NSF TUES Type 1 Funded Projects: Abstracts

NSF TUES Type 1 Funded Projects: Abstracts

The following are abstracts from TUES Type 1 proposals funded in the past two years. This is just a small sample to give an idea of the range of TUES Type 1 project possibilities. More abstracts, as well as samples of successful proposals, are available from RSP.

Leveraging Laboratory Activities to Achieve Educational Reform (1140767)6/1/2012

Koetje, David, , Calvin College, GRAND RAPIDS, MI- Award Amount: $199990

Abstract:At Calvin College faculty from Biology, Chemistry, and Mathematics and Computer Science are collaborating to reform the four courses of the introductory biology sequence to align with the findings of the document "Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action." Building on problem-based learning in the first course, they are now developing laboratory modules, derived from faculty research, in the middle two courses, which culminate in student research projects in the fourth course. The three-week laboratory modules develop students' abilities to read and critique the scientific literature, to frame scientific questions and to seek their experimental answers, and to learn the conventions of oral and written communication of scientific results. Like genuine research projects, the modules include quantitative and interdisciplinary features, so students are less inclined to see their STEM courses as isolated from one another. The lecture aspects of the courses have also been revised to be more student-centered and interactive, making use of the best ideas in pedagogy. Participating in the review and testing of this strategic reform are partners from two universities, four liberal arts colleges, and a community college, all of whom have collaborated with Calvin College on previous projects. Grand Rapids Community College contributes an external collaborator, a biologist, who receives a stipend for carrying out review, testing, and evaluation of the modules, as do the other collaborators. By following the blueprint of "Vision and Change" for reform of classroom, laboratory, and assessment practices, Calvin College's project is sure to have a broad impact on undergraduate biology education.

Enhancing Undergraduate Education Through Student-Led Research in Biomass Renewable Energy (1139977)1/15/2012

Liu, Peter, , Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL- Award Amount: $198695

Abstract:Using an investigative learning model, this project is engaging undergraduate students (and a limited number of high school students) in a series of student-led research activities on biomass renewable energy. Students design and implement their own research plans based upon available biomass resources. The adoption of a student-led investigative approach is a potentially transformative model in biomass renewable energy education. Students identify biomass sources, test heat value and moisture content of the biomass, process the biomass into a useful form, gasify the biomass to produce combustible syngas, use the syngas to drive an internal combustion engine and an electrical generator, charge a bank of batteries, and invert to provide 110 VAC power output. Through the experience of participating in design and implermentation of a complete cycle of renewable energy generation and utilization, undergraduate students develop a real passion, knowledge and skill for using renewable energy. Exemplary learning materials are being developed to enable other higher education institutions to transfer the methodology into their respective curricula. With a systematic assessment, the project adds to our knowledge of how students learn biomass renewable energy through a series of student-led research activities. The project contributes to the national effort to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and to maintain a sustainable social, economic and environmental system for many generations to come.

Mobile Math Apps (1140299) 1/1/2012

Ensley, Douglas, , Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania- Award Amount: $174226

Abstract:This project is creating mobile, smart phone applications ("apps") with the goal of increasing student performance on standard precalculus problems, measured in both achievement level and time on task. Content modules are being developed, each corresponding to a specific, traditional precalculus topic and including visualizations that illuminate concepts and encourage practice. The project's intellectual merit rests in two areas. First, the "apps" take advantage of the general portability of smart phones and their unique user interfaces, while addressing the challenges of screen size and processor speed. Each module also comes with practice problems for students to demonstrate mastery of skills. Second, usage data from phones are used to study patterns and modes of use of the apps by students. Learning measures include the number and level of practice problems completed successfully, as well as the increase in time-on-task within the smart phone environment. These data are then being correlated with performance in the classroom using standard assessment tools. The broader impacts of the project are felt through its targeting of improved student success rate in precalculus, a traditional bottleneck for students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The output and outcomes of the project are also informing future work by a growing community of developers for other courses, even those outside of mathematics. Through its nurturing of this community the project is positioned to transform the fast developing area of mobile technology in undergraduate education.

Developing an Innovative Randomization-based Introductory Statistics Curriculum (1140629)1/1/2012

Tintle, Nathan, , Dordt College, Sioux Center, IA- Award Amount: $181478

Abstract:The algebra-based introductory statistics course has seen tremendous growth in enrollments over the last two decades using a consensus curriculum and sequencing of topics. However, research has also shown students typically leave these courses with a shallow understanding of key inferential ideas. Recently, many statistics educators have proposed moving from this traditional curriculum to one centered on computer-intensive, randomization-based inference methods. Two advantages of this approach are: (1) randomization methods enable students to focus on the core logic of inference, and (2) efficiency in presentation allows students to gain experience in computer-intensive and multivariable methods that are being increasingly used by applied researchers. This project is providing instructors with a fully integrated set of curriculum materials with which to teach a substantially different curriculum that introduces statistical inference from the start. The materials are undergoing class-testing at numerous institutions and being disseminated through publication as a textbook, workshops, and presentations. The accompanying evaluation component is providing information about potential gains in student understanding of core concepts of inference and documentation of how students develop skills of inferential reasoning. These curricular materials and assessment findings have the potential for effecting a substantial change in the content and focus of introductory statistics courses across the country.

