The School of Science and Technology (SST) has launched its
STEM Education Innovations program, which will revolutionize the undergraduate STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) learning experiences at GGC, and serve as a
leadership model for other institutions. This initiative is funded by more than $2 million in grants, supporting multiple projects that work together in an integrated strategy.
Core to the program is involving all STEM students in both
EDUCATION INNOVATIONS PROGRAM ENHANCES STUDENT EXPERIENCE
course-embedded and faculty-mentored research opportunities during all four academic years. This innovative, multi-faceted
model is based on Dean Thomas Mundie’s vision of a four-year, undergraduate research and creative experiences program. This is a game-changing idea.
“The problem with the traditional, faculty-mentored
undergraduate research model is that students typically do it in their senior years and work one-on-one with their professors,”
Leveraging significant grant funding, the School of Science and Technology’s STEM Education Innovations program offers unprecedented opportunities for students to achieve greater academic success and professional opportunities.
said Dr. Judy Awong-Taylor, professor of biology. “But not every student has the opportunity or confidence to do that. We want all SST majors to have the research experience, and we want them to have it every year.”
So does the National Science Foundation, which awarded
Awong-Taylor and her faculty team more than $1.6 million to continue their development of the concept, which merges the traditional faculty-mentored model with course-embedded
undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), and to share it with similar institutions in Georgia and beyond.
SST faculty collaborate, design, implement and assess CUREs
for specific courses in biology, chemistry, environmental science, exercise science, information technology and mathematics.
Structured to provide a developmental “scaffold,” the CUREs
are designed to help students build targeted skills at each stage and apply them in the next. The process increases student engagement
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