Improving Learning Outcomes Via Enhancement of Biology Research (iLOVE Biology Research)

University Of West Alabama, Livingston AL

Investigators

Abstract

The University of West Alabama (UWA) Improving Learning Outcomes Via Enhancement of Biology Research (UWA iLOVE Biology Research) project goal is to provide biology students with hands-on experience through a series of discovery-based courses and research projects. Allowing students the opportunity to participate in undergraduate research engages their intellectual curiosity, satisfies their thirst for discovery, and gives them an outlet for their creativity. This award will support UWA students, traditionally students from underrepresented groups including women, ethnic minorities, and first-generation college students. UWA is located in one of the poorest counties in the United States, therefore the project will have a significant impact on a low-income student population that encounters many barriers to successful degree completion. The project will provide students with the necessary training and essential skills to successfully join the workforce or enroll in graduate schools. The project will be instrumental in broadening the participation of underrepresented groups in biology and thus, contribute to solving the significant shortage of qualified biology and science educators in the area. The UWA iLOVE Biology Research project is an attempt to build from the existing research infrastructure to successfully attract, retain, and graduate well-trained undergraduates majoring in biology. The UWA iLOVE Biology Research program's ultimate goals are to help students develop skills that enable them to apply scientific processes appropriately in their daily lives, and to change how biology and other STEM related fields are taught at UWA by implementing evidence-based, student centered teaching as a cultural norm at UWA. The specific goals of the project are to provide undergraduate students majoring in biology with a rigorous, comprehensive research experience, and to examine the impact of undergraduate research experiences on UWA students compared to students enrolled in traditional coursework. Students will be engaged in hands-on discovery based courses and long-term research projects, which will provide them with increased hands-on experience and knowledge of many research-associated skills. It is expected that the project will improve student attitudes towards biology, increase confidence in students' abilities to do research, enhance students' scientific process and critical thinking skills, and increase student success and retention in biology and persistence in STEM careers. The iLOVE Biology Research program approach will provide an attractive, feasible model for providing research experiences to undergraduates that will generate the necessary data to become a model approach that can be readily implemented campus wide. This project is being jointly supported by the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education and the NSF Division of Biological Infrastructure as it aligns with an important subset of the objectives of both divisions that is expressed in the "Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education" effort (see http://visionandchange.org/).