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Mentoring Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Students via a Team Effort
Cell Biology Education, 2011
We describe how a team approach that we developed as a mentoring strategy can be used to recruit, advance, and guide students to be more interested in the interdisciplinary field of mathematical biology, and lead to success in undergraduate research in this field. Students are introduced to research in their first semester via lab rotations. Their participation in the research of four faculty members-two from biology and two from mathematics-gives them a first-hand overview of research in quantitative biology and also some initial experience in research itself. However, one of the primary goals of the lab rotation experience is that of developing teams of students and faculty that combine mathematics and statistics with biology and the life sciences, teams that subsequently mentor undergraduate research in genuine interdisciplinary environments. Thus, the team concept serves not only as a means of establishing interdisciplinary research, but also as a means of incorporating new students into existing research efforts that will then track those students into meaningful research of their own. We report how the team concept is used to support undergraduate research in mathematical biology and what types of team-building strategies have worked for us.
CBE life sciences education, 2010
Inspired by BIO2010 and leveraging institutional and external funding, Truman State University built an undergraduate program in mathematical biology with high-quality, faculty-mentored interdisciplinary research experiences at its core. These experiences taught faculty and students to bridge the epistemological gap between the mathematical and life sciences. Together they created the infrastructure that currently supports several interdisciplinary courses, an innovative minor degree, and long-term interdepartmental research collaborations. This article describes how the program was built with support from the National Science Foundation's Interdisciplinary Training for Undergraduates in Biology and Mathematics program, and it shares lessons learned that will help other undergraduate institutions build their own program.
We describe a unique Research Experience for Undergraduates and Research Experience for Veterinary students summer program at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis on the campus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The program focused on interdisciplinary research at the interface of biology and mathematics. Participants were selected to work on projects with a biology mentor and a mathematics mentor in an environment that promoted collaboration outside of the students' respective disciplines. There were four research projects with teams of four participants and two faculty mentors. The participants consisted of a mixture of 10 undergraduates in biology-and mathematics-related disciplines, four veterinary students, and two high-school teachers. The activities included lectures on both the biological and mathematical backgrounds of the projects, tutorials for software, and sessions on ethics, graduate school, and possible career paths for individuals interested in biology and mathematics. The program was designed to give students the ability to actively participate in the scientific research process by working on a project, writing up their results in a final report, and presenting their work orally. We report on the results of our evaluation surveys of the participants.
The mathematical and theoretical biology institute - a model of mentorship through research
Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering, 2013
This article details the history, logistical operations, and design philosophy of the Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute (MTBI), a nationally recognized research program with an 18-year history of mentoring researchers at every level from high school through university faculty, increasing the number of researchers from historically underrepresented minorities, and motivating them to pursue research careers by allowing them to work on problems of interest to them and supporting them in this endeavor. This mosaic profile highlights how MTBI provides a replicable multi-level model for research mentorship. Acronym listing. To help the reader keep track of the various acronyms, we include a list of acronyms used in this paper with a paranthetical explanation if appropriate.
Cell Biology Education, 2010
Funded by innovative programs at the National Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Richmond faculty in biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and computer science teamed up to offer first-and second-year students the opportunity to contribute to vibrant, interdisciplinary research projects. The result was not only good science but also good science that motivated and informed course development. Here, we describe four recent undergraduate research projects involving students and faculty in biology, physics, mathematics, and computer science and how each contributed in significant ways to the conception and implementation of our new Integrated Quantitative Science course, a course for first-year students that integrates the material in the first course of the major in each of biology, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, and physics.
Creating an Interdisciplinary Research Course in Mathematical Biology
Undergraduate Mathematics for the Life Sciences, 2009
Size about 24,000 students Institution Type large state university with PhD program Student recent high school graduates with high potential Demogaphic and interests in mathematics and biology Department Mathematics and Biology are individual Structure departments in the College of Arts and Sciences An integrated interdisciplinary research course in biology and mathematics is useful for recruiting studeots tu interdisciplinary research careers, but there are difficulties involved in creating and implemeoting it. We describe the genesis, objectives, design policies, and structure of the Research Skills in Theoretical Ecology course at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and discuss the difficulties that can arise in designing and implemeoting interdisciplinary courses. Course Structure • Weeks per term: 5-week summer session • Classes per week/type/leogth: five I-hour lecture periods each week • Labs per week/leogth: five I-hour laboratory periods each week • Average class size: 8-14 students in one section • Enrollment reqniremeots: For high school students and university freslnnen. Studeots must apply for the program and get a recommendation from a teacher. • Faculty/dept per class, TAs: Team-taught by one mathematics instructor and one biology instructor, with the mathematics instructor doing the quantitative lecture portion of the lecture. • Next course: The purpose of the course is to teach research skills. There are no related courses, but many of the studeots will do research projects later in their programs. Some students may choose to take additional courses in mathematics and/or biology, including interdisciplinary courses.
Team Research at the Biology-Mathematics Interface: Project Management Perspectives
Cell Biology Education, 2010
The success of interdisciplinary research teams depends largely upon skills related to team performance. We evaluated student and team performance for undergraduate biology and mathematics students who participated in summer research projects conducted in off-campus laboratories. The student teams were composed of a student with a mathematics background and an experimentally oriented biology student. The team mentors typically ranked the students' performance very good to excellent over a range of attributes that included creativity and ability to conduct independent research. However, the research teams experienced problems meeting prespecified deadlines due to poor time and project management skills. Because time and project management skills can be readily taught and moreover typically reflect good research practices, simple modifications should be made to undergraduate curricula so that the promise of initiatives, such as MATH-BIO 2010, can be implemented.
Cell Biology Education, 2004
Too often, biology has been considered by both students and faculty as the ideal major for the scientifically inclined but mathematically challenged, even though the advantage of quantitative approaches in biology has always been apparent. Increasingly, biologists are utilizing mathematical skills to create simulations or manage and query large data sets. The need for basic mathematical and computer science (CS) literacy among biologists has never been greater. But does this require a fundamental change in the organization of the undergraduate biology curriculum? What is the utility of math/CS in different areas of biology? How can we best provide math/CS instruction to biologists so that the utility is appreciated? Do all biology students require a stronger math/CS foundation, or only those interested in research careers? Given the speed at which technology changes, what is the best preparation? Three different points of view are offered below. Dr. Roger Brent, President and Director of the Molecular Sciences Institute, reflects on the "innumeracy" common among biologists and argues that significant insights into biological problems may be gained from better mathematical intuition.
Mentoring Undergraduate Research in Statistics: Reaping the Benefits and Overcoming the Barriers
Journal of Statistics Education, 2020
Undergraduate research experiences (UREs), whether within the context of a mentor-mentee experience or a classroom framework, represent an excellent opportunity to expose students to the independent scholarship model. The high impact of undergraduate research has received recent attention in the context of STEM disciplines. Reflecting a 2017 survey of statistics faculty, this article examines the perceived benefits of UREs, as well as barriers to the incorporation of UREs, specifically within the field of statistics. Viewpoints of students, faculty mentors, and institutions are investigated. Further, the article offers several strategies for leveraging characteristics unique to the field of statistics to overcome barriers and thereby provide greater opportunity for undergraduate statistics students to gain research experience.