Innovations in Social Science Learning: The Poverty in Tucson Field Workshop

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The Poverty in Tucson Field Workshop Model creates an immersive methodological experience for undergraduates in the social sciences. It provides students with specific data collection and analytical skills applicable to a variety of professional STEM careers. Undergraduates will experience firsthand the challenges of data collection and management. This field workshop is a type of course-based research for undergraduates. The design seeks to draw on the possible synergy between classroom learning and independent research, broadly considered by educators to be a transformative approach within STEM education. It does this by creating direct conceptual linkages between materials presented by instructors and hands-on student experiences. In this approach, undergraduates work in small groups to analyze the data they collected using a conceptual design they created, providing personal ownership of both data as well as the results. This is a process that is believed to enhance the overall learning experience. The specific goal of this project is to create a more methodologically rigorous social science course and assess its 1) effectiveness among enrolled students, 2) impact on student STEM-related learning, 3) scalability for inclusion of similar immersive courses within other university colleges and departments, and 4) transferability to other institutions. This type of methodological coursework is best suited for local field sites that offer local opportunities to begin integrating semester-long research experiences.