Community College Undergraduate Research: Building a Model of Integration

Finger Lakes Community College, Canandaigua NY

Investigators

Abstract

Biological Sciences (61) The PI is designing, implementing, and evaluating a model for integrating undergraduate research into a community college science curriculum. The intellectual merit of the project involves the development of inquiry-based educational materials (problem-based learning, case studies) for first-year science courses and a credit-bearing advanced sophomore-level course that is being used by students to conduct undergraduate research. The curriculum reform at both levels is being driven by undergraduate research initiatives developed under the mentorship of community college faculty. Novel student research projects are being established during the first year and expanded in the advanced sophomore-level course. The sophomore-level course curriculum includes training students as peer leaders to support the development of new student projects emerging from the freshman courses. The broader impacts of the project include a week-long workshop, which is being utilized to train faculty from Finger Lakes Community College (FLCC) and two other community colleges (Genesee Community College and Monroe Community College) in field and laboratory methods. To achieve the project goals, FLCC is collaborating with the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, NSF #0341279) and Braddock Bay Raptor Research to develop project materials and research projects. Results of the project are being disseminated at a national conference of biology instructors.