Meeting Abstract
In summer of 2016, undergraduates in the Duquesne University Summer Undergraduate Research Program (URP) participated in 2 models of community-engaged learning. The first was a “push-out” model, where URP students translated themes from their research into interactive science activities that they shared with middle-school aged children at a free summer camp offered to children in an economically-challenged Pittsburgh neighborhood. Working in teams, URP students spent about 2 hours per week over 10 weeks preparing for, engaging with, and reflecting on the experience. As measured by retrospective posttests, URP students reported gains in disciplinary understanding and skills, improved attitudes towards community-engaged learning, and felt the experience was important for their scientific growth and reaching their career goals. At the same time, campers were exposed to topics in cell biology, conservation biology, neuroscience, and pain empathy, thereby contributing to the scientific literacy of the campers and inspiring an interest in science. The second model was a “pull-in” model, where high school students from Pittsburgh Public Schools shadowed undergraduate researchers for 25 hours a week for the last 5 weeks of the URP. Undergraduate students who mentored the high schoolers reported gains across the board, in particular in communication skills and improved attitudes towards mentoring high school students. High school students also reported tremendous gains in research skills and attitudes towards science, with gains higher than the national averages for undergraduate students in similar research experiences. Together, these results demonstrate the substantial benefits of including meaningful science-based community-engagement, fully integrated into the students’ research activities, as part of the undergraduate research program.
