Presenter Abstracts
The Student-Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP) Project
Robert J. Beichner, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Physics
North Carolina State University, Raleigh
How do you keep a classroom of 100 undergraduates actively learning? Can students practice communication and teamwork skills in a large class? How do you boost the performance of underrepresented groups? The Student-Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP) Project has addressed these concerns. Because of their inclusion in a leading introductory physics textbook, project materials are used by more than 1/3 of all science, math, and engineering majors nationwide. The room design and pedagogy have been adopted at more than 100 leading institutions across the country. Physics, chemistry, math, astronomy, biology, engineering, earth sciences, and even literature classes are currently being taught this way.
Making the Move to Inquiry on a Large Scale:
Subtle Shifts in Technique; Large Shifts in Culture
Donald P. French, Professor, Department of Zoology
Oklahoma State University
All too often, while we advocate developing scientific reasoning, experimental design, creativity, and clear communication skills, we create laboratory exercises that verify the obvious, demonstrate but do not test techniques, and are assessed by methods that evaluate content knowledge, not the scientific process skills that we desire. As part of a complete course revision creating a unified course for majors and non-majors, we converted traditional verification laboratories to a directed-inquiry format in which students are provided a question and asked to formulate a hypothesis to answer it. Prior to lab, each student submits his/her hypothesis, a short experiment to test the hypothesis, and predictions of the results that would support alternative hypotheses using the information found in the story that accompanies the question, pre-lab exercises, and resources they select. In lab, students collaborate with their group members to select and refine the best common hypothesis and experimental design under the guidance of the graduate, undergraduate or adjunct lab instructors, conduct their experiments, analyze their data and author article style lab reports. Emphasis in the laboratory is on developing scientific process and communication skills and generating data or initiating concept development to be used in lecture. In this session, we will discuss the design of the laboratories and the laboratory guide to offer students more control and responsibility, describe the cultural shift from telling to guiding required of the instructors, and involve the participants in a simple example lab that could even be conducted in a lecture setting.
A Research-Based Framework for Teaching Mathematics Effectively
Guershon Harel, Department of Mathematics
University of California, San Diego
Many students, even those who are eager to succeed in school, feel intellectually aimless in mathematics classes because we (teachers) fail to help them realize an intellectual need for what we intend to teach them. The main goal of this talk is to define intellectual need, discuss the conceptual framework in which it resides, and demonstrate its absence and potential presence in mathematics instruction. Intellectual need is different from psychological need, or motivation. We will define five categories of intellectual needs--which, collectively, characterize mathematical practice--and discusses their pedagogical implications: The five needs are: (1) need for certainty, (2) need for causality, (3) need for computation, (4) need for communication, and (5) need for structure.
Problem-driven Learning: A Socio-cognitive Approach to Classroom Design
Wendy C. Newstetter, Director of Learning Sciences Research
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech
Many believe we are have arrived a crossroads in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education. While interdisciplinary science is advancing at a staggering rate, science and engineering classes look the same as they did forty years ago. In this talk, I hope to provoke the audience to examine their assumptions about learning and the kinds of classroom experiences that will engage and motivate student to commit to a life of science/engineering and the adventure these careers offer.
Transforming Classrooms So They Align With How Students Learn
Valerie K. Otero, Associate Professor of Science Education
University of Colorado, Boulder
We have developed an effective and adaptable model that improves the education of students enrolled in our large-enrollment courses, increases the numbers of talented math and science majors becoming certified to teach in K-12 settings, and impacts the general philosophy of education at a large research university. I report on the Colorado Learning Assistant (LA) model and provide evidence to supports claims about its effectiveness. Since its inception in 2003, we have engaged scientists significantly in the transformation of undergraduate courses, improved the introductory science sequence so that students' learning outcomes are double the traditional average, and increased the pool of well-qualified K-12 physics teachers by a factor of approximately three.
A Research-Based Approach to Transforming Upper-Division Physics Courses
Stephen J. Pollock, Department of Physics
University of Colorado, Boulder
At most universities, upper-division physics courses are taught using a traditional lecture approach that does not make use of many of the instructional techniques that have been found to improve student learning at the introductory level. At the University of Colorado, we are transforming several upper-division physics courses using principles of active engagement and learning theory, guided by the results of observations, interviews, and analysis of student work. I will outline some of these reforms, including consensus learning goals, clicker (concept) questions, tutorials, modified homeworks, and more, as an example of what a transformed upper-division course might look like. We have examined the effectiveness of these reforms relative to traditional courses, based on grades, interviews, and attitudinal and conceptual surveys. Our results suggest that it is valuable to further investigate how physics is taught at the upper-division, and how education research may be applied in this context.
