Meeting Abstract

92.3  Sunday, Jan. 6  Evaluation of the Undergraduate Research and Mentoring in the Biological Sciences (URM) program in Hawaii MARKER, N.*; AYERS, A.; University of Hawaii at Manoa; University of Hawaii at Manoa nmarker@hawaii.edu

In 2008, the Pacific Biosciences Research Center at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa was awarded a five-year grant to administer the Undergraduate Research and Mentoring in the Biological Sciences (URM) program from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The goal of the URM program is to increase the number and diversity of individuals pursuing graduate studies in all areas of biological research. The Hawai‘i URM faces the challenge of teaching science and research to students from diverse cultural backgrounds, and seeks to help students develop skills and knowledge to prepare for a graduate education that could address pressing environmental issues across the Pacific. The Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) at UH-Mānoa was contracted to conduct a formative and summative evaluation of the URM program. Evaluators developed a protocol designed to gauge changes in the program and in student progress over time. Data were collected through pre- and post-tests, case study interviews, and observations. The evaluation looks at student academic success, and the students’ and mentors’ attitudes, beliefs and perceptions of the program. Summary findings from four years of evaluation of this undergraduate mentoring program for minority students in the environmental sciences will be presented. The wider implications of these findings, with respect to the relative strengths and weaknesses of mentoring approaches to teaching science, will also be discussed.