Enhancing Undergraduate Education Through Research-based Learning: A Longitudinal Case Study

Various surveys of employers about college graduates have revealed three major complaints: poor writing and verbal skills, inability to problem-solve, and difficulties working collaboratively with other professionals. This can be partly attributed to the traditional lecturebased instruction students typically receive throughout their college education. Often, students are not effectively motivated to grasp the course materials and fail to connect them to the real world. An alternative student-centered, inductive approach involving active and cooperative learning could better motivate the students and help to transform them from passive recipients of other people’s knowledge into active constructors of their own and others’ knowledge. Two effective methods of student-centered teaching include active/collaborative learning and inductive teaching and learning (ITL). Based on my experience of supervising 16 undergraduates on a collaborative biomedical research project over the past four years, a research-based learning (RBL) model has been developed that makes important addition to current ITL methods. The proposed RBL model shares some of the common features of ITL in that it is a studentcentered and process-centered inductive approach. It also has the following features that distinguish itself from the other ITL methods: (1) A relatively longer duration and amount of time a student is involved in the research project; (2) A clearly defined research scope and objective; and (3) Promotion of both teamwork and individual excellence. This paper describes how I leveraged my own background and student interest to initiate the collaborative research project, how undergraduates participated in the research project through different avenues, and how the experience enhanced their skills in critical analysis, problem-solving, communication and teamwork, which positively impacts their career, regardless of whether they pursue an industry job or an academic position after graduation. Some practices I have been promoting in undergraduate research, such as literature review, summary and critical analysis, note taking, and dissemination of results have been shown to be effective in enhancing the students’ research skills with productive research outcome. The research project conducted by the 16 undergraduates has so far yielded one journal article, one manuscript in review, one in preparation, and six conference presentations/posters. Seven of the 16 students went on to pursue a graduate degree. All 16 students reported positive impact of undergraduate research on their career, as shown in the alumni survey results. Student-centered learning Today’s knowledge-based economy driven society asks for highly skilled young people at all levels. Over 80% of the jobs posted online requires at least a bachelor’s degree. According to a survey by the Chronicle of Higher Education and the American Public Media’s Marketplace, a degree is more important than ever to employers. On the other hand, half of the employers surveyed complained of difficulty in finding qualified job candidates. Thirty-one percent of P ge 26672.2 employers indicated that recent graduates are unprepared for their job searches. There is a big skill gap between employer needs and what graduates have, especially on communication and problem-solving. This is consistent with the findings from the earlier Wingspread Conference Report. At the conference, leaders from government, corporate, philanthropic, higher education, and accreditation communities identified a list of characteristics of quality performance important for college and university graduates: high-level skills in communication, computation skills, ability to define problems, gather and evaluate information and develop solutions (critical thinking), motivation and persistence, technical competence, ability of work with others (teamwork), and use all of the above characteristics to solve problems in complex, real-world settings (problem-solving). All this calls for reforms in higher education learning and teaching process in order to help students better develop these core competencies and dispositions for entry into the global knowledge-based economy. The past two decades have seen a steady but evident transition of higher education from the traditional lecture-centered instruction to the student-centered approach. The traditional education is usually deductive, beginning with theories and progressing towards applications. Often students are not effectively motivated to grasp the course materials and fail to connect them to the real world. An alternative student-centered, inductive approach involving active and cooperative learning could better motivate the students and help to transform them from passive recipients of other people’s knowledge into active constructors of their own and others’ knowledge. Commonly used student-centered learning methods include active learning, cooperative learning, collaborative learning, and inductive teaching and learning (ITL). ITL also encompasses a range of instructional methods including inquiry learning, problem-based learning, project-based learning, case-based teaching, discovery learning, and just-in-time teaching. The Kern Entrepreneurship Education Network (KEEN) was created by the Kern Family Foundation in 2005 as a collegiate initiative to increase the quantity and quality of U.S. engineering talent, specifically by integrating the entrepreneurial mindset into engineering education. There are seven student outcomes pertaining to the entrepreneurial mindset: 1. Effectively collaborate in a team setting 2. Apply critical and creative thinking to ambiguous problems 3. Construct and effectively communicate a customer-appropriate value proposition 4. Persist through and learn from failure to learn what is needed to succeed 5. Effectively manage projects and apply the commercialization process (within respective disciplines) 6. Demonstrate voluntary social responsibility 7. Relate personal liberties and free enterprise to entrepreneurship Lawrence Technological University (LTU) is one of the first participating KEEN institutions. Along with Boston University, Saint Louis University, Kettering University, Worchester Polytechnic Institute, and Gonzaga University, they form the Dynamic Compass Network (DCN) that focuses on faculty excellence, curricular innovation, peer collaboration, and experiential learning. The KEEN program provides funding at different levels (institution, topical and small group) to serve as catalyst in transforming the undergraduate engineering education and infusing students with the entrepreneurial mindset. Part of the DCN is to incorporating P ge 26672.3 active/collaborative (ACL) and problem-based learning (PBL) into existing engineering courses. Selected as a Kern Innovative Teaching (KIT) faculty, I attended workshops to learn good practices of teaching entrepreneurial mindset, and designed and implemented new ACL and PBL modules in my courses. The experience also helped me in developing the new research-based learning (RBL) model as another student-centered learning method to enhance student skills in communication, critical analysis, problem solving and teamwork. Research in a primarily undergraduate institute (PUI) A primarily undergraduate institute, or PUI, is defined by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as an accredited college and university (including two-year community college) that awards 20 or fewer doctoral degrees in all NSF-supported fields such as engineering. Twentyseven percent of the 2153 PUI-eligible institutions award bachelor’s degrees and are largely private. These institutions usually place a strong emphasis on teaching with a heavier course load for faculty members compared to those in research intensive institutions. Over the past several years undergraduate research in PUIs has attracted a great deal of attention. Undergraduate research has been identified as one of the ten high-impact educational practices. Undergraduate research in a PUI such as LTU has its unique characteristics with natural integration of research and education, direct benefits to the participating students, and positive impact on all students, the program, college and university. Limited facilities, resources and staff support are major challenges when conducting undergraduate research in a PUI environment. The past several years have seen more and more successful examples of undergraduate research led by PUI faculty members. “Best practices” identified from these groups include an appropriate topic of study, clearly defined individual goals, close faculty involvement, continuity of team members, final documentation of individual results and ongoing knowledge base. With extensive research experience from my Ph.D. and postdoc training, I strived to integrate my research agenda and educational goals by actively involving undergraduates in research projects since joining the biomedical engineering (BME) program at LTU in 2008. I have been supervising a total of six undergraduate research projects. A common feature of all these projects is that they are collaborative team projects involving at least 2 BME undergraduates. A tissue engineering research project The ligament tissue engineering research is the biggest undergraduate research project I have supervised, in terms of the duration, the number of the students involved, and the impact on student learning and career development. It started in the spring of 2010. Tristan Maerz graduated from the BME program at LTU in 2009. He showed strong interest in biomaterials and tissue engineering research from the courses I taught where I shared my previous research experience in these areas. After graduation, Tristan was hired as a research engineer in Dr. Kevin Baker’s Orthopedic Research Laboratory in William Beaumont Hospital while also starting his graduate study at Wayne State University.