Poster Abstracts
Exciting Students in Mathematical and Synthetic Biology
George N. Bennett and Jonathan J. Silberg
Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Rice University
Future transformative discoveries in biology are expected to require researchers who can fluently apply to biology the diversity of chemistry, engineering, math, and physics concepts. Unfortunately, the importance and potential of diverse science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) approaches in biological research is not well appreciated by many undergraduates, especially those who are beginning their studies and have not yet declared a major. We will present our efforts to develop curricular and summer experiences for these students that expose them to the value of interdisciplinary research. These efforts focus on leveraging the excitement of reconstructive biology to provide creative outlets that require the integration of experimental biochemical, cell biological, and molecular genetic approaches with computational design, simulation, and modeling. In addition, we will describe our efforts to expose community college students to the excitement and potential of interdisciplinary research by partnering with the West Houston Center for Science and Engineering (an initiative of Houston Community College).
ENGAGE! Empowering the Next Generation in Agriscience with Genomics Education
A. Tineke Berends
Houston Community College Northwest
In this era of shrinking resources, community colleges such as HCC are expected to take on increasingly prominent roles in higher science education. Yet community colleges tend to face unique challenges in the form of open enrollment policies, lack of research infrastructure, and highly diverse, non-traditional student bodies. At the same time, HCC is an urban commuter school, with most students unaware of agriscience career options, not to mention their own potential as “scientist material”. To address these challenges, HCC’s ENGAGE program has pioneered a new model of department-wide, experiential learning centered around a common research project, providing students with repeated, increasingly sophisticated hands-on experiences in their successive classrooms. These hands-on experiences were supplemented by field trips to research conferences, faculty development workshops, and the creation of a biotech equipment lending library. Over the course of two years, more than 1700 HCC students and roughly 30 HCC faculty members participated in various ENGAGE activities, ultimately leading to the successful submission of chickpea cDNA sequences to NCBI’s dbEST database. In the process, ENGAGE has strengthened HCC lab infrastructure, transformed departmental culture, raised awareness of and appreciation for agricultural research, and instilled a newfound sense of student pride and confidence.
An Examination of Silent Students in the Large Active Learning Classroom: Their Engagement, Learning, and Perceptions
Carrie A. Cloonan, Department of Chemistry, Rice University
Ashlyn H. Munson, Department of Mathematics, Pacific Lutheran University
John S. Hutchinson, Department of Chemistry, Rice University
A variety of active learning approaches have been developed in the past decade and implemented in large introductory science and mathematics courses at many colleges and universities. In the General Chemistry course at Rice, we have employed Socratic discussions for over two decades, and have combined this with other active learning approaches including discussion “clicker” questions and peer learning. In this study, we report an analysis of the thinking and learning process of students who remain silent during these active learning sessions. A mixed-methods approach is used with both survey data and individual interviews to determine what benefit “silent students” receive from an active learning classroom. Our results indicate that silent students are also active learners, but their participation in the active classroom differs from that of their more vocal classmates. These silent students report that, despite their silence, the active environment enhances their engagement in the class and understanding of the content. The data also reveal that the students choose to remain silent because this approach best fits their own learning style, rather than being led by other motivations such as anxiety of perception by peers or professors.
Teaching Robot Motion Planning Through an Integrated Software Environment
Mark Moll, Janice Bordeaux, Lydia Kavraki
Rice University
Robotics is a cross-disciplinary field that attracts many young people to STEM areas. However, there is a gap in robotics education: after an intro-level robotics class, students have to wait till their senior year to take a robotics class again. This project focuses on motion planning: a core concept in robotics concerned with finding feasible paths that take robots from an initial pose to a desired final pose. Although it is conceptually not too difficult, full understanding requires the integration of knowledge in computer science, computational geometry and mechanical engineering. We have developed a teaching module centered around a software package that allows students to 'play' with a variety of planning algorithms and environments. After taking the module students are expected to be able to apply a body of motion planning facts, apply core concepts and algorithms, name key features of motion and motion strategies, execute & compare motion planning techniques and strategies, and construct a problem solving model that controls & organizes motion planning.
Effects Sustained Professional Development on Student Outcomes in Elementary Science Education: An Efficacy Study
Suskavcevic, M., Diaconu, D., Webber, L., Thompson, C.J., Arch, L. and Nichol C., School Science and Technology Program, Wiess School of Natural Sciences, Rice University
In this study, we report on outcomes of Rice Elementary Model Science Lab (REMSL) program for in-service teachers. The analysis of variance with planned contrasts and t-tests were used to examine differences in student scores on the science TAKS among the sample of fifth grade students (N=6150) receiving science instruction by REMSL and non-REMSL participants in 2 distinct contexts: single classroom teacher and a combination of classroom and lab teacher. The findings suggest higher average scores at the statistically significant level among students who were taught science by the REMSL teachers. The differences in the average achievement scores were most pronounced between students instructed science by a combination of lab and classroom teacher, both receiving treatment through the professional development program and those taught by the same instructional configuration of teachers who did not receive the treatment. These differences were statistically significant and with large effect size of 0.8 (Cohen’s d).
