Facilitating an Interdisciplinary Learning Community Amongst Undergraduates by Emphasizing...

8/21/2019 Facilitating an Interdisciplinary Learning Community Amongst Undergraduates by Emphasizing Scientific Inquiry as the Unifying Thread

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Ginnie Hench, PhDDirector of UNCs HHMI Future Scientists & Clinicians undergraduate

research fellowship program

Postdoc in Biology

27thFungal Genetics Conference@Asilomar

Pacific Grove, CA

March 13th, 2013

Facilitating an Interdisciplinary Learning

Community Amongst Undergraduates byEmphasizing Scientific Inquiry as the Unifying

Thread


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Talk Outline

Brief background about me and my interest inscience education

What is a learning community?

How does the concept of a learning

community impact the strategies I use as aprogram director?

How can programmatic challenges (ex.diverse disciplines and multiple skill levels in

a cohort) be transformed into newapproaches to teaching and mentoring?

Conclude by highlighting accomplishmentsfrom students who have completed the

program


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WE ALL HAVE TWO BRAIN HEMISPHERES

We all have the

~ Capacity to be inquisitive

~ Capacity to be creative



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Who and what comprises our

learning community?

Coordinating the HHMI Science Learning

Communities Program at UNC-Chapel Hill


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School of

Medicine

College of Arts and

Sciences

Carolina

Undergraduates

UNC

research

community

Labs

Labs

Labs

Labs

Labs

Labs

Labs

Labs

Labs

Labs

Lab

s

Labs

Labs

Labs

Office for

Undergraduate

Research

CarolinaCovenant

ScholarsHHMI Future

Scientists and

Clinicians

Fellowship


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Summer school is NOT permitted

We do not arrange housing

Some of the nuts & bolts


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Alkene difunctionalization chemistry

Neuronal cell development

RNA aptamer

folding simulation

Wildtype

Y97F

Mutant

Gene expression during fruit fly development

Neuroscience of

Addictive Behaviors

S.

Toad mating behavior in

environmentally distressed

conditions

S. multiplicata

Optimization of a humanized mouse model

system

Protein crystal structure purification & analysis

Oli Neu

cell culture

Receptor activation and cell signaling

Chromatin structure and

transcriptional elongation

Interdisciplinary nature of the

program stems from the wide range

of biomedical labs where fellowswork

Nanomedicine


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The HHMI FSC learning community relies on the

strengths of the Co-mentors who are nominated by

PIs

= Co-Mentors (grad

students or postdocs)

= FSC FellowCovenant

Scholar

Community HHMI FSC

Learning

Community

Labs

Labs

Labs


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UNC Howard Hughes Medical Institute Future

Scientists and Clinicians (HHMI-FSC) Fellowship

Pizza Party and Information Session

February

WELCOME!


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Summer program orientation: Key

time for community building

Ice breakers that have worked

What do you like best about science?

What will you be working on? Arrange yourselves in order based on the size of

the model system that youll be working with.

Where are you from?

A conversation that is more fun with Google maps!


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Sharing where we are fromand where well be on

campus with Google maps!


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What distinguishes a sciencelearning community from

other kinds of communities?


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Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Albert Einstein


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Scientific inquiry is a balancing

act

Life scientists do experiments

We analyze

data


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Approximate Summer Schedule for

First Year Fellows

Weeks 1-3Getting to know one another,reading science news, read peer-reviewedscientific papers, giving scientific talks

Weeks 4 & 5

Short project presentationswith feedback

Weeks 6-8Workshops on hypothesisdevelopment, career opportunities in science,

science funding discussions and field trip Weeks 9-10Practice and preparation for

formal end of summer symposium talks


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HHMI-FSC Field Trips during the 1stand 2ndSummers

Year 1

Year 2


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Where will your curiosity lead you?

Programming for the2ndSummer?


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Tailor oral presentation

assignment to fit needs of 2nd

year fellows


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The Globalized Nature of

Scientific Practice


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Inquiry-based assignment used during first week

of second summer for year 1 and year 2 fellows


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Tatyana Zhuravleva

Tatyanas research project :

We are interested in understanding how E2f1escapes degradation and is protected fromPCNA-dependent proteolysis. We have focusedour experimental analysis on the S-phase of theearly Drosophilaembryo and during UV-inducedDNA damage repair.

Tatyanas independent project during second summer :


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Some highlights - what fellows have

accomplished One was a contributor to a Cell paper as a sophomore

and is now doing a year of study abroad in Spain

One presented her work at the GSA Model Organismsto Human Biology Cancer meeting in Washington, DClast summer

Two are taking a gap year, but both want to attendgrad school in the near future.

One student received offers from multiple grad schoolsand is currently deciding where to go next.

A few of them are interested in going straight into thebiotech industry.

Some are still committed to medical school or anotherclinical profession

F ilit ti L i C it


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Facilitating a Learning Community as

Garden Trellis Building


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Thank you!

Pat Pukkila

Colleagues in OUR

Participants in theHHMI-FSC program

Dr. Marilee Ramesh

Mimi Zolan and Steven

Denison

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