Collaborative Research: Development of a New Power Electronics Curriculum Relevant to Tomorrow's Power Engineering Challenges (1044035)10/1/2011

Aliprantis, Dionysios, , Iowa State University, AMES, IA- Award Amount: $81000

Abstract:Participating Institutions: Purdue University and Iowa State University Project Description This project involves a collaborative team that is developing a new power electronics curriculum. It is enhancing the relevance of the subject by identifying the role of power electronics in addressing tomorrow's grand challenge of developing sustainable energy resources. The effort is focusing on the increased demand for highly qualified personnel in the energy industry by creating a curriculum that helps entice and educate engineering students; addressing a severe workforce shortage in the power industry. There are three main objectives of the project: (1) to develop a new power electronics curriculum that educates the next generation of power engineers with the required knowledge and skills to tackle tomorrow's challenges; (2) to foster integration of research into the undergraduate curriculum and incorporate undergraduate students into research projects; and (3) to initiate a multi-faceted renewable energy, distributed generation, and electric vehicles curriculum. The effort is producing specifically tailored analytical/experimental tools to enhance active design/research-based learning practices by leveraging highly qualified personnel from two academic institutions with complementary expertise. The project's success in accomplishing these objectives is being assessed by an external evaluator. Broader Significance The educational materials produced by this effort are being broadly disseminated via a mix of active and passive methods, through participation in conferences, journal publications and the Web (using Purdue's HUBzeroTM technology to create a 'Power Electronics Hub'). In addition, the developed lecture notes will provide the foundation for a new textbook on power electronics focused on renewable energy integration and electric vehicles applications. The new laboratory is being showcased to local high-school students, who are invited to attend exciting demonstrations of energy conversion projects. The proposed problem solving-based learning practices and engaging laboratory environment are helping to attract underrepresented groups into pursuing careers in the power systems industry.

Collaborative NSF Sessions at the ASEE Annual Conference (1114883)10/1/2011

Genalo, Lawrence, , Iowa State University, AMES, IA- Award Amount: $99988

Abstract:The project supports a highly visible dissemination outlet for grant holders in the ATE, CCLI, STEP, and TUES programs, and in various EEC programs. The investigators are organizing poster sessions at the American Society for Engineering Education's (ASEE) Annual Conference for 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. The project invites engineering grant award recipients in these programs to submit an abstract for inclusion in the poster session. Submissions are reviewed for quality and, if accepted, award recipients submit a paper that is published in the meeting proceedings and also present a poster in a special session at the meeting.

Collaborative Research: Stochastic Challenge (1043701)9/1/2011

Guardiola, Ivan, , Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO

Award Amount: $42614

Abstract:The project is a collaborative effort involving Texas Tech University, Missouri University of Science and Technology, and University of Texas - Pan American. It is developing a suite of multimedia educational materials and supporting mechanisms to create a knowledge-centered learning environment for the undergraduate instruction of stochastic processes and applied probability that seamlessly integrates into the curriculum. This project is creating high-quality video clips that challenge students to solve real problems from industry in collaborative settings. These videos are being posted on a project website along with other supporting material consisting of wiki-style tutorials and problem-solving software. A Facebook page for the project is being created to support a "wall" where students may collaboratively work on active problems and tangentially develop professional skills, such as teaming and communication. The investigators are anticipating that students at other location, even without their instructors directing them, will visit the site and will learn through the knowledge-centered aspects of the wiki-style resources, "wall" discussions, and review of active and archived problems. The team is making sure that students from underrepresented groups are featured in the videos in an effort to increase the interest among these groups of students. The project is using a few external faculty members as a design review team to provide guidance, and an experienced outside evaluator is using surveys and tests to monitor progress toward the learning outcomes and data on website and Facebook visits to monitor participation. Broader impacts include the dissemination of the project's products through the website postings and the use of social networking and the focus on broadening the participation of underrepresented groups.

Putting Undergraduate Chemistry on Solid Ground: Analysis of Solids for a Deeper Understanding of Chemistry (1043846)8/1/2011

Fraley, David, , Georgetown College, Georgetown, KY- Award Amount: $199900

Abstract:At Georgetown College, the Chemistry faculty are transforming the way chemical education is conducted and thus impacting the interest levels, skills, and depth of knowledge of the students by introducing solids analysis through a graduated approach. The project enhances students' understanding of solids and aids the development of their understanding of the use of Chemistry to a wide variety of practical applications, strengthens the scientific literacy of the general student body by demystifying chemical equipment and drawing connections between chemical analysis and relevant topics such as art, photography, environmental pollution, new materials, and food, and attracts more students to the STEM fields by giving them direct hands-on experience with modern instrumentation early in the academic career. A new course, Chemistry, Color, and Art, is helping improve the scientific literacy and experience of students who choose non-science careers. More than half of the students at Georgetown College are directly impacted through Chemistry classes. Additionally, the program will have a broader impact on the region through a Bluegrass Regional Physical Chemistry Symposium, a high school summer science camp, and a Science Alliance with K-12 teachers from six surrounding counties. The details of the curriculum development and its evaluation will be disseminated through presentations at national meetings and publication in a chemical education journal. This project is also addressing the critical shortage of science professionals in Kentucky.