Making Student Centered Learning Work for You
CJ Thompson, Lisa Webber, Lara Arch, Brandi Nicholson, Carolyn Nichol
School Science and Technology Program, Weiss School of Natural Sciences, Rice University
For years, the greater scientific community has been calling on the educational system to create better thinkers. It is clear that the current methodologies used in science classrooms and labs must change in order to be competitive with the global economy. Over the past five years, the School Science and Technology (SST) project has successfully run professional development for science teachers based on the philosophy of constructivism and inquiry. Research on the SST programs has shown not only an increase in teacher participants’ science content knowledge, but also a significant transformation in the way that these teachers teach science. Consequently, student engagement and achievement increase. Inquiry and constructivism works for all learners, children through adults, and these approaches create innovators and leaders in science. SST has distilled from experience and research the four educational approaches needed to foster student-centered learning.
Teaching Data Analysis with Visualization and Statistical Thinking
H. Wickham and G. Grolemund, Department of Statistics, Rice University
Data Analysis is an important statistical skill that is tricky to teach. As an applied craft, it is best learned through practice -- but this requires the instructor to first teach statistics and computer programming, which leaves little time for data analysis. We present a teaching approach that focuses on visualization and statistical thinking. This focus lets students practice data analysis before their programming skills mature. This is similar to immersive language education: early lessons expose students to analysis and programming ideas and also motivate later lessons. To organize student thinking, we introduce data analysis as an iterative process with three stages: transforming data, visualizing data, andmodeling data. The course rotates through these subjects in a way that builds mastery and then expertise with data analysis and computer programming.
The Rice University Mathematics Leadership Institute
M. Haenicke, Houston Independent School District
N. Kamau, School Mathematics Project, Rice University
The Rice University Mathematics Leadership Institute (MLI) produced 80 lead teachers at participating high school campuses in the Aldine and the Houston Independent School Districts charged with providing instructional support to their fellow teachers. Lead teachers participated in an intensive two-year program that focused on rigorous mathematics and development of leadership and coaching skills with a strong diversity component. To further increase their mathematics content knowledge, improve their knowledge of pedagogy, develop their leadership knowledge, and enhance their status as intellectual leaders in mathematics education in their school districts, lead teachers were supported to become certified Texas Master Mathematics Teachers, Grades 8-12 (MMT) MLI’s initial goal was to increase the number of Texas teachers with MMT (Grades 8-12) certification by 20%; the actual increase was 63%. Evidence of growth in teachers’ professionalism, comparative student achievement results, change factors, and related systemic impediments as well as data that document the process of change as experienced by lead teachers was found. Implementation and evaluation of MLI resulted in lessons learned regarding leadership factors at both micro- and macro-levels of educational systems which impacted how institutional change manifested at targeted schools and districts.
From Reading to Research: Vertically Integrating Undergraduate Research from the Freshman Through Senior Years
Dereth R. Phillips and Bonnie Bartel, Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Rice University
Traditional undergraduate research programs, limited to a single summer between the junior and senior year of college, constrain both the scope and duration of the projects accessible to students and occur after the critical window in which students are determining their majors. Through our multi-year undergraduate research advising program, we aim to intervene early and create a pipeline through which students can be exposed to and participate in research throughout their undergraduate careers. To reach our freshmen, we developed an experiential seminar in which students read primary literature, meet scientists, and tour laboratories featured in local research articles. We couple this early exposure with support in finding and succeeding in undergraduate research through an undergraduate research advising network and a multi-semester independent research program. Our departmental research-for-credit courses are available to students performing research at Rice University or at institutions elsewhere in the Texas Medical Center. We support these students through a central course coordinator, standardized requirements, and a student research manual. The Reading to Research program has increased student awareness about research, enrollment in our undergraduate research program, availability of posted on- and off-campus opportunities, and faculty satisfaction with the focus and organization of their student researchers. This success has encouraged other Rice University departments to adopt components of our program. (Activities supported by an HHMI Professor grant to BB.)
The Rice University School Mathematics Project Mathematics Program
Assessment Protocol
A. Papakonstantinou, School Mathematics Project, Rice University
R. Parr, School Mathematics Project, Rice University
With high-stakes testing dominating what goes on in schools, administrators are questioning the quality of instruction and learning in their programs. The Rice University School Mathematics Project (RUSMP) has developed a comprehensive protocol to assess the effectiveness of school and district mathematics programs and is using it to help schools assess and improve their mathematics programs. This protocol was showcased at the Texas School Improvement Conference in Austin in the fall of 2009 and has gained the attention of school districts across Texas. The protocol gives RUSMP the opportunity to develop a detailed picture of the mathematics program in a school or district through a four-phase process. The four phases include interviews with administrators, interviews with teachers without administrators present, full-period observations of mathematics classes, and observations of department or grade-level meetings. RUSMP is looking for alignment among the four in the “right” direction--a direction that truly supports student learning. From the extensive data gathered, the school or district then receives a report of the findings, an assessment of the quality of the mathematics program, and recommendations for improvement.
