IGE: Interdisciplinary STEM Graduate Student Learning Communities

Miami University, Oxford OH

Investigators

Abstract

While Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) graduate students receive specialized training in their respective fields, many STEM graduate students lack the basic skills necessary to transition from doctoral education to employment. This National Science Foundation Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) award to Miami University will pilot and test a Graduate Student Learning Community (GSLC) model aimed at closing that gap. This innovative approach to STEM graduate student mentoring synthesizes knowledge from the scholarship of teaching and learning, psychology, and chemistry education to build a robust year-long experience. The goals of the project are to develop the STEM graduate students' sense of identity, sense of community, and ability to communicate with non-scientists. Beyond positively influencing the participants in the GSLC, the project will advance graduate education in a number of ways. First, the members of the GSLC are themselves actors within their specific research groups, departments, and professions; greater identity clarity, community, and communication skills among these students can in turn positively impact their broader cultures. Second, the curriculum in this project can be implemented and tailored to meet the needs of graduate students at other universities. Finally, the focused attention on communicating to non-specialists will increase the potential reach of STEM topics to scientists outside of one's own specialty and to the broader public. This project will develop an interdisciplinary Graduate Student Learning Community (GSLC). In two cohorts, each one year in length, this project will mentor and enhance the skills of STEM graduate students in chemistry and psychology. As part of the GSLC, the two cohorts of STEM graduate students will develop individualized professional development plans; receive regular career mentoring; and participate in an evidence-based curriculum designed to explore their professional identity, build community, and improve their ability to communicate with non-specialists. The project will specifically test the effectiveness of the GSLC model to foster professional identity, sense of community, and communication skills. Evaluation will involve comparison within cohorts using pre-and post-assessments, as well as against a control group of non-participants. The curriculum developed in this project will be transferable across disciplines and universities thereby broadening the impact on STEM graduate education. The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program is focused on research in graduate education. The goals of IGE are to pilot, test and validate innovative approaches to graduate education and to generate the knowledge required to move these approaches into the broader community. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.