Project Summary

Business Partners:

Meijer Botanical Gardens and Sculpture Park
Pierce Cedar Creek Institute
Timmermans Environmental
West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC)
West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum.

Advisory Board Members:

Gail Heffner, Calvin College
Linda VanderJagt, Assistant Superintendent, Forest Hills Public Schools
Janet Vail, Annis Water Resources Institute
Dan Hunsberger, Forest Hills Public Schools
Gordon Van Harn, VanAndel Education Institute
Shawn Wessell, West Michigan Environmental Action Council
Diana Payne, Connecticut Sea Grant, University of Connecticut

Description: 

TRIAGE will explore the hypothesis that authentic student research, as pedagogy, will yield increases in student science self-efficacy, science interest and performance, and understanding of the nature of science, while providing a unique science opportunity for students in West Michigan that draws upon community and family partnerships.

TRIAGE is an NSF Academy for Young Scientists focused on middle school students from area school districts (public, parochial, suburban and urban).  The program is extracurricular and will be hosted at the Bunker Interpretive Center and Nature Preserve, Calvin College.  TRIAGE incorporates a heavy emphasis on community partnerships, including pre- and in-service teachers, scientists, business leaders, corporations, and students and their families; these partnerships are the backbone of the team research focus in this program.  Through use of team-based authentic research, TRIAGE will incorporate the GLOBE curriculum's focus on real-world science into the program's focus on environmental sustainability.  Participants will delve into the research process, and throughout the program (two cohorts of students engaged in one-year commitments), the lead team will collect data on student science self-efficacy, science interest and performance, and understanding of the nature of science.  In addition to the educational research that will be conducted in-house and technically supported by the Center for Social Research, an external evaluation will be conducted on the program itself.  TRIAGE will also provide innovative professional development to participating in-service teachers, who will actively participate in the team-based research and explore ways of incorporating student research into their existing district benchmarks or curriculum standards.  In the summer, participating students will commit to a two-week Student Research Institute held at Calvin College.  Upon completion of the year-long commitment, TRIAGE will welcome past-participants in the high school Student Research Institute as well as opportunities for mentored research with Calvin College undergraduates. 

Project Summary:

TRIAGE utilizes team-based, authentic student research and principles from the GLOBE curriculum to explore environmental sustainability with approximately 160 students in grades 6 – 8 on the campus of Calvin College, in its Ecosystem Preserve and LEED-certified Bunker Interpretive Center (OST site).  Through partnerships with the Meijer Botanical Gardens and Sculpture Park, the West Michigan Environmental Action Council, Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, Annis Water Resources Institute, the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum and the Van Andel Institute, students will participate in field and laboratory data collection and analyses, visit professional STEM workplaces, explore applications of scientific research in myriad STEM careers, and ultimately design and conduct their own research for presentation to the community at the conclusion of each of two, year-long cohorts.  The student research component incorporates “satellite” team members such as parents, in-service middle school science teachers, pre-service science teachers and faculty researchers from Calvin College and area universities to strengthen students’ commitment to science, to reinforce support networks for students’ involvement in science, and to promote understanding of the nature of science (NOS). 

Students will participate in TRIAGE approximately 2.5 after-school hours per week during the academic year and will spend two weeks in the summer at a Student Research Institute on Calvin College’s campus, wherein students will be engaged in deeper exploration of the research process, learning technical research skills, and conducting individual research projects that will be shared with the community in a poster presentation at the Institute’s conclusion.   

In-service teachers will participate in research alongside students at the OST site and will participate in professional development opportunities that will guide teachers through incorporation of student research into existing curricula.

Goals:

TRIAGE has as its goals for students: (1) increased science self-efficacy, (2) increased interest in science and/or research, and (3) increased understanding of NOS. 

With regard to in-service teachers, TRIAGE has the following goals: (1) increased experience and comfort with authentic research, (2) increased incorporation of student research into existing middle school science curriculum, and (3) increased self-efficacy in science research.  TRIAGE involves pre-service science teachers in all aspects of the project, anticipating that they will benefit from the experiences in the same ways the in-service teachers will and that they will enter the profession as innovative science educators with a solid understanding of the importance of NOS as learning goals.

Intellectual Merit:

TRIAGE focuses on student research as a pedagogical method for science education.  Within its unique team-based authentic research design, TRIAGE will contribute to the broader understanding of how middle school students conceptualize and demonstrate scientific inquiry and the nature of science.  We are developing an instrument that utilizes performance-based tasks to assess the sophistication of students’ understanding of scientific inquiry, representing a unique contribution to the field of science education.