9/16/98
Contact: Estelle McGroarty, College of Natural Science
(517) 355-4474
or Tom Oswald, Media Communications
(517) 355-2281, [email protected]
$1.6 MILLION GRANT TO UPGRADE MSU SCIENCE EDUCATION, TECHNOLOGY
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Thanks to a grant of $1.6 million, Michigan State University undergraduate students will have the opportunity to spend their college careers learning first-hand the art of science in the laboratories where the work is being done.
MSU is among the nation's universities sharing in $91.1 million in grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the institute announced Wednesday, Sept. 16. The purpose of the grants: To strengthen undergraduate education programs in the biological sciences.
At MSU, part of the funds will be used to provide students, including five incoming freshmen, with hands-on research experience in the biomedical sciences. When recruiting students for the program, special emphasis will be placed on attracting minority students.
"Under-represented, historically disadvantaged students are more likely to drop out of the sciences than other students, especially in their freshman year," said Estelle McGroarty, associate dean of MSU's College of Natural Science, who was instrumental in landing the grant. "However, if these students are mentored carefully that first year, retention rates are significantly increased."
Under the MSU program, students will receive a stipend and be assigned a mentor for whom they will work.
"They will get intensive training in how to do research, how to write a research paper, how to understand the scientific literature, as well as information on scientific ethics," McGroarty said.
"For students planning on pursuing a career in the sciences, I think undergraduate research is essential," said Douglas Gage, an assistant professor of biochemistry who will serve as one of the program's mentors. "These days, research experience is almost a requirement for students applying to graduate school or directly for technical jobs in the private sector. There is no better way to learn science than by doing it."
Gage, who has mentored a number of undergraduate students in his lab, said getting the students involved in real science is a win-win situation.
"My research program clearly benefits from the contributions the students make, and in return the students have a chance to gain a realistic appreciation of scientific research," he said.
To be eligible for this program, students must submit an application, which includes a statement of their interest in research, as well as academic credentials and letters of reference.
MSU also will use the grant to expand its web-based courses. The university already offers a physics course on the Internet; this will allow the development of courses in the areas of biology and possibly chemistry.
"There are many advantages to web-based learning," McGroarty said. "Students can do the work at their leisure and they can learn at their own pace."
The biology and chemistry courses will be similar to MSU's existing web-based class, providing everything on-line, including textbook, homework assignments and faculty office hours. There also will be chatrooms in which the students can discuss subject material.
"They will be able to do group work on the web," McGroarty said. "We will make it as active as possible."
MSU was chosen to receive the grant in part because of the many successful undergraduate science education programs already in place.
"We've always done a good job of providing undergraduate research opportunities, as well as mentoring historically disadvantaged students," McGroarty said.
She said the grant reviewers also were impressed with MSU's web-based course initiatives.
"One reviewer said we were 'pushing the envelope' when it comes to web-based curriculum," McGroarty said. "They felt that what we're doing here could serve as a model for science education initiatives nationwide."
MSU is one of 58 universities in the country to receive a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which received nearly 200 applications for the grants.
Based in Maryland, the institute is a medical research organization whose principle purpose is the promotion of biomedical research. Over the past decade, the institute has provided more than $700 million in grants to America's research institutions.
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