Hello everyone! My name is Jason Deibel. I am the Chair of the Physics Department at Wright State University (Dayton, OH) and am part of a team of 3 faculty that lead a college-based early career undergraduate research program that is funded in part by the National Science Foundation S-STEM program. We were inspired by extremely successful first-year research programs such as the FRI programs at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Maryland, and SUNY Binghampton. While our goals are similar to those programs i.e. increase student retention, graduation rates, content mastery, scientific identity, etc., our student population at Wright State is very different compared to the aforementioned institutions.  Our students come from a wide variety of academic and family backgrounds, bringing with them challenges such as being first-generation, commuters, financial/work burdens, and insufficient academic preparation. In order to insure the quality and impact of the undergraduate research experience, student participants must first demonstrate successful completion of two gateway courses in their major discipline. 

Our goal is to demonstrate that early engagement in undergraduate research coupled with long-term intensive academic and career mentoring can affect positive impacts across multiple STEM student success parameters among our student population.

We hope that you enjoy our video. We look forward to hearing feedback and your thoughts.

Take care,

Jason Deibel, Meredith Rodgers, and Adrienne Traxler

A very engaging video, and you packed a lot in! I know this is early days yet, but are you seeing positive change "across multiple STEM student success parameters among our student population"?

Meanwhile, I am curious what the participating faculty are having to learn about how best to mentor these students?  How have you selected the faculty that are participating?  And are they receiving any incentives from the university for their participation, or is that irrelevant? 

Thank you for preparing and submitting this video. It highlights nicely your important work through the S-STEM program and how you are tailoring it to fit the needs of Wright State students. 

The questions I had have already been posed by Brian Drayton. I'm also curious to know how you will actually measure learning gains by these students. Which students will serve as matched controls? Since the video indicates that students are selected for the program, am I correct in assuming that they need to submit an application of some kind? If so, then a reasonable comparison might be between those students who applied and were accepted to the program vs. students who applied and weren't accepted. 

Hello All! My name is Ivory Toldson, professor at Howard University, president of Quality Education for Minorities, and one of the facilitators for the STEM for All Video Showcase. The conversation is off to a great start and I will be chiming in with my own input this afternoon and over the next few days. I'm excited about what we can achieve for the next generation of STEM learners!

I love the sequential introduction to research that ASK uses. What years do the students begin the sequence? Can they take breaks during the sequence if they study abroad or there is some other unforeseen circumstance?  To what extent, if at all, are students learning about how to navigate mentoring relationships? 

Thank you for sharing this video. I found the content was very comprehensive and you seem to have greatly impacted your students. You noted that your project grants financial support and I am curious to know what efforts you have made to recruit high-needs student (those with from low income families) as well as student from diverse backgrounds.

Thanks for your good work in helping students. I really like the sequencing of your program -- from gateway courses, to a research methods course, to 2 semesters of research. I noted that the 2 semesters of research are separated by summer -- do you have a way of keeping students engaged over that break? Also, do they write theses and make presentations to faculty and students in the program following the 2nd semester?

Judith, they are not required to write a thesis at this point, however we are heavily encouraging presenting.  Our university has on-campus opportunities  during spring and fall to present which we highly promote, and we have had PIs take their students to national and international meetings as well to present.  For summer, some students use that time to work and then come back in the fall, others do stay over summer and continue their research to varying degrees of intensity.  Fellowship students are in the lab 28 hour/week, others are there less but still continuing over summer.  Much of our student population, however, needs time to work to some degree so the summer flexibility is necessary.