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Evaluating and Improving Lake Champlain NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program
Program Goals & Approaches • A ten-week research experience for undergraduates to study the
ecological and socioeconomic impacts of humans on Lake Champlain • An interdisciplinary, cooperative model that promotes integrated
thinking across disciplines within the natural and social sciences
Evaluation Goals • Student development of scientific traits and aptitudes • Students’ career trajectory in STEM fields (summative) • Program delivery and effectiveness (formative)
Composition Goals & Student Recruitment To recruit undergraduate student from underrepresented groups, limited research opportuni5es at home ins5tu5ons, and across age ranges and majors.
In 2014 we received 160 applications and selected ten individuals according to composition goals (see Fig. 1). Six females. The cohort represented eight majors across all grades (see Fig. 2).
Contact Informa,on: Jason Stockwell, University of Vermont, Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory, 3 College St., Burlington, Vermont 05401; 802.859.3095; [email protected]
The University of Vermont
THE RUBENSTEIN SCHOOL
OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES BETH WHITE, TAMMY KOLBE, AND JASON D. STOCKWELL, UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT “My REU was a big turning point in my life. It prompted me to change schools, to pursue more research experience, and to have the ability to focus in on a more specific
area in my field. It made me realize that graduate studies would likely be an important stepping-stone in my career.” -2014 Lake Champlain REU Participant
WHITE (6)
BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN (1)
ASIAN (3)
HISPANIC/LATINO/A (2)
NOT HISPANIC/LATINO/A (8)
Recommendations from 2014 Program Evaluation • Increase diversity of applicant pool with more focused efforts to
recruit from universities that serve underrepresented groups • Incorporate interviews into the selection process • Advertise detailed project descriptions on the REU website • Adapt workshops to be more hands-on, participatory-based, and
experiential • Formalize peer-to-peer and mentor-protégé check-ins regarding
research plans, goal setting, and career advising
Highlights from 2014 Students’ Self-Reported Gains • Increased self-confidence and appreciation for science • Improved ability to problem solve, communicate, and collaborate • Improved technical skills • Insight into the research process and the university environment
Experience Mentoring High School Students Two REU students worked directly with high school students from UVM Upward Bound, and found the experience to be positive.
Publications & Presentations from 2014 Each student presented: • To a multiage, general public audience at ECHO Lake Aquarium • To other students, community partners, and faculty members at the
end-of-the-summer Student Research Symposium
Sugla, M., P. Isles, and J.D. Stockwell. 2015. A zooplankton respiration model to evaluate lake metabolism estimates from high-frequency sensor data. IAGLR 58th Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research, Burlington, VT.
Tillotson, N., J.E. Marsden, and D. McCabe. 2015. Zebra mussels in Lake Champlain prior to quagga mussel invasion. IAGLR 58th Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research, Burlington, VT.
Scheinert, S., Zia, A., J. He, R. Kujawa, and C. Koliba. 2014. Value of water quality and public willingness to pay for water quality policy and project implementation. Vermont EPSCoR report, Burlington, VT.
Future Directions for Evaluation Our in-depth focus groups provide formative data that compliment the URSSA and help us improve the delivery and effectiveness of the program.
If funding is renewed after the third year, we plan to streamline evaluation and reporting by solely utilizing the URSSA.
Additional tools to capture longitudinal impacts of the REU program are in the design-phase and will also be implemented on a yearly basis.
What are the 2014 REU Cohort Doing Now? • Five are still undergraduates; one received a NOAA Hollings
Scholarship to conduct physical oceanography research in Alaska, and another is studying abroad at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
• One is pursuing a Ph.D in Environmental Fluid Mechanics. • Several are teaching in various traditional and non-traditional
settings (e.g. hands-on science in New York City, ecotourism in Puerto Rico, and English in Chile).
-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ Acknowledgements: Support for this program was provided by the Na5onal Science Founda5on (Award DBI-‐1358838) and the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. We thank all faculty, post-‐doc, and graduate student mentors for their generous 5me and effort. Michael McDonald provided excellent addi5onal mentoring in all aspects of science.
Figure 1. Self-reported race and ethnicity; first-generation; and Pell status of 2014 Lake Champlain REU program participants.
FIRST GENERATION (2)
NOT FIRST GENERATION (8)
PELL ELIGIBLE (4)
NOT PELL ELIGIBLE (6)
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES (4)
ENGINEERING (2)
BIOLOGY (2)
MARINE BIOLOGY (1)
PHYSICS (1)
Figure 2. Academic majors of students from 2014 cohort.
Key Evaluation Instruments: Focus Groups & Survey We administered three focus group interviews at the end of the program, where students reflected on (see Fig. 3): • Most significant gains • Interdisciplinary focus of the program • Level of instruction and direction provided by mentors and staff • Expectations vs. experience; and recommendations
We also administered the Undergraduate Research Student Self-Assessment (URSSA), a NSF survey for REU evaluation. We added several questions to address our program goals, including critical thinking, communication, and professional development workshops.
Figure 3. A depiction of the three 2014 focus groups where students from diverse backgrounds and majors provided qualitative feedback on the 10-week program.
“Ge$ng high school students to mentor helped a lot because it made me get my stuff down really well…[T]o teach someone you have to know and be confident in what you do. [O]nce I got high school students to teach, I felt beEer about my own way of doing lab methods.”
-‐ 2014 REU ParPcipant
