NSF-AIRE teacher/scholars are appointed in two departments to
serve as a bridge between them in directing research students,
teaching courses and developing new curricula. Each is mentored
by faculty in both departments.
Dr.
Christina Caruso
Dr. Caruso has appointments in the Biology and Mathematics Departments.
Dr. Caruso's research in plant evolutionary ecology focuses on
understanding how environmental variation influences adaptive
evolution in natural populations, using plant-pollinator systems
as models. In collaboration with Grinnell undergraduates Brook
Peterson and Caroline Ridley, she is engaged in a multi-year effort
to estimate phenotypic selection and quantitative genetic parameters
for floral traits of native lobelias growing in contrasting environments.
These data will allow her to test predictions of the effect of
selection on the maintenance of genetic variation, as well as
make environment-specific estimates of evolutionary change. Such
estimates are rarely made, but are critical for accurately predicting
the course of adaptive evolution in species that grow in contrasting
local environments. Dr. Caruso recently presented the preliminary
results from this project at the annual meeting of the Ecological
Society America. In collaboration with Grinnell undergraduates
Kate Ostergren and Davin Remington, she is using milkweed as a
model system to determine if the evolution of floral traits via
male vs. female function varies among pollen- vs. resource-limited
environments, as predicted by sexual selection theory. Although
floral traits of hermaphroditic plants are thought to be selected
primarily via male function, my research may suggest that sex-specific
selection varies with the environment. The results from both of
these studies are being prepared for publication in the journals
Ecology and Evolution.
Dr. Caruso's teaching at Grinnell focuses on (1) integrating the principles of statistics and experimental design into the biology curriciulum and (2) introducing biological examples to statistics classes. In the course of co-teaching Prairie Restoration during Fall 1999, she developed a series of documents to teach the basics of experimental design and statistics to introductory biology students. In collaboration with biology faculty at Grinnell, she revised these documents during Spring 2000 for inclusion in Investigations: A Handbook for Biology and Chemistry Majors (available online). During Spring 2000, Dr. Caruso also wrote a series of lab exercises based on real biological data for the math class Applied Statistics. These labs were meant to appeal to biology majors, who make up more than half of the students in Applied Statistics. In addition, Dr. Caruso guest-lectured in Applied Statistics on analysis of variance (ANOVA), a common statistical technique used in biological studies.
Dr.
Nancy Remple-Clower
Dr. Rempel-Clower has appointments in the Biology and Psychology
Departments. Dr. Rempel-Clower's research investigates the role
of the prefrontal cortex in emotion and memory in the rat. In
humans, damage to prefrontal cortex can cause dramatic changes
in memory and in emotional behavior. Depending on the location
of damage, the behavioral effects can vary widely, suggesting
the prefrontal cortex in humans is a functionally heterogeneous
region. Although much less extensive than in humans, prefrontal
cortex of the rat also appears to be a functionally heterogeneous
region that plays a role in memory and emotion. The contributions
to memory and emotional behavior of specific parts of the rat
prefrontal cortex are currently poorly understood. Dr. Rempel-Clower
uses behavioral techniques to assess changes in various types
of memory, particularly emotional memory, after damage to specific
subregions of the rat prefrontal cortex. In addition, she employs
immunohistochemical techniques to help delineate boundaries of
subregions of rat prefrontal cortex. She mentored one student
over the summer in carrying out an independent research project,
and is continuing to guide his work in a second project for the
fall semester. Over the next year, she plans to involve several
more students in her research program.
Nancy Rempel-Clower taught Neurobiology (BIO 363) with Professor Clark Lindgren in the spring semester and is currently teaching Physiological Psychology (PSYCH 246) with Professor Ken Short. These courses are essentially co-taught, with both instructors present for all lectures and laboratory sessions. Dr. Rempel-Clower gives half the lectures for both courses. In Neurobiology, students spend the first part of the semester in the laboratory learning techniques and concepts. Then they have the opportunity to apply their skills as they work in groups of 2 or 3 to design and carry out a research project over the last few weeks of the semester. Finally, laboratory groups write research papers describing their experimental findings, which are published in a new course journal, Pioneering Neuroscience, which is available on the web. Physiological Psychology does not have a laboratory component. Research is integrated in this course through the discussion of significant research papers that are assigned as reading, and, where feasible, through demonstrations in the classroom.
