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1474 Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 85 No. 11 November 2008 • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • © Division of Chemical Education
Chemical Education Today
Association Report: CUR
Broadening Participation in Undergraduate Researchby Kerry K. Karukstis
edited byKerry K. Karukstis
Harvey Mudd CollegeClaremont, CA 91711
Valuing Broad Participation in the Research Enterprise
Numerous reports and initiatives are focused on the need to prepare a diverse workforce for the 21st Century (1–10). Organizations such as the National Academies (4), the Commit-tee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering (5, 6), the Association of American Colleges and Universities (7–9), and Building Engineering and Science Talent (BEST) (10) are calling for collective action at departmental, institutional, and national levels. Responding to that challenge, the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) and its members have under-taken a variety of initiatives to extend research opportunities to undergraduate students who have not traditionally participated. These activities are part of continuous and collective efforts to help students, faculty, institutions, and the research community tap into the benefits of a vibrant and inclusive undergraduate research program.
Involving a Range of Institutions
Undergraduate research is increasingly a common prac-tice on all types of campuses in view of the many educational benefits gained by students, the professional merits accorded to faculty, and the contributions provided to the wider research community. CUR’s institutional and individual membership reflects the wide array of institutions engaged in this effective form of pedagogy. As further evidence of the expansion of inter-est in undergraduate research, CUR has recently engaged with community colleges through a series of regional conversations to attain insights into the benefits and challenges of pursuing undergraduate research at such two-year institutions (11). These efforts were supported by a grant awarded through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Technologi-cal Education program (12) to CUR and its collaborator, the National Council of Instructional Administrators. CUR is also hosting Institutionalizing Undergraduate Research regional workshops to foster connections and build support networks among institutions ranging from community colleges to small PUIs to comprehensive universities. Supported by a grant from the NSF Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement pro-gram (13), these regional workshops aim to share resources and facilitate the development of plans for expanding and sustaining research programs on all types of campuses.
Encouraging Use of New Approaches
Many of the institutions engaging undergraduate students in research have realized the benefits of incorporating activities that prepare students for research, as well as opportunities to conduct research projects, in the curriculum. The CUR publica-tion, Developing & Sustaining a Research-Supportive Curriculum: A Compendium of Successful Practices (14), includes examples
of many of the approaches being taken to engage lower and up-per division students. The importance of thinking about new ways of engaging students was also emphasized in Mentoring Diverse Students, the opening plenary lecture at the CUR 2008 National Conference held at the College of St. Benedict in June 2008. Isiah Warner a chemist and vice chancellor at Louisiana State University, described an innovative hierarchy model that integrated research, education, and mentoring and resulted in a learning community of students and faculty.
Supporting Efforts within the Chemistry Community
The Chemistry Division of CUR has been working for a number of years to highlight the importance of engaging those who have not been traditionally involved in undergraduate research. In The Value of Diversity to the Chemical Sciences, a white paper written for the Undergraduate Research Summit held at Bates College in 2003 (15), Carlos Gutiérrez, a chemistry professor at California State University, Los Angeles highlighted the importance of undergraduate research in achieving the di-versification of the chemical enterprise:
The labor market challenge to all of us is the creation of an environment within the molecular science enterprise—in academia and in industry—in which the intellectual tal-ents of Americans from all ethnic and racial groups can be developed and brought to bear on the solution of current and future problems…. We must recruit talented minority students and engage them, as we should all talented students, as the future leaders of the chemistry enterprise… we must stimulate their interest in chemistry by using undergraduate research as a beginning to their careers in chemistry (15).
At the 233rd American Chemical Society National Meet-ing in New Orleans, CUR Councilor Mary Boyd organized a three-session symposium (16) “to showcase initiatives that have responded to the challenge of broadening participation in undergraduate research”. Speakers from a range of programs and many different types of institutions presented practical strategies, pedagogical approaches, collaborative models, and assessment results for both disciplinary and multidisciplinary efforts to ex-pand participation in undergraduate research. The success of the ACS symposium prompted the consideration of further ways of sharing the stories and lessons with a broader audience.
