Research Policies Committee Notes

Follow-up Meeting on Inquiry-based Learning
Wednesday, April 21, 1999 2:00-3:00 p.m., 4006 Fleming

RPC members present: Jack East, Richard Ford, Roberto Kampfner, Roberto Merlin, David Musch, Ben van der Pluijm (chair) OVPR staff present: Tim Killeen, Judy Nowack, Fawwaz Ulaby, Jackie Hoats-Shields

Ben van der Pluijm said this meeting was scheduled as a follow-up on OVPR's role in the inquiry-based learning initiative. In addition, RPC members are interested in the related matter of the interpretation of recent data on UROP and attrition.

Fawwaz Ulaby said that the evaluation that has been done on the impact of UROP on students is viewed in the same way as any other research enterprise by a faculty member, and no official position has been taken by OVPR on this interpretation.

Roberto Merlin presented some of his own data and then there was a discussion about differing viewpoints on the recent UROP attrition data. An issue was brought up about the fact that Residential College students don't have grades and whether this affects the total sample size, and whether this should have been discussed in the paper. There was further discussion of the complexity of the data and of the interpretation.

Van der Pluijm said the next step may be to figure out how to measure the extent of UROP's success. Is there another way to measure it so we can communicate its successes to the outside world? Fawwaz Ulaby said the aim is to do an honest assessment and more extensive data collection is important and appropriate.

Merlin asked why is there a move to increase UROP as one aspect of the inquiry-based learning initiative? Ulaby said there are so many positive subjective reports from students, the UROP experience is highly sought after by the students, and the students say it is great. There is no indication it is doing harm.

 Merlin said his sense was that the goal of the program is to reduce attrition. Ulaby said that is one of the objectives, but there are many, not the least of which is increasing the opportunities for students to work directly with faculty. There are also many anecdotal stories from past graduates who had participated in UROP about how this influenced their decisions on what to pursue. Another supporting factor is that lecture classes provide only theoretical grounding, but in the lab learning becomes more specific and tangible. Van der Pluijm said somehow it needs to be measured so these points come across. 

Tim Killeen said this meeting has been helpful, and said it may be appropriate to state that more sampling is needed, and to provide a description of the statistical sampling and the data sets. Killeen said he would love to have RPC advise on a way to evaluate this program and other pedagogy reforms. Fawwaz Ulaby gave an example of a problem currently facing education in engineering. He said the current viewpoint is that the most important thing faculty are supposed to do is research. The culture does not support or value the time spent with students in teaching. Ulaby said we do not need statistics to tell us that this culture needs changing.

UROP is a way to say that we value the undergraduate aspect of our university. Tim Killeen said that another factor is that we need to have ways to describe the relationship between research investment and undergraduate education. Richard Ford said he was an associate dean in LSA when UROP was started, and he said it was not started for retention purposes. He said the valuable thing about a student having a faculty mentor is that it fosters self-confidence and accountability, and it helps the students to develop as people. 

Students who participated the first year came back the next year and requested to participate again. He said we soon realized the program was developing its own initiative because the students were recruiting other students to the program. The students were giving papers and poster sessions and by the time they were juniors they were very interested in academic subjects. Ford said it is important to keep the momentum going in this program for the students. He said he is concerned that the data alone does not reflect the many personal successes of the students.