EAGER Germination: What we talk about when we talk about big ideas: Using case studies to train PhD students in ideation and questioning processes

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This project from the University of Iowa seeks to develop courses for training graduate students in scientific ideation and questioning to address societal challenges, using case studies of scientists who achieved major breakthroughs. The project builds on successful pilot studies of teaching ideation and questioning, and seeks ultimately to develop formalized teaching modules that could be disseminated for use beyond the University of Iowa. This study has two potential Broader Impacts. Firstly, the training programs under development may inculcate in all participants a deepened ability to relate scientific research to societal needs. Secondly, the training programs may make scientific idea-framing and questioning processes more visible and accessible to underrepresented groups, including first-generation students, facilitating their engagement with STEM careers, and thereby diversifying and strengthening the scientific workforce.This project will use case studies of celebrated, high-achieving scientists for training graduate students in ambitious scientific ideation and questioning tethered to societal needs. Two different approaches will be compared in parallel to identify their affordances and limitations. The first is a semester-length course that will step chemistry and engineering graduate students through processes of ideation and question development using a well scaffolded 16-week framework. The second approach involves an informal drop-in weekly seminar/workshop (Reading-Writing Workshop; RWW) that will run for a year. Both courses will share some elements, including employing case studies to enable the students to tease out the processes of ideation and questioning, leveraging social scientists to provide larger perspectives on societal needs, and introducing a conceptual framework that connects critical societal needs to the guiding questions of physical science research communities. Case study work will include reviewing papers, memoirs, letter, and oral histories of significant scientists to explore their processes of idea generation, questioning of key assumptions, and integration of disciplinary approaches. The underlying hypothesis is that through considering ways in which important scientific ideas and questions are generated graduate students will develop both increased desire and increased ability to formulate and engage with important questions. Outcome evaluation will include Likert-based and qualitative assessments based on existing instruments for measuring student learning. The PIs expect that this research will lead to the development of flexible-use, "inoculatory" teaching modules for seeding a vigorously inquisitive, opportunity-seeking, broad-minded culture in groups or departments.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.