Sharing Stories and Strategies
One tangible outcome of the above-mentioned ACS sym-posium is a new CUR publication, Broadening Participation in Undergraduate Research: Fostering Excellence and Enhancing the Impact (17), edited by Boyd and CUR Councilor Jodi Wesemann. This volume explores the many facets of involving underrepresented ethnic and racial minorities, students with
© Division of Chemical Education • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • Vol. 85 No. 11 November 2008 • Journal of Chemical Education 1475
Chemical Education Today
disabilities, students of low socioeconomic status, first- and second-year students, and others in ways that benefit the re-search enterprise, academic institutions, and faculty, as well as the students. The publication has three goals: • tomakethecaseforbroadeningparticipationinunder-
graduate research • to share the rangeof strategies thathavebeenused to
engage students who have not traditionally been involved in research
• toprovideexamplesthatwillencourageotherstomakethe commitment to adapt and adopt efforts to broaden participation in their own institutions
The volume is divided into four sections, with the first focusing on making the case and sharing strategies for building successful and sustainable programs to broaden participation us-ing the “BEST” (Building Engineering & Science Talent) design principles (10). The next three sections of the book describe programs at various stages of development, with chapters and insights contributed by programs from across the country. As in the symposium that inspired it, a range of institutions, from community colleges to Ph.D.-granting institutions, are repre-sented. By considering what is done and how it is done, these institutions are increasing the likelihood that their undergradu-ate research programs will be good investments and successful over the long-term.
The publication highlights all disciplines, with a number of contributions in the collection from chemistry departments with undergraduate research programs designed to broaden participation. Examples of curricular and co-curricular activities are described. Cross-institutional partnerships play a central role in many of the programs, including those supported by the NSF Undergraduate Research Collaboratives program at host institu-tions Purdue University, University of South Dakota, Harold Washington College, and Ohio State University. Duquesne Uni-versity is partnering with minority-serving and primarily under-graduate institutions, while Texas State University has formed a partnership with a two-year college. Hope College is reaching out to two-year colleges and high schools, while also serving pre-service teachers. Southwestern College, having partnered with industry and other academic institutions, is fostering internal collaborations. The Science Scholars Program at DePauw Uni-versity incorporates co-curricular activities. Programs at James Madison University and Rochester Institute of Technology are working with the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Northern Arizona University and Chicago State University are engaging the Na-tive American and African American communities, respectively, creating environments that are culturally sensitive.
In the volume’s closing, the editors encourage readers to consider the components needed for change and to build on the work of others. “Pursuing the vision of broadening participation in undergraduate research and scholarly activity to encompass a range of institutions, faculty, and students takes time, com-mitment, and leadership. We need to connect with others in different disciplines and at different institutions, learning from their challenges, disappointments, and failures, as well as from their successes. We must expand on their efforts and leverage their investments” (17). Thus, because it provides information
and examples to the higher education community, the Council on Undergraduate Research believes that readers will find this volume to be a valuable resource for those seeking to use under-graduate research to engage more underrepresented students in the process of creation and discovery. To obtain more informa-tion about Broadening Participation in Undergraduate Research: Fostering Excellence and Enhancing the Impact, visit http://www.cur.org (accessed Aug 2008).
Acknowledgement
Kerry Karukstis thanks Jodi L. Wesemann and Mary K. Boyd for informative discussions in the preparation of this column.
Literature Cited
1. American Competitiveness Council (ACC). Report of the American Competitiveness Council; U.S. Department of Educa-tion: Washington, DC, 2007. http://www.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/competitiveness/acc-mathscience/index.html (accessed Aug 2008).
2. Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century: An Agenda for American Science and Technology, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine. Rising Above The Gathering Storm: Energiz-ing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future; The National Academies Press: Washington, DC, 2007. http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11463.html#toc (accessed Aug 2008).
3. American Competitiveness Initiative: Leading the World in Innovation; Domestic Policy Council, Office of Science and Technology Policy, February 2006. http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2006/aci/aci06-booklet.pdf (accessed Aug 2008).
4. Olson, S.; Fagen A. P. Understanding Interventions That Encourage Minorities to Pursue Research Careers: Summary of a Workshop; National Academies Press: Washington, DC, 2007.