Dr. Craig Tucker
Dr. Craig Tucker had appointments in the Biology and Chemistry
Departments. Dr. Tucker resigned from his postdoctoral appointment
in biological chemistry on July 1 in order to pursue a non-academic
career centered on influencing public policy on environmental
issues. Dr. Tucker's activities were designed to be strongly focused
on his research during the first year of his appointment and then
on teaching during the second year. Nevertheless, he participated
in Biology Department discussions on curricular development and
in a weekend workshop the Biology and Chemistry Departments had
to develop a handbook for their majors. Dr. Tucker presented a
two-week unit describing the molecular basis of morphogenesis,
a topic closely related to his dissertation research, in a Molecular
Biology course. He also directed a research project carried out
by a biology student Kendra Young during spring semester '00.
They isolated DNA fragments linked to an ADP1 gene that is DNA
damage-inducible. Dr. Tucker helped with sequence analysis of
this locus. During his time here, he was also a helpful resource
to several (6) students doing research projects with Professor
Gregg-Jolly. Their research focused on characterizing a DNA repair
mutant, isolating genes involved in cell division and DNA repair
and understanding the regulation of DNA-damage inducible genes.
Dr.
Earle Adams
Dr. Earle Adams is joining the Chemistry and Biology Departments
in the Fall of 2000 for a two year teacher/scholar postdoctoral
appointment. Since this term will extend beyond the NSF-AIRE funding
period, Grinnell College will assume financial responsibility
for the appointment at the end of the grant. Dr. 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.
Science Faculty Development Summer Seminars
The NSF-AIRE grant sponsored a wide variety of short workshops during the year. Most of these workshops were for a small number of faculty to learn about a particular tool that could be used to integrate research into teaching, but one was a discussion by all the faculty and staff of the Biology and Chemistry Departments to work out what should be included in a joint document on lab and research techniques in those disciplines. A total of 14 faculty members from all departments of the Science Division took advantage of these workshops. The following are descriptions of the NSF-AIRE workshops for the academic year 1999-2000.
Development of a Handbook for Biology and Chemistry Courses
Because of the close interaction between courses required for
the Biology, Chemistry and Biological Chemistry majors, we recognize
the need to speak with one voice about our approaches to doing
and teaching science. In this workshop, faculty and staff from
the Biology and Chemistry Departments will break up into four
groups to work together to formulate drafts of the four major
sections of a proposed Handbook to be given to all our students
in their first courses. The working groups will be (a) Navigating
Courses in Biology and Chemistry the curricula and everyday
keys to success; (b) Undertaking Investigations types of
experimental design, analysis and data presentation, and keeping
a research notebook; (c) Communicating the Results of Scientific
Investigations preparing papers, posters and oral presentations;
and (d) A Primer of Statistical Analysis.
Presentation Tools and Techniques
Several types of presentation software can be employed to assist
researchers in communicating findings clearly and consistently
in an oral format as well as in poster sessions and on the Internet.
We will focus on MS PowerPoint as a tool to accomplish these ends.
Topics covered will include, creating presentations collaboratively,
template creation, and creating flexible presentations. We will
also have an open discussion on teaching students how to use PowerPoint
to present research findings.
Research and collaboration tools at Grinnell I: Documents and
collaboration
This workshop is designed for those who already have a basic understanding
of Microsoft Word who wish to take advantage of the more advanced
layout, editing, and collaborative features to create documents.
This will be a participant driven workshop where faculty can focus
on functions that interest them in a research environment. Topics
that may be covered include annotation, file sharing and collaborative
editing, formatting lists, inserting and creating graphics, and
inserting mathematical formulae.
Research and collaboration tools at Grinnell II: Servers, discussions,
email
The campus offers a variety of ways in which students, faculty
and staff can electronically collaborate and share information.
