NRT-IGE: Advancing Graduate Education in the Chemical Sciences

University Of Oklahoma Norman Campus, Norman OK

Investigators

Abstract

A clear need for reconsidering the doctoral curriculum in the chemical sciences has emerged. The long-established apprenticeship model for training graduate students, whereby a doctoral student learns from one master advisor, assumes that most graduating Ph.D. students will become faculty members within a university or conduct industry research to address foundational questions in the sciences. Today most Ph.D. chemists do not seek academic appointments and much less basic research is being conducted in the chemical industry. In addition, the knowledge and skill base doctoral students are expected to master continues to expand, while market-like behaviors undertaken by faculty to secure grants, contracts, and patents may create doctoral training contexts in which doctoral research skill development is uneven or unnecessarily extended. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award in the Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) track to the University of Oklahoma will pilot an innovative graduate curriculum in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry that emphasizes customization of individual student programs and careful monitoring of progress. Learning outcomes and evaluation data will be used to determine if this transformative curriculum effectively promotes efficient individual doctoral training while decreasing the time to degree. This curriculum is anticipated to provide a template for revision and reinvigoration of doctoral programs in the chemical sciences nationwide. While the components of this innovative curriculum model are based on recommendations from landmark national studies concerning STEM graduate education, this pilot will test these components within a comprehensive curricular revision project. The curriculum model will employ competency-based assessment, accelerated learning, and concrete milestones to meet the goals of broadening participation in the chemistry Ph.D. program while decreasing the time to degree. Through greater oversight, customized curricula, and the use of student-led Individual Development Plans, the number of graduates per year is expected to increase as a result of minimizing attrition and decreasing the time to degree. Greater emphasis will be placed on professional development and skill sets that reach beyond the traditional, narrow definition of chemistry so graduates will be better positioned to contribute to an increasingly diverse workforce. The effectiveness of the new curriculum will be evaluated by comparison with historical data at the University of Oklahoma and current practices and data from a number of peer institutions. The project will document "real time" student and faculty experiences and detail emergent challenges as the curriculum is enacted, thereby delineating how the curriculum model may be best replicated across doctoral programs and serve as a resource for other universities nationwide. Project dissemination will include the development of a web-based toolbox of resources to facilitate widespread adoption of successful components. Networked Improvement Communities of faculty and administrators from peer institutions will be used to promote cultural change, invigorate the national debate, maintain reform momentum, and to navigate institutional barriers. The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new, potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The Innovations in Graduate Education Track is dedicated solely to piloting, testing, and evaluating novel, innovative, and potentially transformative approaches to graduate education.