As teachers, we tend to present the material to our classes in the form of the results of the work of our discipline. We collect the data, do the reading, and synthesize the material into a finished product. Students are generally expected, in their homework and tests, to show that they have learned what we as academics have already discovered. Rarely are they given the opportunity to make these discoveries for themselves. And yet it is potentially very rewarding to offer students the opportunity to use the raw materials themselves, giving them “hands-on” experience in working with the discipline. In specific courses, instructors provide college students with problem-based learning opportunities in which students collect, analyze, and critically evaluate data and ideas, synthesize their findings, and then offer answers to complex problems.
For several years, both the Chemistry and Biology Departments have offered undergraduate courses in which students actively participate in ongoing faculty research projects or occasionally develop original research projects. In Chemistry, students typically work on a branch of a larger problem that has been described by a research professor and work on the problem for at least two semesters. Although students rarely work on their own research idea, they may do something additional to or an extension of the research problem described by the teacher. In Biology, undergraduates also work primarily on a discrete part of a larger project that takes place in a laboratory. In both Chemistry and Biology, time, the complexity of the field, and financial resources prevent most college students from conducting independent research. Many undergraduate researchers, however, carry out valuable parts of a larger research project and their findings allow them to be second authors, and occasionally first authors, in research publications.
Students interested in doing research get a list of professors who take undergraduate students in their labs and their specific area of research. Students then interview selected professors to see if there is space in the lab and to find out what they would do in the investigation. Once they have chosen a laboratory, students often must demonstrate their proficiency in the use of techniques that are standard in that laboratory. Research professors say they are happy to have college students help with research because they are often just as skilled as first-year graduate research assistants.
Students planning to go to graduate school are encouraged to take Biology and Chemistry, with many students taking the course pursuing fields such as medicine and dentistry. Although students who have been active in research at the undergraduate level go on to medical school, they tend to take more advantage of the research opportunities in medical school, and I think many of them turn to medical research when possible. who have not considered medical research as a career. option. One former student, who is now a physician, says that the research experience gave her the skills to know what questions to ask when evaluating new products from representatives of pharmaceutical companies or articles in medical journals describing new treatments, new protocols, and new products. She feels that she evaluates those things in a totally different way than she would have if she had not taken the research course.
Problem solving is a learning strategy that encourages students to analyze and think critically by integrating and synthesizing the facts and ideas they have learned to solve or propose possible solutions to a real problem, or one for which a solution does not yet exist. Here is an example of a group problem solving strategy that an instructor uses in a Microbiology course of ninety students:
Due to his experience in Microbiology, he is hired as a consultant for a large mining company. They want to use bacteria to clean (and possibly profitably mine) their mine tailings (leftover materials). They own many types of mines. What minerals do you think you could find bacteria that would do this? Would it be easier to find bacteria that reduce or oxidize minerals?
Most Fridays during the semester, students from the Microbiology class break into small cooperative learning groups within the large classroom to develop group solutions to complex problems like this. The problems are specifically related to the previous lessons and text readings and often require practical application of theories and ideas. This problem, for example, follows lectures and readings on oxidation-reduction reactions and how bacteria get energy from redox reactions.
Problems are outlined in the syllabus so students can prepare and come to their groups with some sort of individual solution that may also include an area of difficulty or a point they need to discuss.
Cooperative learning groups differ from discussion groups in at least one important way: Cooperative learning groups focus on doing a group task, such as discussing, deciding, and writing a group solution to a problem. In this process, students become responsible not only for their own learning, but also for the learning of the other students in the group. Science is currently a cooperative activity and most scientists now work in groups.
A secondary, but equally important, reason for using cooperative groups to tackle problems in a large class is that these groups provide the logistics for weekly interactive discussion and writing in a large reading class. While the instructor may read eleven group papers each week, it would not be feasible to read ninety individual papers each week.
Using a simple questionnaire in which students check off the science courses they have taken, we ensure that each group has a balance of students with the different areas of expertise required to solve complex problems. For example, each group has at least one student who has taken multiple Physics courses, one student who has taken Biochemistry, one student enrolled in the optional lab for this course, and students with other relevant science courses. This distribution method prevents seniors with a strong science background from being in one group and sophomores with a more limited science background from being in another group.
The groups meet in class on Fridays to discuss a specific problem. Each student is expected to come to her group with some type of written solution, as well as any problems they may have encountered in addressing the problem. The teacher and the TA go around the groups and check that each student in the group has prepared something in writing. If a student is not prepared, she will not be able to participate in the discussion. This simple check encourages students to prepare ahead of time and prevents the group from relying on one or two people to do all the work. In groups, students discuss and point out the flaws in the different proposed solutions. After the group discussion is complete, one person writes the collaborative solution over the weekend calling various members of the group to ensure that the document accurately reflects the group’s decision. This “scribe” position must rotate weekly. Occasionally a whole group can meet over the weekend to discuss and work on the problem further.
The teacher grades group work on a scale of one to ten and does not grade group work competitively. Instead, each group can earn up to eighty points that will count as 20% of their total rank for the course. Students count eight of the eleven problem scores. This flexibility also allows the teacher to drop a problem entirely if it doesn’t work well in groups. At the end of the semester, students choose their best eight scores on the eleven problems. The teacher also encourages creative thinking and risk-taking in problem solving by giving students the opportunity to earn bonus points. On any of these questions, students can draw a line at the bottom of the page and write “bonus” and then they can put in whatever creative and wacky ideas they can think of. This won’t count toward the answer to the regular question, but it won’t count if it’s totally outlandish and absolutely wrong. Bonus points are awarded to the entire group and are added after the final grades.
A major conceptual emphasis in the “Philosophy of Science” course is the process of thinking about science. Students gain perspective on how a conceptual framework, such as a theory or set of theories, can determine how observed facts are interpreted and explained. Students take into account the current theories and assumptions that frame a problem as they study and propose possible solutions to a problem. In general, this is how the course works: the teacher begins a topic by giving students a summary handout on the topic. For example, the brochure “Cancer in Adolescents and Young Adults” includes these sections: (1) some meanings and definitions of descriptive terms; (2) a list of known information or current evidence about the causes of human cancers; (3) descriptions of drugs used in cancer chemotherapy; (4) a summary of the differences between normal and cancer cells, and (5) important questions to consider for class discussion. In these booklets, instructors lay the groundwork for the topic by summarizing what is known, what are the reasonably specific questions where the answers are uncertain, and the hypotheses that people are arguing about in the field. These booklets give everyone a common ground, regardless of their scientific background.
In class discussions and writing, students are asked to analyze the topic and think of the next problem they must solve if they are to undertake research in this area. In class, students read short articles and discuss articles with an emphasis on identifying what the article really says and explaining the ideas presented. In these research papers, students read to understand what is known and what is not known, and to notice where clues lie for the next step. Students also learn to deal with contradictory evidence by either expanding their hypothesis or explanation to include it or presenting a good reason for ignoring it. The point is for students to synthesize a number of individual ideas and theories from the research and develop a comprehensive picture or explanation of what may be happening. In scientific research, everyone contributes a little bit and together they add up, instead of a sudden big revelation that changes everything. Students learn this as they piece together the various research findings about a problem. The course shows how people discover things and gives students the joy of solving something and the course is about the thrill of discovery rather than just the joy of learning.