Collaborative Research: An Integrated Cognitive and Conceptual Curriculum for a General Chemistry Inquiry Laboratory (1044031)8/1/2011

Monteyne, Kereen, , NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC., Highland Heights, KY- Award Amount: $120362

Abstract:Investigators from Northern Kentucky University and California State University Fullerton are designing a series of integrated laboratory activities that scaffold students' development of cognitive skills to support conceptual understanding in chemistry. More specifically, the laboratory activities target cognitive skills specific to inquiry-based learning in the laboratory, and target the abilities of students to transform concepts between macroscopic, particulate and symbolic representations. The laboratory instructional materials focus on four concept domains in first-term general chemistry: physical and chemical change, stoichiometry, solutions, and gases. Laboratory activities are being developed using a Learning Continuum Framework which describes a developmental progression of cognitive and conceptual learning objectives scaffolded across the three inquiry approaches of structured, guided and open. The research studies relationships between cognitive skills and conceptual development in the first-term chemistry laboratory. A focus of the research will be on how students develop the capacity to interpret, develop and refine mental models that bridge between particulate and macroscopic level perspectives. The results of the research will provide practical guidance on the nature and degree of scaffolding necessary for development of cognitive skills and the nexus between conceptual learning and mental model development. Implementation of the laboratory activities is being studied at both higher education institutions in order to include students with diverse backgrounds, on the rationale that this increases generalizability and transferability of the study's findings. Replications of the laboratory activities are being sought and carried out at two- and four-year colleges across the U.S. Fully replicated laboratory activities are being shared on a free website, along with a blog reporting current research efforts, list of research questions and feedback points.

Building Instrumental Competence to Support Student Independence in the Laboratory (1044223)8/1/2011

Bur, Scott, , Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN- Award Amount: $200000

Abstract:The chemistry department at Gustavus Adolphus College is engaged in a project to shift its pedagogical focus to include a graduated approach to student instrument usage, particularly in the first two years of the undergraduate curriculum. Project implementation in freshman and sophomore chemistry courses centers around hands-on use of GC-MS and ICP-MS, IR, UV/Vis, fluorescence, and NMR spectrometers. A key element of implementing this graduated approach is the acquisition of a 400 MHz spectrometer with autosampling capability to facilitate the incorporation of NMR usage through the early undergraduate chemistry curriculum. Another key element is the development of an assessment system to guide the implementation and to measure the impact of the intervention on students' readiness for independent research. In order to study the impact on students, the project is making use of the Classroom Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) survey as well as a separate questionnaire exploring confidence, experimental design and problem-solving abilities in research, and the amount of undergraduate research in which the students are engaged. In addition, students' understanding is being assessed via a lab practical and course-taking patterns and enrollment will be examined. External evaluators are facilitating an internal development team to develop the validity of these measures and the evaluators are examining institutional data as well as reviewing the other assessment approaches. Dissemination includes the development and implementation of a workshop through the Midstates Consortium of Science and Math for faculty of 13 higher education institutions, presentations at local and national undergraduate science education forums, and papers published in chemical education venues.

Fostering an Induction into Authentic Research in the Freshman/Sophomore Sequence (1044419)8/1/2011

Miller, Matthew, , South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD- Award Amount: $199907

Abstract:This project is developing four undergraduate chemistry courses into a blended curriculum structure that revises the role of the teaching laboratory. The course sequence moves students from verification experiments to open-ended inquiry activities in order to provide students with a more genuine scientific research experience during their first two years of college. The courses include frequent and sustained use of instrumentation ordinarily used in research settings, including a graphite furnace atomic absorbance instrument, a high performance liquid chromatography instrument, and a gas chromatography instrument. The model includes co-enrollment of students from the first and third courses, as well as from the second and fourth courses, in order to build a community of practitioners who work together to solve related problems. The expectation is that these pedagogical approaches, when brought together, bring students to a greater awareness of what it means to participate in science, to do research, and to think independently and critically about the world around them. Intellectual Merit The project is transforming the design of undergraduate laboratory experiences. The collection of data is designed to demonstrate whether this approach achieves the expected efficacy and benefits of establishing the community of learners in laboratory, and to test whether students who experience authentic experimentation earlier in their academic training persist in science career trajectories. The model combines proven elements of best practices in STEM education in a novel way that has not been previously tested. Broader Impacts The dissemination plan includes workshops designed to convey the model to STEM departments at other institutions. The model is expected to be portable to mid-sized institutions with research active faculty and to other STEM disciplines, thus potentially affecting all science majors. Students who experience the model may possess stronger problem solving, critical thinking, and laboratory skills when entering graduate study or the scientific workforce.