CHEYENNE - Science initiative work at the University of Wyoming isn't designed to only affect students getting degrees in science.Instead, the two-phase, multi-year plan from the UW Top-Tier Science Programs and Facilities Task Force is intended to make the university's science programs more well known, bring in more faculty and graduate students, and help transform how science is taught across the state, said professor Gregory Brown.'It's gone extremely well,' said Brown, who also is an associate dean in arts and sciences. 'It's been driven by a very united, collegial set of faculty and department heads that have worked very productively and effectively with these outside task force members who have been able to provide us with some reality checks.'Without their guidance, we wouldn't have come up with the plan that we have, which is potentially visionary and transformational to the university.'This year's part of the project received a recommendation for $750,000 for programmatic work and $3 million for capital construction work in Gov. Matt Mead's supplemental budget request. He also suggested additional funding for maintenance and to support equipment.'As we look to the future, a task force of industry leaders and nationally renowned UW scientists has proposed a plan to make UW science programs world-class,' Mead said in his supplemental budget document.Mead also recommended that the Legislature develop a plan to complete the funding needed for the next four years.The first phase of the plan runs through 2017 and asks for an appropriation of about $33.75 million this year, according to the draft plan. Of that amount, $750,000 is for programmatic work, $3 million is for level 2 planning, and $30 million would be for construction, according to the draft plan.'We've developed a motto that if we can't do it in Wyoming, it can't be done,' Brown said. 'That would apply to this initiative, in terms of being truly transformational in a relatively short amount of time.'An initial piece is a new focus on using active learning instructional techniques in large science classes, Brown said.The active learning work seeks to engage students who are part of large, traditionally lecture-style classes, he said.Instead of a long lecture, students have multiple stations with interactive work to do, UW vice president for government and community affairs Chris Boswell said.'You'd have the ability for problem solving and interaction, where a student has to take part during the course of the lecture,' he said. 'There's a real emphasis on problem solving. They can't be passively observing. They need to be participating in a fashion.'The change could encourage more students to continue with science, he said.The new methods are already showing promise in test classes, Brown added.'There are big national studies that show that it substantially and significantly increases student learning, and studies that we've done in (biology) and physics show how students find it much more interesting and engaging,' he said. 'It increases class attendance by almost 25 percent.'So far this semester, it also appears that students are retaining more information, he added.Outside of UW, it is hoped this work will have a long-term effect on science education for younger students, as the teaching style is used on students who continue on to be science teachers, Brown said.The initiative draft plan is also set to support more mentoring of students, he said.A scholars program would seek to attract more high-quality high school graduates and offer undergraduate research, while a fellowship program would draw more graduate students.In addition, a competitive research piece would seek to attract and retain new faculty members.The first phase also includes requests for two new research centers looking to create opportunities for collaborative research. The centers would bring together the areas of science research working on imagining in a new facility and those doing biological research in another, according to the draft plan.'It's not a one principle investigator, one lab model,' Brown said. 'It's different collaborations, who bring a different skill set. That's when you find the really cool things going on in science - we call it convergent research.'That research also can help the university fulfill its land grant mission and address questions in the state, he said.The second phase of the plan would expand renovations in other science buildings on campus, including in the biological and physical science buildings. This would include work to improve and add room for future growth to the Rocky Mountain and Solheim Herbaria and offer more space to the animal science department.Other building work would include construction of the Wyoming Astronomical Observatory, which would host a 4.3-meter telescope.Though the multi-year project is a two-phase plan, finishing the first section will be a major accomplishment, Brown said.'The first phase is the heart and the guts and the soul of the whole initiative,' he said. 'The first phase is the truly transformational unique piece. If we get the second phase, all that will do is magnify the value and depth of impact that it will have.'
Published on: Sunday, Dec 07, 2014 - 11:32:17 pm MST
Education Reporter
Entities 0 Name: Brown Count: 7 1 Name: UW Count: 4 2 Name: Mead Count: 2 3 Name: Legislature Count: 1 4 Name: UW Top-Tier Science Programs and Facilities Task Force Count: 1 5 Name: Wyoming Astronomical Observatory Count: 1 6 Name: Rocky Mountain Count: 1 7 Name: Gregory Brown Count: 1 8 Name: Wyoming Count: 1 9 Name: Chris Boswell Count: 1 10 Name: Aerin Curtis Education Count: 1 11 Name: Solheim Herbaria Count: 1 12 Name: Matt Mead Count: 1 13 Name: University of Wyoming Count: 1 14 Name: CHEYENNE Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1yt602g Title: Careers in tech: Everyone starts somewhere and students can start today Description: When I arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1976, the burgeoning tech industry that we know today was just taking shape. It was an exciting time where everyone was looking to start something new and share ideas that would eventually create opportunities for people all over the world.
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