5. 2005–2006 Biennial Report to Congress; Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering, National Science Foundation: Arlington, VA, 2006.
6. Broadening Participation in America’s Science and Engineering Workforce. The 1994–2003 Decennial & 2004 Biennial Reports to Congress; Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and En-gineering; National Science Foundation; Arlington, VA, 2004.
7. College Learning for the New Global Century; Association of American Colleges and Universities: Washington, DC, 2007. www.aacu.org/leap/documents/GlobalCentury_final.pdf (accessed Aug 2008).
8. Clayton-Pedersen, Alma R.; Parker, Sharon; Smith, Daryl G.; Moreno, José F.; Hiroyuki Teraguchi, Daniel. Making a Real Difference with Diversity: A Guide to Institutional Change; As-sociation of American Colleges and Universities: Washington, DC, 2007.
9. Milem, Jeffrey F.; Chang, Mitchell J.; Antonio, Anthony Lising; Making Diversity Work on Campus: A Research-Based Perspective; Association of American Colleges and Universities: Washing-ton, DC, 2005. www.aacu.org/inclusive_excellence/documents/Milem_et_al.pdf (accessed Aug 2008).
10. A Bridge for All: Higher Education Design Principles to Broaden Participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; Building Engineering & Science Talent: San Diego, CA, Febru-
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ary 2004. http://www.bestworkforce.org/PDFdocs/BEST_Bridge-forAll_HighEdDesignPrincipals.pdf (accessed Aug 2008).
11. See for example: (a) Gaglione, Onofrio G. J. Chem. Educ. 2005, 82, 1613–1614; (b) Brown, David R. J. Chem. Educ. 2006, 83, 970–972; (c) Gaglione, Onofrio G. J. Chem. Educ. 2007, 84, 1108; (d) Slezak, Jane. J. Chem. Educ. 2007, 84, 1108; (e) Brown, David R.; Higgins, Thomas, B.; Coggins, P. CUR Quarterly 2007, 28(2), 24–28.
12. National Science Foundation, Division of Undergraduate Edu-cation, Award #0603119, Two-Year Technician Education and Transfer Programs: Tapping the Potential of Undergraduate Research.
13. National Science Foundation, Division of Undergraduate Education, Award #0618721, Collaborative Project: A Workshop Initiative by the Council on Undergraduate Research to Establish, Enhance and Institutionalize Undergraduate Research.
14. Developing and Sustaining a Research-Supportive Curriculum: A Compendium of Successful Practices; Karukstis, K. K., Elgren, T. E., Eds.; Council on Undergraduate Research: Washington, DC, 2007; see http://www.cur.org/publications/comporderform.pdf and http://www.cur.org/pdf/execsum.pdf (both sites accessed Aug 2008).
15. Gutierrez, Carlos G. The Value of Diversity to the Chemical Sciences. In Enhancing Research in the Chemical Sciences at Predominantly Undergraduate Institutions: A Report from the Undergraduate Re-
Association Report: CUR
search Summit, Bates College, Lewiston, ME, August 2–4, 2003. http://abacus.bates.edu/acad/depts/chemistry/twenzel/diversity.pdf (accessed Aug 2008).
16. Boyd, M. K., organizer, Broadening Participation in Under-graduate Research, 233rd American Chemical Society National Meeting, March 27, 2007, Chicago, IL. http://oasys2.confex.com/acs/233nm/techprogram/S23523.HTM, http://oasys2.confex.com/acs/233nm/techprogram/S23524.HTM, and http://oasys2.confex.com/acs/233nm/techprogram/S23149.HTM (all sites accessed Aug 2008).
17. Broadening Participation in Undergraduate Research: Fostering Excellence and Enhancing the Impact; Boyd, M. K., Wesemann, J. L., Eds.; Council on Undergraduate Research: Washington, DC, 2008; see http://www.cur.org/publications.html (accessed Aug 2008).
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Kerry K. Karukstis is Immediate Past-President of CUR and is a member of the Department of Chemistry, Harvey Mudd Col-lege, Claremont, CA 91711; [email protected].
