GP-EXTRA: Engaging and retaining students in the geosciences at two-year colleges (2YC) through undergraduate research

GP-EXTRA：通过本科生研究吸引并留住两年制学院 (2YC) 地球科学专业的学生

• 批准号: 1600177
• 负责人: Kusali Gamage
• 金额: $ 30.72万
• 依托单位: Austin Community College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-06-01 至 2022-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1600177&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: GP; EXTRA; Engaging; retaining; students

Though research has been recognized as a high impact, inquiry-based practice to engage and retain undergraduate students, it is largely underutilized in the first two years of instruction. At two-year colleges in particular, students have even fewer opportunities to participate in authentic research projects. The Austin Community College (ACC) project includes the development and implementation of: a Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Course (SUREC) and a field activity that engages students in research experience focused on scientific ocean drilling in their first two years of higher education. The significance of the project is that it will capture the attention of incoming undergraduate students by engaging them in a research-based field activity during the school year and further their research experience through an intense inquiry-based learning in the summer. This will advance the mission of the National Science Foundation's Improving Undergraduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) Education - GEOPATHS program by promoting and supporting students to continue in geosciences at the critical junctures.Through a partnership with the University of Texas at Austin, the SUREC program will be open to students in their second year of study. ACC students will conduct research at a laboratory in the department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering (UT PGE). The research experience will begin with guided scientific ocean drilling investigations supported by class explanation, group meetings and related scientific reading assignments. As students identify research topics, lab equipment and procedures, student teams will research more independently. Students will present their research in-lieu of a final exam and also have opportunities to present their work at a local and/or national conference. SUREC and its evaluation materials will be developed over eight months, followed by two years of implementation and evaluation. The field activity will be open to both ACC science and non-science majors in their first or second year of higher education. Through a partnership with Texas A&M University, students enrolled in introductory geoscience courses will take a field trip to the Gulf Coast Repository, where over 100 kilometers of core from the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, and the Southern Ocean are located. Prior to the activity, students will complete pre-field activities including reading articles from scientific journals and exercises that related to the repository. After the visit, students will integrate findings to produce a term paper. The field activity will include four months for development of exercises and evaluation material, followed by two years of implementation and evaluation. By the end of the project, at least 24 second year students will have participated in the SUREC program and 150 first/second year non-science and science majors will have participated in the field activity.

虽然研究被认为是一种高影响力的、以探究为基础的实践，可以吸引和留住本科生，但在前两年的教学中，它在很大程度上没有得到充分利用。特别是在两年制大学，学生参与真正的研究项目的机会更少。奥斯汀社区学院（ACC）项目包括开发和实施：暑期本科生研究体验课程（SUREC）和实地活动，让学生在高等教育的头两年参与科学海洋钻探的研究经验。该项目的意义在于，它将通过在学年期间参与以研究为基础的实地活动来吸引即将入学的本科生的注意力，并通过在夏季进行密集的研究性学习来进一步提高他们的研究经验。这将通过促进和支持学生在关键时刻继续学习地球科学，推进美国国家科学基金会“改善本科科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）教育-地球路径”计划的使命。通过与德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的合作，SUREC项目将向二年级学生开放。ACC的学生将在石油与地球系统工程系（UT PGE）的实验室进行研究。研究经验将从有指导的科学海洋钻探调查开始，辅以课堂讲解、小组会议和相关的科学阅读作业。当学生确定研究课题、实验室设备和程序时，学生团队将更加独立地进行研究。学生将在期末考试中展示他们的研究成果，并有机会在当地和/或国家会议上展示他们的工作。SUREC及其评价材料将在8个月内制定，随后是两年的实施和评价。实地活动将开放给行政协调会理科专业和非理科专业的一、二年级学生。通过与德克萨斯农工大学的合作，参加地球科学入门课程的学生将到墨西哥湾沿岸储存库进行实地考察，那里有来自太平洋、加勒比海、墨西哥湾和南大洋的100多公里的核。在活动之前，学生将完成实地前活动，包括阅读科学期刊上的文章和与存储库相关的练习。访问结束后，学生将整合调查结果撰写学期论文。实地活动将包括四个月的编制演习和评价材料，随后是两年的执行和评价。到项目结束时，至少有24名二年级学生参加了SUREC项目，150名一、二年级非理科生和理科生参加了实地活动。