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A Case Study Exploring the Influences of Engaging Community College Stu- dents in Undergraduate Biomedical Engineering Research Experiences
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Faurot, Megan E. |
| Copyright Year | 2013 |
| Abstract | This study investigated a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at a Midwest research university that had two community college student participants in the summer of 2012. In the 10-week summer program, under the supervision of a faculty member, the community college students were paired with a graduate student and an experienced undergraduate researcher to work on a biomedical engineering research project. The research question of this study was, “What do community college students’ gain from an undergraduate research experience?” As this was the first year community college students participated in the REU, a case study approach was used to gain an in-depth, meaningful understanding of students’ experiences. Data was analyzed from preand post-surveys and an exit interview to construct the case study. A constant comparative method was used to develop conceptual themes that addressed the research question. The community college students experienced self, perspective, support, knowledge, and relationship gains. This study concluded that the main reason for the gains were the multilevel support systems that was in place for them in the laboratories and received by their families throughout the duration of the program. Study implications are that more research universities should target community college students to apply to their REU. However, future studies are critical to develop more effective research programs for community college students to pursue their science and engineering academic and careers goals. Introduction The American Association of Community Colleges reported in 2012 that 44% of undergraduate students in the U.S. were enrolled in community colleges. Approximately 50% of the African Americans and Hispanics who were undergraduate students attended community colleges. In addition, 57% of community college students were females and 46% of all community college students received some form of financial aid. Based on the increasing enrollment numbers and student demographics, community colleges play a critical role in supporting the U.S. efforts to increase the diversity, knowledge base, and skill level of the science and engineering workforce. Community colleges are facing numerous challenges that hinder their success, including the transfer rates of students into 4-year universities to earn bachelor degrees, particularly in the science and engineering fields. Research has indicated that 44% of community college students who intended to transfer dropped out or stopped out within six years and only 26% obtained bachelor’s degrees within nine years. Factors contributing to these challenges include the lack of resources at community colleges to support innovative educational practices and opportunities and the lack of collaboration between community and research universities. With the release of the Boyer Commission Report in 1998 there has been a substantial increase of student participation in undergraduate research and a widespread trend at research universities to develop institution-wide, centralized undergraduate research programs . Most of P ge 2.23.2 the existing literature on undergraduate research focuses on the student benefits gained from participating in undergraduate research experiences. Most of these studies were conducted on undergraduate research programs at liberal arts colleges and have reported that undergraduate research experiences have professional, intellectual, and personal benefits on undergraduate students. Further research on the student benefits at all types of institutions, especially research universities, is critical in order to gain a better understanding of their impact and to develop the most effective practices for various educational environments. Developing a broader literature-base on undergraduate research would be of particular importance to research universities as the face the challenge of not having enough research opportunities to the increasing number of interested undergraduate students. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the gains of two community college students who participated in an undergraduate research program at a research university. Description of Program From 2006 2012, a Midwest research university has delivered an REU. For 10-weeks in the summer approximately 10 15 undergraduate students participate in this program. Students are paired with a faculty member based on project rankings, student backgrounds, academic levels, and previous experiences. Depending on the structure of the laboratory, the undergraduate student either works directly with the faculty member or the faculty member assigns a graduate student to work with the undergraduate student. Under the guidance of the faculty member or faculty member/graduate student, each undergraduate student conducts a research project focused on engineering approaches to study the treatment of diabetes or its complications. The graduate student and undergraduate pairs have periodic meetings with the faculty member to report their progress and discuss data/results. Participating faculty are from a variety of departments, including Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, and the School of Medicine. Diabetes is a complex pathologic condition, and addressing the disease requires a diverse set of approaches ranging from fundamental understanding of disease pathology, disease management, and treatment of either the disease directly or one of its many complications. The students’ research projects are developed from ongoing work in the laboratories. The undergraduate students’ research projects covered a diverse array of topics related to diabetes including metabolic engineering, biomaterials, biosensors, and tissue engineering. In addition to conducting research, students participated in weekly seminars on topics related to diabetes (basic research, clinical treatment, public health, and healthcare policy), weekly ethics seminars, and off-campus tours of research and clinical facilities. These activities were designed to expose students to the broad health impact of the diabetes and the importance of research related to the treatment and potential cure of this disease and related complications. Sample Since the launch of the REU in 2009 at the Midwest research university, there have been a total of 50 student participants. This study focused on two of the 13 students who participated in an REU in 2012. Eleven of the 13 students were enrolled in either four-year universities or P ge 2.23.3 liberal arts colleges from across the U.S. and two students understudy were enrolled in community colleges. The community college students were both female and grew up in large urban areas and attended public high schools. They were enrolled at two different schools within the community college system. For confidentiality purposes, the pseudonyms used in placement of the students’ real names were Katarina and Estelle. Background on Katarina Katarina was a 26 year old, White woman from a middle class household. She was an Eastern European English language learner and both of her parents had graduate degrees and careers in science. Katarina had no siblings in her family who had completed college. During high school she took three AP science courses and had a GPA of 3.9. Katarina’s roommate, a PhD science student, was the person who encouraged her to participate in an undergraduate research experience. She decided to apply because she thought it would be a great opportunity to figure out what it would be like to have a career in bioengineering. She also hoped that the program would help her make more definitive academic and career plans. Katarina had completed one year of community college before the start of the undergraduate research program. She planned on earning her associates degree and then transferring to a 4-year university. Bachelor degrees she was considering included economics, biostatistics, and/or engineering. At the beginning of the program, she was not sure what her academic plans were after graduating from community college. Her career plans were also not well defined, but she did explain that she wanted a career that involved numbers and real-world problem solving. At the end of the program, her plans did become more defined. She described how she wanted to work for a couple of years after earning a bachelor’s degree and then planned on pursuing a doctoral degree in either biomedical engineering or industrial engineering. The most significant obstacles she identified in her post secondary education was financing her education and having to take several years off from school for a medical condition. Her determination and drive was evident in the fact that during the REU she was also enrolled in a summer class that met three evenings a week. Katarina’s undergraduate research project focused on the influence of crosslinker molecular weight on the properties of polyethylene glycol crosslinked dermal extracts. Background on Estelle Estelle was a 21 year old, Hispanic woman from a low socio-economic single parent household. Only one parent had graduated from high school and she had no other siblings who had completed college. During high school she did take one AP science class but did not complete it. Her high school GPA was 2.0. Estelle decided to apply to the undergraduate research program to gain research experience, to learn more about diabetes, and help confirm her career path. Estelle had completed two years of community college prior to starting the undergraduate research program. She planned on earning her associates degree and then transferring to a 4-year university to earn a degree in Biology. For the most part, Estelle’s plans for after college did not P ge 2.23.4 change from the beginning of the program to the end. Estelle was considering a master’s degree or a medical degree to become either a laboratory technician or |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://peer.asee.org/19037.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://www.asee.org/public/conferences/20/papers/7310/download |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
