Elaine Seymour, representatives from Grinnell, Harvey Mudd, and Wellesley have posted faculty comments on the benefits and essential features of undergraduate research opportunities. Prof. Lopatto has undertaken to show the commonalities of these responses across colleges.
James E. Swartz, Principal Investigator andVice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College outlined the College's research program assessment project at the April Dialogue sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research.
Next Year's Programmatic Activities
The first year of our AIRE grant allowed us to hire our postdoctoral teacher/scholars, begin our discussions of curricular issues, and initiate our assessment program. In the coming year these activities will all move into high gear.
AIRE Project Administration
Grinnell College's NSF-AIRE project is under the direction of Bruce Voyles, Professor of Biology and Chair of the Science Division.
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