Evaluating the 'YOURE(in)CHARJ:A Youth-Led Interdisciplinary Research Experience for Climate & Health and Racial Justice' Program
Mentor(s): Shahnaz Masami, Melissa Charenko
Description: The YOURE(in)CHARJ program is a collaboration between the three residential colleges at MSU that aims to flip undergraduate education and research towards student-driven knowledge generation and dissemination. Through a peer-to-peer mentoring and research program for undergraduate students from historically underserved communities, we aim to empower the next generation of youth to lead their communities in just health responses to climate change.
Junior and senior students with a demonstrated commitment to community engagement, advocacy and activism will be selected from the three residential colleges to act as undergraduate research mentors. They will learn key principles of YPAR, including shared decision-making, power sharing, legitimation of various forms of knowledge including lived experiences, and an orientation toward collective action and social change. Mentors will then guide sophomore undergraduate research fellows (URFs) from historically underserved communities on a year-long social justice oriented YPAR project.
We have received seed funding to run this program in 2023-24, and would like to document the design and implementation process, to evaluate the alignment with the key principles of YPAR. In addition, we aim to evaluate the impact on student mentors and researchers, including documenting the impacts on their critical consciousness, culturally relevant mentoring and research skills, as well as their belonging at their residential college.
Skills needed: We are seeking a graduate fellow with experience in qualitative analysis, including identifying and operationalizing relevant theoretical frameworks, designing interview protocols, and analyzing data to identify key themes. Because the findings from the pilot will be key to applying for additional funding, we would prefer someone who is experienced with qualitative research. The fellow will work with a team of interdisciplinary researchers with experience in participatory action research, climate justice and undergraduate education research.
Preferred start date: Mid-May 2024
Assessing Learning Assistants' Conceptions of Equity and the Impact on Teaching Practice
Mentor(s): Shahnaz Masani
Description: STEM classrooms are not neutral spaces. Research shows that several factors, from the prioritization of Eurocentric norms and values to historical legacies of racism, sexism and ableism make STEM disciplines and classrooms exclusionary to students from historically marginalized groups. Despite this evidence, STEM faculty often perpetuate inaccurate narratives of meritocracy, objectivity and neutrality when describing their classrooms and disciplines.
They use narrow, ‘equality-based’ explanations of equity and color-evasive ideologies that explain racial phenomena without explicitly naming race or racism as a cause of oppression and inequities in STEM. An instructors’ conception of equity has direct impacts on their mentoring and teaching practice. Faculty with color-evasive, equality-based conceptions of equity are more likely to adopt mentoring approaches that are harmful to BIPOC students. They are also less likely to notice racialized events in the classroom or adopt student-centered, inclusive teaching practices. Whether STEM graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) hold similar conceptions of equity is a question yet to be answered. This question is especially important, given that essential roles in the classroom, and the fact that GTAs often engage in more direct contact with students than faculty.
Through this work, we aim to assess GTAs’ conceptions of equity, as well as their knowledge and self-reported practices of equitable teaching. To do this, we will conduct semi-structured interviews that examine their dispositions around a range of topics around issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in university STEM courses. As another measure of their ability to enact equitable teaching practices, we will also assess GTAs’ ability to notice racialized events using published narrative case-studies that incorporate common racialized classroom experiences or micro-aggressions experienced by students of color. Understanding how GTAs understand and enact equity and equitable teaching practices will help us identify potential sources of inequity in STEM classrooms, as well as to inform pedagogical or professional development training offered to these groups.
Skills needed: We would prefer someone who is experienced with qualitative research, specifically, with conducting semi-structured interviews and with using a grounded theory approach to analyzing the data. In addition, familiarity with (or interest in learning about) socio-cultural learning theories, and the impacts of racialized, gendered, ableist societal structures and institutions is preferred. The fellow will work with a team of faculty, graduate and undergraduate students invested in promoting equity in STEM education.
