Design of a Pre-Curriculum and Research Interest Exploration, Prior to the Research Experience, to Better Prepare Student Researchers
Chris Thomas | Dr. Sarah Shoemaker | Dr. Robin Boltz
North Carolina School of Science and Math, Durham, NCwww.ncssm.edu
T81. 186-12. Intentional Integration of Research into the Curriculum: Undergraduate Research as a Teaching Practice. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 47, No. 7, p.476 . Baltimore 2015
Academic Program
Academic Programs• Full Time Boarding School (680)• Supplemental Online School
(300)• Outreach (many)
NCSSM is the nation’s first statewide public residential high school focused on science, technology, engineering and math. It’s tuition free
Implementing Our Strategic Plan: ObjectivesResearch Participation
Faculty-Led “R”
ResearchMentorship
Summer Research
Research-Focused Courses
Total
2014-15 159 79 75 129 442
Students Participating in a Research Opportunity by Program,
2011-12 to 2014-15 (duplicated) *
*Counts include both residential and Online students who participated in research
Mentorship
Mentorship
Application
Jr. Pre-Curriculum Course
Senior Year Travel Tues/Thurs afternoon
Research Symposium
Sr. Year Co-Curriculum Course
Driving Questions• Are they learning?• Does it fit their
existing knowledge and framework?
• Does it engage them personally?
• How do we broaden participation?
• How do you build interest in less familiar research areas? CC Joe Shlabotnik, FlickR
Junior Year Pre-Curriculum11 week course; ~5 hours work/week
Residential Program• Required to find a mentor
Online Program• No requirement to find a mentor /
no senior year continuation
Experience Curiosity
5 Things (activity)
Curiosity Sources (activity)
Curiosity Interview (activity)
30 Interesting Researchers (activity)
What is Science? (video)
Write 5 specific fields of study you ARE interested in researching and 5 fields you ARE NOT interested, using the Considerations below. Your list will have 10 items total.
Learn Discrete Steps of Research
University Research Structures (video)
Research, Actually (How do you carry out a question?) (video)
Classroom vs. Research Environment (How are you evaluated?) (video)
Professional Communication (Email) (assignment)
Investigate/Refine Areas of Interest
Librarian Meeting (activity)
Search Strategy Steps (handout)
Search Resources (searching in a University) (handout)
Class Research Paper (Read /Discuss a Common Paper) (assignment)
Identify and Evaluate Other’s Research
Reading a Scholarly Article / How Research is Communicated (video/handout)
Finding High Impact Research(video)
Paraphrasing in Research (video/handout)
Research Publication Types (video)
Build Confidence/Motivation…and engage in research that builds motivation to actively pursue research
Read Three Research Articles (activity)
• Guided Questions• Annotated Bibliography
Research Compliance (video/handout)
Quantitative/Qualitative Data Analysis (video)
Professional Communication (video)
Senior Year Co-Curriculum
Continued Research Article Reading and Summaries
Small Group Discussions
Mini Grant Proposal
Incremental Rehearsal of Final Presentation
Daily Journal
Are We Effective?
Acknowledgements
• University of North Carolina General Administration: Instructional Innovation Incubator
• North Carolina General Assembly• Burroughs-Wellcome Fund, Monsanto, and NCSSM Foundation
supports the mentorship program NASA