Math-A-Letics
C. White, School Mathematics Project, Rice University
Rice University School Mathematics Project’s long-standing collaboration with the Houston Independent School District has produced an award-winning television show to engage the community in unique mathematics adventures that support classroom instruction that uses sports, puppets, and coaches in making mathematics fun to learn. Each episode consists of three main components. The first component introduces mathematical concepts, such as addition, subtraction, algebra and geometry, by using concrete objects, such as counting materials or base 10 blocks, two color counters, Cuisenaire rods, number cubes, coins, geoboards or geometric shapes. The second component helps students understand mathematical symbols, such as signs for greater than and less than. The show concludes with a real-world problem that can be solved by applying the concept developed in the show. Although aimed at students in kindergarten through sixth grade, feedback has indicated that the audience for the show is more far-reaching. Positive comments from students at higher-grade levels and from adult viewers illustrate the benefit the program is providing to the community. The Math-A-Letics show is produced by the Houston ISD Instructional Media Television Department and airs daily on the HISD cable television channel.
The Rice University School Mathematics Project
S. Troutman, School Mathematics Project, Rice University
The Rice University School Mathematics Project (RUSMP) was established in 1987 to help teachers and administrators better understand the nature of mathematics, the effective teaching and assessing of mathematics, and the importance of mathematics in today's society. RUSMP’s major goal is to increase the mathematical and pedagogical knowledge of Houston PreK-12 teachers and support them in implementing more effective mathematics programs. The RUSMP approach is founded on the belief that sustained instructional changes can best be supported through the development of professionalism among teachers and the creation of a network of teachers who have extensive knowledge of both mathematical content and pedagogy. RUSMP has developed an extensive array of programs and courses available to teachers and administrators. In addition, RUSMP has undertaken several collaborative projects with districts and schools. All major RUSMP projects are undergo in-depth evaluation and research, which provide valuable information for continuous improvement of our programs. In this way, RUSMP contributes to the growing body of research relevant to reform in mathematics education. The impact of RUSMP reaches across the greater-Houston area and across the state of Texas.
The Rice University School Mathematics Project/Project GRAD Advanced Mathematics Institute
M. Merchant, Aldine Independent School District
R. Ward, School Mathematics Project, Rice University
Since 2001, Rice University has been the home to the Advanced Mathematics Institute in collaboration with Project GRAD. The four-week summer program serves promising students entering Geometry, Algebra II, Precalculus, and Calculus from Project GRAD high schools located in the Houston Independent School District. Data are gathered each year to document the impact of the institute. Data analysis of the 2010 institute which was funded by Shell Oil Company showed that the growth in students’ mathematical knowledge was statistically significant (p <.001) across subjects: Calculus, 59%, Precalculus, 93%, Algebra II, 93%, and Geometry, 155%. Students participating in the 2010 institute reported in their post-surveys very positive comments about the program, including that they feel more confident about learning mathematics (91%), feel better prepared mathematically (79%), and they look forward to their mathematics classes this upcoming school year (93%). This data, along with the significant gains they made in terms of their mathematical knowledge, indicate that Project GRAD is, indeed, encouraging students to successfully complete a rigorous high school program to prepare them for higher education.
Computational Thinking (Comp140) at Rice: Experience With a New Freshman Course on Computing
Devika Subramanian
Rice University
This poster will describe the new freshman course on computational thinking that I have designed and taught in Fall 2008-2010. I will discuss the pedagogical approach and content, and summarize statistics on the response to the approach and the material from data gathered in 2008-2010.
Fondren Library Information Fluency Initiatives
Jane Segal, Dr. Lisa Spiro, Debra Kolah, Linda Spiro, Sandi Edwards, Leah Krevit
Rice University
Fondren Library is a central partner in teaching the research skills needed by productive researchers and effective decision-makers. Rice students must understand how to find, evaluate, organize, and communicate information--in other words, they must achieve "information fluency." This poster demonstrates ways that Fondren Library is helping students learn how to do research and communicate their work more effectively. Fondren librarians work with instructors to offer special workshops, assignments, and targeted assistance that enable students to develop crucial research skills. For example, a science librarian has collaborated with two physics professors to help students learn how to keep current with research trends and manage research information, and the Digital Media Center provides intensive training to Communication students in creating short videos documenting Rice or the local community.
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*If your poster abstract has been accepted and is listed above, please bring your printed posters to the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK) and have them up by 11:00 AM on Saturday, February 12.