Preferred start date: Mid-May 2024
Salmon Run Pilot Study: Testing an Artificial Life Educational Video Game
Mentor(s): Rob Pennock
Description: Salmon Run is an educational video game that uses innovative artificial life technology to provide an evolutionary sandbox for secondary school students to learn about:
salmon biology
evolution and its genetic basis in relation to ecology and environment
scientific and engineering methods and practices, such as data collection, graphing, and analysis
environmental engineering in relation to environmental resource management
STEM and ICT-based careers
the scientific mindset, especially virtues like curiosity that are the basis of scientific identity.
Salmon Run aims to take educational gaming to the next level, by not only illustrating the working of general evolutionary mechanisms, but also by displaying how they operate in various ways within the life cycle of an organism in relation to its environment, incorporating evolutionary ecology.
The game exemplifies active learning and reform-oriented pedagogy, with specific learning goals tied to Next Generation Science Standards. Evolutionary and ecological content is drawn from the current scientific literature on salmon biology. The scientific mindset and identity development model is drawn from in-depth interviews from a national study of 1100 scientists. The game has been tested informally and this project will conduct a formal pilot study of the game in secondary school science classes.
Skills needed: General disciplinary knowledge of evolutionary biology. Specific knowledge of fish biology is a plus.
Preferred start date: Mid-August 2024
Creation of Culture-Based Curricular and Assessment Materials
Mentor(s): Clausell Mathis
Description: With the current inequities in physics, there is a need for diverse representations in instructional materials to engage more diverse learners. Through this project, we aim to develop culture-based physics instructional materials that encourage students to utilize their cultural resources when engaging with physics concepts.
This project will focus on developing instructional units in physics that are culturally responsive and project-based, along with assessments designed to leverage students' cultural resources in their engagement with physics concepts.
The fellow's role will include assisting in the development of instructional units and assessments, as well as evaluating teachers who implement these materials. This evaluation will focus on shifts in teaching identity and how their students respond to the instructional materials in terms of sense-making around physics concepts, their physics identity, and the nature of their responses.
Skills needed: I expect the fellow to possess or develop skills in curriculum and assessment design, qualitative analysis of student responses, and teacher interviews.
Description: There is interest in interdisciplinary approaches to solving wicked problems, problems that defy easy definition or resolution. One methodology for integrating insights from multiple disciplines is “Critical Making,” which combines traditional humanities and social science “critical thinking” research techniques with creative and constructivist making. This study examines the use of Critical Making in a classroom setting. We employ interviews, classroom observation, and pre-/post-test surveys to gain insight into student learning gains in methodology and content area, as well as attitudes toward Critical Makindg itself.
“So that is why there is no change!” How students in physics, biology and calculus make sense of dynamical situations
Mentor: Jennifer Doherty, Kirtimaan Mohan, and Kristen Vroom
Fellow: Mayson Whipple
Description: Students in introductory Physics, Biology and Calculus courses are often confronted with situations where they need to make sense of dynamical situations. For example, a typical introductory physics course requires students to understand how displacement, velocity and acceleration change in relation to one another. In a biology class students might reason about how influx/efflux rates relate to changes in the concentration of a substance in a compartment over time.
It is well documented in the research literature that a productive way to make sense of dynamical situations is by thinking covariationally – holding in mind a sustained image of two quantities’ values simultaneously (Thompson & Carlson, 2017). The aims of this research are to 1) investigate how Lyman Briggs students in introductory courses engage in covariational reasoning to make sense of dynamical situations and 2) explore the impact of discipline on students’ covariational reasoning by collecting data across introductory Physics, Biology and Calculus courses.
Thompson, P. W., & Carlson, M. P. (2017). Variation, covariation, and functions: Foundational ways of thinking mathematically. In J. Cai (Ed.), Compendium for research in mathematics education (pp. 421-456). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Evaluating the ‘YOURE(in)CHARJ:A Youth-Led Interdisciplinary Research Experience for Climate & Health And Racial Justice’ program
Mentors: Shahnaz Masani and Melissa Charenko (with Mark Axelrod and Estrella Torres)
Fellow: Sanfang Miao
Description: The YOURE(in)CHARJ program aims to flip undergraduate education and research towards student-driven knowledge generation and dissemination. Through a peer-to-peer mentoring and research program for undergraduate students from historically underserved communities from the three residential colleges at MSU, we aim to empower the next generation of youth to lead their communities in just health responses to climate change.