These include shared server spaces, course web spaces, online
discussion forums, email, listserves and NT user groups. Participants
will learn what these tools are, and how to use them in teaching
and research programs. Participants can share ideas and experience
to learn about how to use these tools and how to adapt them to
fit their pedagogical needs.
Chemistry Drawing Packages
We will examine and evaluate the Chemistry drawing package ISIS
Draw for faculty, staff and student use. We will focus on its
potential as a cross platform program that can be deployed on
campus easily and inexpensively. We will determine what documentation
needs to be developed for 1st and 2nd year students to use ISIS
Draw.
Advanced web techniques
This workshop is designed for those who already have a basic understanding
of how to make web pages who wish to enhance or redesign their
course website. Participants will work together with the science
division's technical secretary and multimedia instructional specialist
to examine the goals of their websites and how the layout and
design can be adjusted or content be included to serve your educational
needs better. Topics covered will include frames, image maps,
file types, CGIs, templates and rapid development techniques.
Integrating the 400 MHz NMR Spectrometer into Teaching and
Research
The Chemistry Department offers a workshop to familiarize science
faculty with the use and new experimental methods of the Bruker
400MHz NMR spectrometer. Three general meetings (one to two hours)
followed by individually arranged two-hour hands-on training sessions
will be held. The first session will familiarize participants
with the computer system and the automated operation of the spectrometer.
The second session will deal with the manual acquisition of data.
The third session will be dedicated to 2-D NMR.
Research and Student Learning Study
We proposed mounting a three-year study of our student/faculty
research collaborations in an effort to describe a model of our
research program and its effects on student learning. We targeted
summer research for study. In the summer of 2000 we completed
our second year of study. Professor David Lopatto supervised three
undergraduate research assistants, who replicated and extended
the progress reported in the previous annual report. Fifty-nine
summer research students were interviewed during the summer. In
addition to information about student expectations, background
and goals, interviewers asked the respondents to answer 14 questions
regarding the actual tasks they undertook during their projects.
Task questions included "Are you comparing an experimental
group with a control group?", "Does your project require
you to put together something or create some new product?"
and "Do you study features of nature?". The pattern
of answers (yes/no) was compared across students. High concordance
rates were found within disciplines, as expected, but across some
disciplines as well, such as for those projects that involved
field work or primary work on a computer. Further analysis will
examine which projects cluster on these 14 questions, and how
student responses regarding their projects compare to their faculty
mentors' responses on the same questions. (view
Lopatto's 1999 presentation)
Dissemination
The research and student learning component results have also been a factor in dissemination of AIRE activities. Professor Lopatto presented the results of the first year of research to the science division faculty in December, 1999 and made the presentation available on the web page . Professor Lopatto also presented assessment research at the 2000 meeting of the Council on Undergraduate Research meeting in Wooster, Ohio in June, 2000 . Professor Leslie Lyons presented an invited talk and proceedings article entitled "Fullerenes in Undergraduate Courses at Grinnell" at a meeting of the Electrochemical Society in Toronto in May, 2000. This talk focused on how a research topic can be integrated into several different chemistry courses.
Next Year's Programatic Activities
During the second year of the grant, the major focus of curricular development was our introductory courses. In the third year that focus shifts to the second-year courses, especially a new course "Introduction to Biological Chemistry," and to advanced level courses in neuroscience and biological chemistry. The Research and Student Learning study begun by Professor will be continued. The scope of this study will be greatly expanded with substantial additional funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes and the National Science Foundation. A major grant from the NSF allows establishment of a long-term collaboration among Grinnell College, Hope College, Wellesley College, and Harvey Mudd College to study student research and assess its effectiveness and contribution to the undergraduate educational experience.
AIRE Project Administration
Grinnell College's NSF-AIRE project is under the direction
of Bruce
A. Voyles, Patricia Armstrong Johnson Professor of Biological
Chemistry, Professor of Biology, and Chair of the Science Division.
To the GC AIRE
Award page
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College Homepage