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With issues like climate change, antibiotic resistance, and a global pandemic, scientific evidence is becoming increasingly important in public policy debates. Yet, many of these debates take place with little emphasis on scientific evidence or are based on misinformation portrayed as fact. Why do we struggle to engage with scientific data? Drs. Offerdahl, Arneson, and Cavagnetto research how students interpret and use biological data to make sense of contemporary issues facing our society.<\/p>\n RISE researchers will investigate how students work collaboratively to make sense of real biological data and then use that data to defend their ideas about complex biological problems. RISE researchers will analyze survey and student performance data from a re-designed large-lecture introductory biology course to understand how students in collaborative groups make sense of scientific data and how this effects student learning of core biological principles. Through this project, RISE researchers will develop skills in basic statistical analysis and qualitative analysis. RISE researchers will also learn more about advanced topics in biology as well as best practices for teaching in undergraduate biology.<\/p>\n Faculty Research Mentors:\u00a0 Drs. Offerdahl, Arneson, and Cavagnetto<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) are recognized for their potential to increase access to research in undergraduate STEM. While CUREs are becoming increasingly widespread there have been few systematic studies of the processes by which CUREs are adopted, implemented, and sustained. Most descriptions of CURE implementation have been about liberal arts colleges and research-intensive universities. There has been a noticeable lack of research on CURE development and implementation in minority-serving institution (MSI) and two-year contexts. A few studies have identified common barriers to CURE adoption (e.g., time, equipment, money), but few have examined the skills and pedagogical support required by faculty as they integrate CUREs into their curricula. The process through which faculty decide to adopt new instructional approaches is often unique, affected by both personal and contextual factors. Increasing more widespread CURE adoption and sustainability will be facilitated by understanding the supports, challenges, and barriers across institutional contexts because institutions can have quite different infrastructures and support for teaching innovation, which are likely to affect instructors\u2019 decisions to adopt and continue using CUREs. The overarching goal of this project is to investigate the processes by which CUREs are adopted, implemented, and sustained. RISE researchers will analyze a wide range of data including surveys, course assessments, and lab artifacts. Through this project, RISE researchers will learn qualitative and quantitative research methods, including descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses.<\/p>\n Faculty mentor:\u00a0 Dr. Offerdahl with Diane Ugwu<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Research shows that relatively simple efforts in the classroom and in instructors’ communication with students can have a strong, positive impact on students\u2019 ability to persist in the face of difficulty. For example, values exploration and experiential activities expose students to collaborative opportunities that increase belonging and provide new perspectives. Resilience-building classroom interventions can be successfully scaled up to reach large numbers of students, and they are even more effective with those at higher risk for failure or withdrawal. Additionally, the skills students developed by students as a result of these classroom approaches — problem solving, good communication skills, collaboration, and conflict navigation — are highly desired by employers. Resilience-building strategies are especially effective with students at highest risk for failure, including historically marginalized populations, first-generation students, and women in STEM disciplines. The goal of this project is to understand how STEM instructors build academic resilience in STEM learning environments after participating in a faculty professional development experience called LIFT.<\/p>\n Faculty mentor:\u00a0 Dr. Offerdahl with Lillian\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Senn<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Physics and Your World<\/em> is a college level conceptual physics course for education majors preparing to teach elementary and middle school science. Dr. Guy is developing new activities for the unit on waves to better align with the Next Generation Science Standards. In a recently developed activity, students construct a spectrometer out of a cereal box, diffraction grating, and smart phone camera and then use the spectrometer to explore the wave properties of light. In this project, the RISE researcher will analyze pre\/post instruction multiple choice survey data on students\u2019 concepts of wave properties and qualitatively analyze the students\u2019 written responses to open ended assignment prompts. Results will be used to evaluate the curriculum effectiveness and direct further curriculum development and improvements.<\/p>\n Faculty mentors:\u00a0 Drs. Guy, Kelton, and Offerdahl<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Engaging undergraduate students in the process of authentic scientific discovery has been shown to promote multidimensional learning gains, science literacy skills, and excitement about scientific discovery. While many faculty engage individual or small groups of undergraduate students in their research, this learning model can be scaled up to entire laboratory sections or multiple-sectioned lab courses to have a greater impact on undergraduate science education. These experiences emphasize the interdisciplinarity of scientific investigation, and although less-studied, engaging in research that is motivated by questions emerging from local communities (community-based research) is thought to magnify curiosity, motivation and interest in scientific discovery for diverse groups of students. This project aims to assess the learning outcomes of authentic research experiences of students within the context of the Principles of Animal Development course from 2015-2020 at Washington State University. In this class, students conducted experiments to determine how early development was affected by exposure to chemicals commonly found in local neighborhoods and streams. This research had both conservation and biomedical implications, and students needed to synthesize information from environmental biology, physiology, and developmental biology. RISE researchers will conduct quantitative and qualitative analysis of pre- and post-course surveys, science literacy assessments and writing samples to determine how these experiences affected the understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of science, as well as the learning of disciplinary content, science literacy and critical thinking skills, and attitudes about science.<\/p>\n Faculty Research Mentors:\u00a0Drs. Crespi, Arneson, Offerdahl<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dr. Kelton conducts research on integrating the arts into STEM learning environments, particularly in informal settings such as libraries and after-school programs. This is part of a broader STEM-to-STEAM movement that examines the potential for the arts to help broad audiences get interested in STEM. The Health Education through Arts-Based Learning (HEAL) project develops arts-based science programming for rural, predominantly Latinx agricultural communities, with a long-term goal of increasing representation of Latinx communities in STEM careers. HEAL programs are geared toward 3rd<\/sup>-5th<\/sup>graders and focus on health sciences. For example, in a program called Buzzing for Blood, children learn about mosquito biology and ecology through hands-on science inquiry activities paired with arts-based activities using scientific illustration, collage, and photography. HEAL gathers data on student participation and learning in these programs, including pre-post surveys, interviews, and student artwork. Through this project, RISE researchers will develop skills related to measuring and conducting a quantitative analysis of science interest and learning, learn arts-based methodologies for analyzing children\u2019s scientific artwork, and learn about research and practice in integrating the arts with STEM.<\/p>\n Faculty mentors:\u00a0 Dr. Kelton\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.wp.wsu.edu\/uploads\/sites\/2471\/2022\/08\/gradient-thin.png\")
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<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\nJust the facts? Integrating Data Interpretation into Introductory Biology<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\nTake two and call me in the morning: Exploring Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs)\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/p>\nLIFT (Lift. Inspire. Foster. Transform.): Understanding how STEM faculty build academic resilience in STEM learning environments<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n![\"DIY](\"https:\/\/s3.wp.wsu.edu\/uploads\/sites\/2471\/2022\/01\/Spectrometer-scaled.jpeg\")
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<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\nPhysics and Your World<\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nInterdisciplinary research in the classroom: Does investigating community-based research questions enhance understanding of animal development?<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.wp.wsu.edu\/uploads\/sites\/2471\/2019\/12\/coloredited.arttherapy.ariel_-900x580-792x510.png\")
<\/p>\nHealth Education through Arts-Based Learning (HEAL): From STEM to STEAM<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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