Junior and senior students with a demonstrated commitment to community engagement, advocacy and activism will be selected from the three residential colleges to act as undergraduate research mentors. They will learn key principles of YPAR, including shared decision-making, power sharing, legitimation of various forms of knowledge including lived experiences, and an orientation toward collective action and social change. Mentors will then guide sophomore undergraduate research fellows from historically underserved communities on a year-long social justice oriented YPAR project. The SUTL fellow will lead the evaluation of the program by identifying and operationalizing relevant theoretical frameworks, designing interview protocols, and analyzing data to identify key themes.
Board games and the gamification of learning in college biology
Mentor: Peter White
Fellow: Titas Dutta
Description: The gamification provides an interesting avenue for augmenting student learning. As we continue to move away from the sage-on-stage model of teaching in higher education, new pedagogies continually look for more innovative ways to engage students in learning activities that are both fun and effective.
One potential avenue for this learning involves table-top board games. Many recent games have tapped into biological themes and imply that players may learn fundamental biological principles as part of the playing experience (e.g., titles like Cytosis, Oceans, or Wingspan). However, these games often lack learning goals, or don’t have any empirical learning gains associated with them. In this SUTL project, the Fellow and Mentor would collaborate to test the Adventerra Game “Global Warming” in introductory biology courses at LBC, to explore whether it is associated with student learning. Other games (like the aforementioned Cytosis, Oceans, or Wingspan) may also be tested, depending on the interest of the Fellow.
Computational Modeling in Intro Physics
Mentors: Kirtimaan Mohan, Katie Hinko
Fellow: Marshall Basson
Description: Computational modeling is by now a central pillar of modern science, yet it remains underrepresented in most introductory physics curricula. At Lyman Briggs College we introduce students to computational modeling early in our introductory physics course for life science majors. In order to build a curriculum where students find computation in the course more relevant both for learning physics as well as in general in other aspects of their lives, we need to consider how students already connect to computation and how they build a sense of relevance for computational modeling as the course progresses. The goal of our study is to determine what aspects of the activities used in the course helped students connect to its computational thread. We hope that this research will inform how to better build computation into an introductory physics course.
Nurturing Mathematical Discourse by Teaching with Primary Source Projects
Mentor: Abe Edwards
Fellow: Tyler Powell
Description: This project seeks to understand whether and how implementation of a particular type of curricular materials (called “Primary Source Projects” or PSPs) can reshape mathematical discourse in undergraduate mathematics classrooms. More specifically, the proposed research has a two-fold mission: to investigate the pedagogical moves associated with nurturing students’ mathematical discourse via PSPs and to study the role that PSPs may play in fostering positive change in students’ identities related to mathematics.
We are especially keen to examine student experiences with PSPs through the lens of Sfard's (2008 and subsequent) theory of commognition. The commognitive theory of learning holds that mathematics itself is a discourse and learning mathematics is tantamount to becoming a participant in this special form of discourse. Unfortunately, many instructional approaches in undergraduate mathematics classrooms do not invite, nor recognize, the kinds of discursive shifts that characterize increased participation in the mathematical community. We propose that by interacting with the primary source materials, as replacements for standard textbook–driven exercises, students will engage in deep, meta–level learning. As their mathematical discourse matures, students become more flexible, adaptable, confident, and enthusiastic about mathematics. This project is a pilot study for a larger multi-year project for which we have applied to the NSF for funding.
Fellow: Sunyoung Park (Mathematics Education) & Rupita Tahsin (Urban Planning)
Description: Several factors, from mindset to attributions of the cause of failure, can shape student responses to failure, which in turn affects their performance in formal coursework. In our introductory Briggs biology and physics courses, we seek to create an inclusive classroom space where students develop adaptive coping responses that help them decrease stress associated with failure and envision a path to success.
