1. Project SPROUT
Project SPROUT is an NSF funded research project in its third year. The study uses observations, interviews, document analysis, and video analysis to examine instructional practices in large undergraduate lecture courses at UCI, particularly in STEM. From our observations, we write an objective report on the different teaching pedagogy used throughout the lecture. The report we fill out is named SPROUT, which is an acronym for Simple Protocol for Observing Undergraduate Teaching. The study began in 2012 with the intention of documenting the relative presence or absence of practices that potentially promote more active and engaged learning (e.g., enhanced faculty-student interaction, enhanced peer interaction, greater attention to problem-solving strategies, more opportunities for personalized learning, opportunities to receive and communicate information across diverse channels and modalities, more data-based instruction). Now that baseline data have been collected over the course of two years, the study is comparing instructional practices with student outcome data to determine the efficacy of these promising practices. Our long-term goal is the improvement of undergraduate education and increased retention of diverse learners in STEM fields and beyond. |
I joined the team in spring of 2015 because this project combines both my love for STEM and my passion for teaching. From the observations, I learn about good teaching practices and how professor apply these in large classes sizes. When I begin teaching, I will use these strategies to engage all my students, no matter how many may be in the class. More information about the project and its publications can be found at http://projectsprout.education.uci.edu/.
|
2. Project UTOPIA
Project UTOPIA is my personal research project, inspired by my time at Project SPROUT. In this project, I observed chemistry labs that freshmen and sophomores take at UCI. Originally, I wanted to investigate the correlation between student exposure to labs in high school and success in inquiry-based labs at UCI to see the effects of high school science in their scientific reasoning and problem-solving abilities. However, my own experience at UCI raised doubts about the level of inquiry in university levels labs. The only highly accepted method of measuring inquiry in labs was a paper published over 50 years ago, and has not been adopted as a widespread tool for educators. Instead, I designed my own protocol for measuring inquiry based on the new science standards given by the Department of Education in the early 2000's with recently updated and standardized definitions of "good science teaching". The preliminary protocol is called UTOPIA, which stands for Undergraduate Teaching Observation Protocol for Inquiry Assessment, and I hope to continue this project through a doctoral program in the future. |
|
3. Robert Noyce Scholarship Program
The Robert Noyce Scholarship is awarded to undergraduates who commit to teaching at a high needs Title I school in either science or math after graduation. The purpose of this scholarship, funded by the NSF, is to encourage more STEM students to start a teaching career. As a recipient, I strived to do more for our community and resolving the shortage of highly qualified STEM teachers. I joined the Principal Investigator and another student to create a video advertisement to spread the word. My partner and I recorded testimonies from previous scholarship recipients that have begun teaching, as well as their students. We also analyzed how the scholarship funding impacted pre-service teachers in Orange County and if it improved outcomes. I traveled to Washington DC for the 2016 Noyce Summit to present our project's data. To find out more about this program, please visit http://nsfnoyce.org/. |