Description of the Programs

Engineering Science & Mechanics (ES&M):

The Multidisciplinary Informal Engineering Education Seminar (MIEES) enables graduate students to identify two essential features of any specialized discipline, and to use both in informal education activities. The glory of a person's topic is that which makes his/her own hair stand in romance. The essence is the simplest statement of that fundamental principle which makes the topic glorious. In addition, students learn to extract the chief attributes of technical presentations on topics with which they are barely familiar.

Every student must deliver a 25–minute videotaped presentation on his/her research topic, while other students take notes. The videotape is given to presenter. The following week, classmates provide feedback and the presenter writes a self–critique. In the second part of the course, every student redelivers an improved 20–minute version of the earlier presentation. Other participants grade improvement and adherence to the feedback. During the last meeting, students provide oral and written self–assessments of changes in outlook on informal education activities.

Chemistry:

(1) Professional Development Workshop. We developed and offered a new 3-day professional development workshop (PDW) for incoming graduate students prior to fall semester 2003. The workshop introduced students to topics that would help them succeed in graduate school, including: adjusting to graduate school mentality; the role graduate students play in the education of undergraduates; locations of facilities, labs, and other resources; computer technology and electronic searching of databases; laboratory safety; library resources; scientific writing and its critical evaluation; and a workshop on scientific ethics. The PDW was coordinated and implemented by Susan Swope in collaboration with Chemistry Department graduate faculty and the Chemical Education Interest Group.

(2) General Chemistry Teaching Assistant Training. General chemistry (Chem 12) TA training was enhanced for fall semester 2003. A corps of 32 TAs were assigned to run recitation sessions for Chem 12. Most were new graduate students with little teaching experience. The five faculty, one super-TA, and the TA Trainer ran a series of workshops on teaching prior to the start of the semester. In addition to presenting the organization and logistics of the course, sessions focused on how to run a successful recitation and included practice teaching sessions. During the semester, the TA Trainer visited individual TAs’ recitations to observe their teaching and to provide them with constructive feedback. The TA training enhancement was done by Tiffany Mathews, an advanced chemistry graduate student who has taught Chem 12 numerous times. Last year Tiffany won a prestigious all-University award for her teaching.

Biology:

The Biology Department’s program is comprised of three related projects: 1) a digital image database for the production of on-line materials, 2) an on-line editor for our Operon courseware, and 3) on-line tutorials for use in specific undergraduate biology courses. The project involves the development an on-line image database that can be interfaced into existing and future Web-based introductory biology tutorials. As time permits, we will develop and evaluate lesson plans that accompany these materials.

Outcomes of the Programs

ES&M:

In Fall 2003, six PhD students in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics are participating in the MIEES. All are in at least in the second year of their PhD programs. Three are US citizens, and the remainder are Chinese citizens. In addition, the Project Assistant is also a PhD student (US citizen), who is not going to make presentations, but is providing feedback as a non-participant student. Finally, one of the three Chinese students has been asked to assist the other two Chinese students, so that they can overcome cultural anxieties in this nontraditional course.

Chemistry:

(1) Professional Development Workshop. Our entire entering 2003 class of new 54 graduate students participated in the PDW. We provided them with information that will be valuable for their success in graduate school. Our evidence is that advanced graduate students have been systematically asked what types of information to include in the PDW, and we have done this. Impact on their careers will be assessed in the coming years.

(2) General Chemistry Teaching Assistant Training. This TA training has directly benefited the 32 novice TAs in general chemistry (Chem 12) this fall semester. Thus, the program has affected the approximately 1900 undergraduate students who are taking Chem 12 this fall. We survey each recitation section at the end of each semester, so we will look for changes in student perceptions at the end of the semester. This program has also provided Tiffany with an opportunity to hone her teaching and oversight skills toward a future career in chemistry teaching. The training activities have generated a large 3-ring binder of materials for future use of TA Trainers in Chem 12.

Biology:

We have completed the first version of our digital image database (see http://www.bio.psu.edu/groups/tutorialimages/). This database is currently being used in the production of on-line materials in our own department for Biology 220 (Biology: Populations and Communities), Biology 230 (Biology: Molecules and Cells), and Biology 240 (Biology: Function and Development of Organisms). In addition, two other departments are using the data base to develop online material for BiSci 4 (Human Body: Form and Function) and Nutrition 100 (Contemporary Nutrition Concerns).

We are continuing to work on an on-line editor for our Operon courseware. Upon completion, this editor will interface seamlessly with the image database and will allow users to easily customize course content into their biology courses. We are continuing to produce on-line tutorials for use in Bio 220, 230, and 240, and are developing case studies to be used in conjunction with the on-line tutorials.

Implementation of the Programs

ES&M:

To implement the informal education seminar elsewhere, a training session must be provided. The Faculty Coordinator delivered a simulated presentation, which was then critiqued by the students as well as by the Faculty Coordinator. The post mortem conducted on the simulated presentation encouraged students to shed their inhibitions about critiquing fellow students.

The program should be highly transferable to any major research institution. However, only a small number of students are enrolled at this time; hence, the effects of large enrollments are not known.

The Faculty Coordinator did not have to spend more time than he would have on any other graduate course.

Chemistry:

The Professional Development Program (PDW) and TA training could be implemented quite easily at another university. For the PDW, the resources needed are minimal, largely the stipend of the person primarily responsible. There must be support from the faculty and graduate students as numerous presenters must be identified for the PDW. For the TA Training activity, the support is one ½-time TA position that should be used to hire an experienced, advanced level graduate student. Supervision by the faculty in charge is necessary.

Biology:

The Biology 220, 230, and 240 on-line tutorials were presented at the National Research Council’s Summer Institute, Texas A&M University, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Colorado-Boulder. An additional presentation was made at the annual meeting for the American Society of Plant Biology. As a result of these presentations, several universities have expressed interest in using these tutorials in their biology courses. Richard Cyr attended a meeting at Texas A&M’s Information Technology in Science (ITS) Center for Teaching and Learning and discussed the possible role that center might play in evaluating the use of these tutorials at Texas A&M. Both the database and tutorials will be made available to all interested users.

In developing the case studies for the on-line tutorials, we are working with a senior graduate student in biology with the goal of training future faculty about how to make better use of class time in promoting a greater depth of student understanding of the material. Once we evaluate the effectiveness of this approach, we will use this project to both better train our teaching assistants as well as to improve the quality of our own courses.