A common tool used to reduce stress associated with high stakes test situations is exam corrections. Often, post assessment “wrapper” assignments ask students to correct mistakes as well as to reflect on their mistakes, with the intent to build conceptual understanding as well as metacognitive skills. Although several different types of wrapper assignments have been described (reflection only, reflections & corrections, group versus individual corrections, 2-stage feedback etc.), in each case the design & implementation of these assignments was instructor-led, or prescriptive.
For this study, we have designed an exam correction activity that aims to increase student agency, build classroom community, and empower students to reflect on the nature of knowledge by asking them to be a part of the design process itself. We will provide a recommended structure for exam corrections that will include corrections & reflection on missed questions, as well as an essay reflecting on what they learned from the assignment. Students will be asked to work as a class to build consensus and (a) suggest modifications to the assignment (b) suggest how many points the assignment will be worth (c) provide a compelling, evidence-based argument to support their suggestions.
We will investigate the process by which students come to a consensus, as well as the content of arguments formed through this process, and students’ reflections on the process. We are further interested in how this process affects student content learning outcomes. Data collected will be individual student reflective essays, observations and artifacts from class activities, interviews with students, and exams/correction assignments. Analysis for emergent themes will be conducted. Based on initial attempts this past semester, we anticipate documenting themes around students’ perceptions of agency, the nature of knowledge and learning, the role of assessments and grades, what it means to “succeed” in class, and effective response to failure.
Exploring long‐term impacts of learning about 3DL on test writing
Mentor: Ryan Sweeder
Fellow: Iqbal Hossain (chemistry)
Description: Several cohorts of science faculty from a range of disciplines have participated in the STEM Gateway Fellows Program, which introduces 3-Dimensional Learning (3DL) in the STEM classroom. One of the goals of the program is to help participants understand each of the three dimensions: Scientific Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts.
The program helps faculty explore how these dimensions can be included in their assessments and why it leads to better student learning. The goal of the project is to explore if there is a lasting impact of the program. The SUTL fellow will code exams as part of a team using the 3D-Learning Assessment Protocol from program participants to see if there was a change in their assessment practices and how long those changes remain in place. Exams will come from the disciplines of biology, chemistry, and physics.
Do students find computational modeling relevant in an IPLS course?
Fellow: Jacob Watkins (Physics and Astronomy) & Nick Ivanov (Computer Science and Engineering)
Description: Computational modeling is an important part of modern research, yet many students are not introduced to computation. At Lyman Briggs College we want to rectify this by introducing students to computational modeling early on introductory physics courses. Currently, this is done with the help of glowscript and we would like to transition to the more modern environment of Jupyter Notebooks, which is more interactive, accessible and widely used in academia and industry.
The introductory physics course at Lyman Briggs is designed with Life Science majors in mind. This presents itself as a challenge, as students tend not to see coding as a relevant and important skill to learn. The goal of this project is twofold:
Enhance the coding experience for students in the course by transitioning to Jupyter Notebooks.
Measuring the impact of this transition by monitoring
Changes in attitudes towards computational modeling.
Whether life science students find coding relevant.
Finding your True North: Developing skills for career exploration, self-discovery, and parallel planning in an introductory biology course
Mentors: Shahnaz Masani & Krysta Coleman
Fellow: Haiden Perkins (Human Development and Family Studies)
Description: For students in the sciences, there often seems to be only one pathway that combines their love of science and passion for helping people: medicine. In an effort to prepare students for multiple careers under the STEM umbrella, our team will be working to incorporate career education into a core curriculum course here in the college: LB 144.
As a course already designed to be an active learning space, this collaboration presents an opportunity for students to learn more about themselves through deeper exploration of the course material. While there are many career exploration courses across higher education, and certainly across MSU’s campus, few, if any, are fully enmeshed within the core curriculum of a student’s undergraduate experience. By infusing career exploration activities into the college’s introductory biology class, we offer a more equitable opportunity for access to career education, allowing students to simultaneously grow professionally, personally, and academically.
How does being a Learning Assistant influence Undergraduate Students’ STEM identity?
