The major goal of RISE: The Center for Research, Learning and Teaching, is to increase the number of underrepresented minority undergraduates from New York City Technical College (City Tech) who choose and pursue biomedical research as a career. The primary objective is to increase the pool of City Tech students who select further studies in research.
The specific aim i s to provide a value-added set of complementary activities designed to provide students with an understanding of research as a process. These experiences will (1) introduce students to research in their introductory courses by restructuring these courses to integrate research, (2) enhance the research integrated introductory curriculum with a workshop/peer leader interdisciplinary approach, (3) build upon the effort in research integrated courses by reinforcing them through a sequence of student research enrichment activities, and (4) prepare students for a capstone research experience. RISE is composed of three major components: (A) a student enrichment component, (B) a research oriented course restructuring component, and (C) an interdisciplinary workshop component. The Research Activities Modular Program (RAMP) is the student enrichment component and consists of three major modules: a research enrichment module, a seminar/conference module, and a research assistantship module. The Research Integration into the Curriculum (RIC) is a two-semester faculty development/training program which focuses on course restructuring to integrate research into introductory courses and includes a critical thinking short-course. The Workshop Interdisciplinary Science Program (WISP) is the workshop enhancement component which focuses do peer leader guided workshops developed by the Research Integration into Curriculum. While each component is value-added on its own, the activities together constitute a broad institutional approach. City Tech's potential to increase opportunities for the significant number of students enrolled in associate degree programs to experience biomedical research and to advance further in the research career pipeline will be maximized. While actively involved in the program, students will be part of a community of learners within a culture of inquiry.
