Applied Science Research for All Part 1 Pre-College Level (original) (raw)

A National Virtual Research Training Workshop for 3800 Medical Students: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of A Novel Research Education Program

2021

BackgroundResearch training is necessary to fill the burgeoning global decline in physician-scientists, which is further pronounced in developing countries. This has generated much interest within institutions across the world to increase research exposure for students as part of medical school curricula. In order to produce a cadre of aspiring physician-scientists, the Student Research Forum (SRF) at Aga Khan University conducted a series of online research workshops leveraging innovative technological solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study aims to explore students’ perceptions of engaging undergraduate medical students in online research training workshops and to evaluate the effectiveness of such interventions in improving the knowledge and skillset of participating students.Methods‘A Beginners Guide to Research’ was a nation-wide virtual research workshop series conducted for medical students across Pakistan in June 2020. A mixed-methods study design was employed to e...

Teaching in the Time of COVID-19: Creation of a Digital Internship to Develop Scientific Thinking Skills and Create Science Literacy Exercises for Use in Remote Classrooms†

Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 2021

The extreme academic and social disruption caused by COVID-19 in the spring and summer of 2020 led to the loss of many student internships. We report here our creation of a novel internship for students majoring in the biological sciences. ABSTRACT The extreme academic and social disruption caused by COVID-19 in the spring and summer of 2020 led to the loss of many student internships. We report here our creation of a novel internship for students majoring in the biological sciences. Student interns worked together to systematically categorize multiple episodes of This Week in Microbiology (TWiM). They annotated episodes by labeling relevant ASM fundamental curricular guidelines and the microbiology techniques described in several podcast episodes. Interns worked together, which advanced their written and oral communication skills while improving their scientific thinking skills. Faculty then enhanced each annotation by adding short figure-reading exercises that can be used in a var...

Educating the Next Generation of Leading Scientists: Turning Ideas into Action

2009

The core of scientific research is turning new ideas into reality. From the school science fair to the search for the secrets of dark energy, high-quality research consists of scientific investigation constrained within the scope of a well-defined project. Large or small, generously funded or just scraping by,scientific projects use time, money, and information to turn ideas into plans, plans

Training of Scientists

2007

Institutes of Health (NIH) laboratories for predoctoral training. Several partnerships required that students create collaborative dissertations between at least one NIH and one university research mentor. More than 60 students have entered into these co-mentored research collabo-rations, and many others established them even though not required. Much was learned about the experiences of these and other GPP students by using structured interviews as part of a formal self-study of the GPP in 2005. Complications of trying to work with two mentors are managed through careful program design and mentor selection. In the collaborative model, students develop a complex set of scientific and interpersonal skills. They lead their own independent research projects, drawing on the expertise of multiple mentors and acquiring skills at negotiating everyone’s interests. They develop high levels of independence, maturity, flexi-bility, and the ability to see research questions from different persp...

Robust Institutional Support and Collaboration Between Summer Training Programs in Cancer and Biomedicine Drive the Pivot to a Virtual Format in Response to the COVID Pandemic

Journal of Cancer Education, 2022

Summer internships serve important roles in training the next generation of biomedical researchers and healthcare providers through laboratory and clinical experiences that excite trainees about these fields and help them make informed decisions about career paths. The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID) pandemic and associated physical distancing restrictions precluded implementation of traditional in-person summer curricula and led to the cancellation of many internships across the USA. COVID-related disruptions also created opportunities for trainees to engage in remote research, become proficient in online learning platforms, and explore multidisciplinary topics. These skills are highly relevant to trainees as virtual interfaces occupy an increasingly mainstream role in their professional paths. The response to the COVID pandemic required real-time adaptations at all levels for major biomedical institutions including the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB). Pivoting summer programs to a virtual format as part of this response provided a "teachable moment" to expose trainees to the innovation and resilience that are essential components of the biomedical profession. UMB summer programs, which span diverse biomedical disciplines from cancer research to diabetes, consolidated resources and identified mentors with online research projects to develop a robust virtual curriculum. Herein, data from a cancer-focused internship illustrate the collaborative adaptations to established components and creation of new learning modules in the transition to, and implementation of, online training. Outcomes are presented in the context of the COVID pandemic and significant societal issues that arose in the summer of 2020. The utility of virtual components and their impact on future programs is discussed.

Developing Undergraduate Scientists by Scaffolding the Entry into Mentored Research

Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly

The mission of the Council on Undergraduate Research is to support and promote high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship. Undergraduate Research Highlights • Title of the article/book chapter and full journal citation for articles (inclusive pages; Chicago Manual of Style). • A brief description (maximum 75 words) of the research and its significance. Copy guidelines as above. • Title and department or program affiliation of the faculty member. • A brief (maximum 75 words per coauthor) description of the student coauthor(s) including the year of study in which the student(s) undertook the work, the opportunity through which the work was done (independent study project, summer project, REU program, senior thesis project, etc.), and the student's current status (graduate school, employed, still enrolled, etc.). • The source of funding for the work.

An Online Training Program to Enhance Novice Researchers’ Knowledge and Skills

Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research, 2021

This article describes a multidisciplinary, asynchronous,10-hour online training program for undergraduates enrolled in a mentored research apprentice program, addressing communication skills, knowledge of the research process, information literacy, and research ethics. Results revealed significant perceived gains in all four content areas (p < 0.001) with no significant differences across disciplines.

Science Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Tales from the Front Lines

International Society for Technology, Education and Science (ISTES), 2021

Certainly the year 2020 will be one for the history books, as COVID-19 made its impact globally beginning in that year. While it did not hit the United States substantially until about March of 2020, other countries felt the effects sooner. Eventually it seemed that the globe essentially was shut down due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This type of shutdown was challenging for education and educators. How could we pivot to online forums and teaching methods? Would our students still learn? It was especially concerning for science teachers and science educators who were accustomed to teaching using mostly hands-on inquiry instruction. How could students manipulate materials in these virtual settings? The science educators who have contributed to this book decided to conduct research to determine answers to some of these questions. The book is divided into three sections related to science teaching--COVID-19 science teaching research that involved K-12 teachers, research that explored university science content courses, and research that explored preservice science teacher education. Following each section we include a summary of the outcomes and recommendations. We end the book with conclusions and recommendations from a synthesis of the studies included.