Mentor: Rachel Barnard
Fellow: Guanglong Pang (Educational Administration)
Description: Undergraduate learning assistants (ULAs) are important contributors to how the Lyman Briggs College lives into its value of integrating and improving upon evidence-based instructional practice. We have had ULAs in the College since our founding in the 1960s, and we aim to continue improving our program.
This project has two facets. First, the Fellow will work with Rachel Barnard, the current Coordinator of the LA Program in Briggs, to collaborate with stakeholders in the College and at MSU to develop goals for our LA program. Second, we will explore if being a LA in Briggs helps undergraduate students develop their STEM identity. We will examine STEM identity in relation to DEI, because Briggs places a high value on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. There is a gap in the literature about how LA experiences contribute to a sense of belonging to a teaching team, the College as an institution, as well as the larger disciplines in science and /or STEM. We will explore the interplay of LA experience and STEM identity using a survey and interviews.
BRAIDing "lab" and "lecture" into one Life Science Studio for Biology: Impacts on the student experience and learning outcomes
Mentor: Cassie Dresser-Briggs & Doug Luckie
Fellow: Brady Tyburski, Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME)
Description: Traditionally, undergraduate STEM labs and lectures have been taught: (1) as entirely separate courses, (2) as part of the same course, but taught by different instructors, or (3) by the same instructor, but rarely woven together in an effort to replicate what scientists experience during authentic professional practice.
We are interested in assessing how deviation from these paradigms may impact the student experience and learning outcomes. Specifically, we have set up two concurrent introductory biology classes, each with 24 students, taught by different instructors with the same approach; blending lab and lecture content and activities together within a class period. We also plan to compare these data with data collected from one or more classes implementing the traditional paradigm; unblended lab and lecture, taught by separate instructors, and differ in regards to desired learning outcomes.
Furthermore, given that class size differs between the “experimental treatment” and the “control treatment” (24 vs. 48 / 96 students) we are interested in exploring how much class size impacts the student experience and learning outcomes. Results from this study will be immediately useful in determining future course offerings and course structures in the biology curriculum at Lyman Briggs College, but more broadly, our research will expand the current knowledge within the scientific community regarding best pedagogical practices for other curricula that include a lab component.
Making Biology Classes More Gender Inclusive
Mentor: Stef Shuster, Shahnaz Masani, Jenifer Saldanha, & Pete White
Fellow: Nicole Wonderlin, Entomology Department
Description: In the typical biology classroom, the stories often told about plant reproduction frame plants as sexed. The “male” plant produces pollen grains, which are depicted as active, strong, and tough. They travel far distances, against all odds, and are narrated as driving the process of fertilization. Meanwhile, the “female” plant produces an egg and waits passively for the pollen grain. These kinds of portrayals of how fertilization happens rely on gendered norms and stereotypes.
Our project begins by asking how might we bridge insights from biology and feminist science studies to think and teach about fertilization that abandon the use of gender stereotypes? And, how might we revamp curriculum to be more inclusive; intervening in the continued use of gender norms and stereotypes to depict fertilization? Our aims for this proposed project include: 1) Assess existing scholarship on the gendering of biological processes and matter; 2) Evaluate the extent to which existing introductory biology classes address these topics; 3) Build a new curriculum unit; and 4) Design a study to assess the impact of these interventions.
Evo‐Med‐Ed: An integrative approach for teaching and learning human evolution in undergraduate biology
Mentor: Pete White
Fellow: Jospeh Riedy, Integrative Biology Department
Description: Two difficulties in teaching biology to undergraduate students using an evolutionary conceptual framework are: (1) the lack of clear connections between evolutionary patterns and processes; and (2) students’ apathy in evolutionary examples that don’t relate to humans.
The field of evolutionary medicine provides an avenue through which (human) evolution can be taught and learned by using medically relevant examples to teach evolutionary concepts to students who might not otherwise encounter them in their coursework. In this project, we are designing, implementing, and testing a set of interdisciplinary and integrated teaching materials based on human health conditions as a vehicle for students to learn introductory biology and human evolution.
