We are poised to make a significant jump in how we approach student access to undergraduate research in our college. The goal is to impact as many students as possible through undergraduate research with limited accessible funding. The key phrase is “impact as many students as possible.” In conversations with former Dean Li and Interim Dean Engisch, we realized that if funding materialized we would need to think outside of the box. We would need to develop programming that would impact more than just a few students, positively impact both research and student success, and also attract attention to its success so we could win support to sustain the program. What has evolved from a lot of consideration and discussion is Wright State’s take on a new approach to scaling up undergraduate research based on successful models at UT Austin and Maryland.
In the fall of 2016, CoSM will run its inaugural cohort of the WSU Students Applying Scientific Knowledge (ASK) Program. With funding secured for 2 years, this new approach could impact as many as 70+ CoSM students in its infancy. Why "ASK"? Because documented results support the impact of undergraduate research experience in the following: reinforced content knowledge, increased student retention, career goal development, recruitment into STEM fields, more faculty-student interactions, and increased student confidence.
The current and traditional model relies on individual CoSM faculty to support undergraduate research via external grants which limits the number of student opportunities. The ASK program expands student research opportunities by integrating the research experience into actual coursework. The program starts, for 2nd-year students, with a research methods /design course which allows students to develop skills to execute, analyze and communicate science. They build on this knowledge and become part of a "research stream" cohort for the next two semesters. Research Streams are a fully functional research effort/lab in which students do cutting edge research supplemented with bi-weekly lectures organized around their research work. Each research stream is led by faculty members who have designed a program of research using this educational model to pursue fundamental research questions. A typical “stream” could consist of 2+ faculty and approximately 10 students which could be based on traditional discipline definitions or be interdisciplinary. During the middle of the student's third year, mentors assist them in securing internships, REU positions, and other research positions. During the fourth year, we finalize the pathway via career/graduate/professional mentoring and guidance.
Wright State University and the College of Science and Mathematics has a unique opportunity to lead the State of Ohio by being the first to develop and implement this successful and innovative model of experiential learning.
To learn more about how you can support the CoSM ASK team please contact Jason A. Deibel, Ph.D., CoSM Director of Undergraduate Research & Experiential Learning (UREL) at cosm-undergradresearch@wright.edu.
