8/12/2019 Transitional Learning Community Building Through the HHMI Future Scientists and Clinicians Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program

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Transitional Learning Community Building Through the HHMI FutureScientists and Clinicians Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program

Offered through UNC-Chapel Hills Office for Undergraduate ResearchVirginia K. Hench andPatricia J. Pukkila

http://www.unc.edu/depts/our/hhmi.html

As part of the HHMI Science LearningCommunities program, the HHMI-FutureScientists and Clinicians (HHMI-FSC)fellowship was designed to enhance theculture of undergraduate research forhigh-ability students from low-incomebackgrounds who were not seeking researchexperiences that matched their talents. Thepurpose of the HHMI-FSC program is tofoster an intellectual community thatempowers Carolina Covenant Scholars toengage in biomedical research; thinkcritically about their own research; andeffectively communicate their findings.Every fellow is placed in a PI Mentors laband paired with a graduate student orpostdoc Co-Mentor, who trains the fellow atthe bench and guides them to relevantliterature. The full immersion experience at

40 hours per week for two consecutivesummers allows fellows to integrate intotheir lab community. Students who hadprior part time lab experience said the fulltime experience allowed them to feel more apart of the lab family. One off-site field trip,along with weekly skill-building workshopsand journal clubs serve as collaborativelearning spaces amongst fellows. Thistransitional community helps them growaccustomed to communicating bothcomplex scientific concepts and the joys ofresearch to their peers. Fellows becameinterested in the Carolina Research ScholarProgram (CRSP) and encouraged oneanother to complete the one CRSP course

requirement together so they couldrepresent. In an effort to expand thelearning community beyond the cohort of12, fellows took an active role in recruitingfuture FSC fellows at the winter holidayparty. Overall, their activities contributed toa dramatic increase in applications forsummer fellowships from CovenantScholars in both science and non-sciencedisciplines. We work with UNCsEvaluation, Assessment and PolicyConnections (EvAP) team to get feedbackfrom participants and determine whetherprogramming is appropriately suited tomeet long-term goals. Overall, surveyfeedback from fellows, Co-Mentors, and PIs

indicated high satisfaction with theprogram after year one. As one studentwrote, this whole experience was trulyenlightening. We expect that the HHMI-FSC students will continue to serve asvaluable role models for othereconomically-disadvantaged students onour campus.

Abstract

Winter 1 Summer 1 Winter 2 Summer 2

Communitybuilding why doyou want to be a

scientist?

Recruitstudents &PIs

Selection committee matchescompetitive students to labs; PIs

and Co-Mentors interview thecandidate & decide if the match is

appropriate

Collaborativeprogramming with

HHMI Future Teacherinterns

Fieldtrip to

NIEHS

End of summersymposium: Fellowsgive 10 minute long

research talks

End of summersymposium: 2ndyear

fellows presentposters & 1styearfellows give talks

Returning fellows promotethe fellowship program at

the Covenant Scholarwinter holiday party

9/12 fellows register forthe Carolina Research

Scholar Program (CRSP)and enroll in Modes of

Inquiry

Orientation &introductions to new

fellows

First assignment encouragesstudents to explore their

personal connections withcurrent research. (See 2012

Fellow comment below)

If the mentee is excited about the work, it makesit infectious. I was excited about where mymentee started and where she ended up. Mystudent had a little frustration, and she wasntused to being frustrated about finding heranswers to research questions, but she wasreceptive to the guidance she was given.

- A Postdoc Co-Mentor

We would love to have __ in the lab until shegraduates. It has been a pleasure having her andshe has really progressed in her understanding ofscientific method and independence.

-PI Mentor

She has been and continues to be great. She'll bean author on at least one paper before she leavesthe lab.

- -PI Mentor

I think communicating your research over time hasgotten easier too. I think once youve gotten into theproject and understand more about whats going on,

you can talk about it more effectively.

-2011 Fellow

I really enjoyed this assignment because Imextremely excited to have found this article!! So,thanks! :) Also, I just wanted to let you know that mymentor is absolutely awesome! I worked in a lab

before and I had a pretty good mentor for a shorttime, and a really disinterested mentor for a long

time, so its so refreshing to have someone that is sopassionate about her project and so involved in mygrowth and experiences as well as being someone

who is so understanding with me as I learn so muchat one time!!!

-In an email from a 2012 Fellow

The number of CovenantScholars receiving non-HHMI undergraduateresearch fellowships

increases 3-fold

Second year fellows take onleadership roles by leading

journal clubs and workshopson topics about which theyve

become experts

10/12 fellows

continue workingin their respective

labs during theacademic year

Fieldtrip to AdvancedLiquid Logic, an RTP

biotech firm

Fellows engage in weeklyactivities designed to helpthem find their confidenceand improve their science

communication skills

Co-Mentors pick landmarkpapers in molecular biologyand immunology for weekly

journal club

On a scale from 1 to 5, themean score was a 4.0 forthe experience providing

readiness for moredemanding research

Program Timeline: Fellows spend 2 summers working fulltime with postdoc & graduate student co-mentors

Challengeslooking

forward: howcan we assistmore studentsin making thework-study to

researchtransition?