Developing Responsible Scientific Identity Through a First-Year-Writing Course for STEM Undergraduates
Mentor: Marisa Brandt
Fellow: June Oh, English Department & Yukyung Bae, Department of Educational Administration
Description: Beginning in the fall of 2019, the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of STEM group at Lyman Briggs College began a pilot program to unify the learning goals and outcomes of the first year writing and intro to HPS course, LB 133, with the goal of creating a cohesive, “group-building” experience for all incoming students, as well as shared teaching resources for instructors.
This SUTL project aims to evaluate the success and sustainability of the curricular redesign effort for students and faculty. Over the past two years of the project, we have gathered both quantitative and qualitative data on student learning outcomes and community building. Our goals for this year are (1) collect and analyze one more semester of (non-pandemic) data, (2) conduct interviews with former students and participating instructors, and (3) share our findings with the college and broader HPS teaching communities.
Drawing Comics as a Way of Knowing about Science and Society
Mentor: Megan Halpern
Fellow: Justin Wigard, English Department
Description: This project explores the intersection of art and science studies in the classroom by studying pedagogical approaches to drawing comics as a way of learning about the relationship between science and society. Assistant Professor Megan K. Halpern and PhD Candidate Justin Wigard will develop two courses that focus on both analyzing comics as discourse about science in society and on creating comics as exercises in critical making.
Prior work on introducing the arts into social science and humanities courses about science has two benefits. The first is that these forms of creative expression provide new ways of knowing about a topic. The second is that creative activities are often seen as unique and positive experiences, providing benefits for both mental health and intellectual growth. This project will study the specific value of courses that draw on graphic narratives and sequential art to understand the role of science and medicine in society.
Mentor: Ryan Sweeder and Sam Cass, Lyman Briggs College
Fellow: Merve Kursav, Programs in Mathematics Education
Description: The INQUIRE program has been a 10-year effort in Lyman Briggs College to support matriculating students who do not have math placement scores which allow them to begin in general chemistry in their first term. The intended outcomes of the program include helping student successfully transition to college, gain preparation for introductory science courses, build connections to the LBC community such that they graduate at improved rates from MSU and in STEM fields.
This project is seeking to comprehensively understand if the project is achieving these goals for the participating students. The SUTL fellow will work to update previous quantitative data analyses that focused on grades earned in subsequent chemistry and biology courses, GPA, retention in STEM and MSU, and graduation rates. They also will help undertake surveys with both current and past INQUIRE students to understand the perceived impacts of the program and how that perception may change over time. Through triangulation using both qualitative and quantitative data, we anticipate having a strong understanding of the impact of this program.
Effective implementation of assessment corrections for meaningful learning and reflection
Mentor: Cassie Dresser-Briggs and Shahnaz Masani, Lyman Briggs College
Fellow: Sunghwan Byun, Programs in Mathematics Education
Description: In this study, we will assess the effectiveness of assessment corrections on student learning, both in terms of mastering concepts and progression as a learner. Furthermore, we will test whether corrections completed individually or in a group are most beneficial. To minimize instructor effect and avoid pseudoreplication in our experimental design, our initial study will be conducted in a single introductory biology course at Lyman Briggs College, a residential college within a large research I university in the Midwest.
In this course there are three-unit exams and a cumulative final exam; thus we will compare three treatments in the following order, (1) control, no exam corrections, (2) individual, individual exam corrections, (3) group, group exam corrections. Concept learning gains will be inferred based on differences in percentage scores for particular concepts between the unit exam and the relevant questions on the final exam. Progression as a learner will be inferred based on pre and post survey responses provided by each student. Previous research has suggested that assessment corrections improve learning; our study will not only indicate if this outcome is more broadly applicable, but will expand on this idea by explicitly comparing different implementation methods for assessment corrections.
Fellow: Corbin Livingston, Department of Chemistry
Description: This project seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge about undergraduate learning assistants’ (ULAs) motivation to work in this role. Specifically, we are surveying the balance of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors among these members of the LBC chemistry lab and lecture teaching teams.
We are also exploring how ULAs perceive their role within their teaching space as reflected in how they spend their contact time with students. Prior experiences in these classes as a student and their beliefs about teaching and learning may influence how they choose to spend their time. Time usage information self-reported by the ULAs will be compared with desired time usage from both students and supervising faculty.
Investigating the impact of an explicitly feminist curriculum for undergraduate students in an introductory physics sequence
Mentor: Kathleen Hinko, Lyman Briggs College
Fellow: Lydia Wassink, Department of Integrative Biology
Description: We are developing a version of the introductory physics sequence explicitly focuses on exploring the beauty of physics through feminist and anti-racist physics content and practices. Students will develop an understanding of their role in societal systems including the production of science, articulate the value of physics for themselves and their communities, and be empowered to critique systems of which they are a part.
We will be investigating the potential impacts for students taking this course. We want to understand the impact of this course on students’ attitudes and beliefs about physics, science, and society. We will also look at how the structures and format of the class affects how students work together in groups and in class discussions. We also plan to measure how students learn traditional and nontraditional physics content in this environment.
Board games in the classroom
Mentor: Melissa Charenko, Lyman Briggs College
Fellow: Nazmy Hebatalla, School of Planning, Design, and Construction
Description: This project investigates how the use of cooperative board games impact student learning in history, philosophy, and sociology of science (HPS). It also aims to determine how board games can be used to foster problem-solving, interpersonal, or communication skills.
Pandemic Legacy is unique game: it is a cooperative board game played in small groups. Students try to avert global disaster by treating deadly diseases. They play the game multiple times, but actions in one game have consequences for the next one, and the rules change and develop as students play. The games’ development introduces students to new concepts at a manageable pace and gives students new problems to solve.
Flipped learning in introductory general chemistry
Mentor: Rebecca Lahr, Lyman Briggs College
Fellow: Monica Setien, Engineering and Computer Science
Description: Flipped classrooms are geared at increasing student engagement with harder concepts during lecture by assigning pre-class activities, readings, or videos to be complete before class on the least complex learning objectives.
This format decreases the amount of content that is delivered as an instructor speaks to the class, leaving more class time for students to ask questions and engage in activities to address the harder concepts. Flipped learning allows students to engage with the material before class, to level the pre-‐existing knowledge before students walk into class for the day. This project will examine the impact of a flipped-course format in intro chemistry courses at Lyman Briggs College.
Assessing an Experimental Pilot of a First-Year Writing Course for STEM Undergraduates
Mentor: Marisa Brandt, Lyman Briggs College
Fellow: June Oh, English Department
Description: Beginning in the fall of 2019, the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of STEM group at Lyman Briggs College will begin a pilot program to unify the learning goals and outcomes of the first year writing and intro to HPS course, LB 133, with the goal of creating a cohesive, “group-building” experience for all incoming students.
This experimental structure will also entail a weekly colloquium series featuring guest speakers from the college, MSU, and visitors. The first cohort of pilot sections will be offered in Fall 2019; these will be followed in Spring 2020 with additional cohorts. These sections will share common learning goals/assignments and will meet weekly for the colloquia as one large group. Our SUTL proposal has two major goals: (1) to create an assessment tool to measure learning goals, learning outcomes, and evaluate community building using a combination of qualitative and quantitative questions; (2) to assess the learning gains specifically associated with the colloquium speaker series component of the course.
Assessing the impact of a mentored graduate student fellows’ program on graduate student and faculty participants
Mentor: Peter White and Kendra Cheruvelil, Lyman Briggs College
Fellow: Aesha Mustafa, Education Administration Department
Description: The LBC Scholarship of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning (SUTL) program began in 2016. Since then, more than a dozen faculty and two dozen graduate fellows have engaged with the program to conduct SoTL and DBER research. The goal of this project is to assess the impact of the SUTL program on graduate student outcomes and faculty outcomes. Graduate student and faculty outcomes include professional skills development, research skills development, research products and career advancement. We propose to use a mixed-methods approach, incorporating interview data, survey data and research metrics. Early feedback suggests that both faculty and graduate fellows benefit from the program. This project seeks to conduct a thorough analysis of project outcomes and publish our findings describing the overview and merit of the program.