This award will support a conference organized by the Reinvention Center on "Infusing Research into Undergraduate Education: The Value Added". The Conference will be held on November 18-19, 2004, and will bring together university faculty, senior administrators, and graduate students to: 1) Distill and articulate the distinct characteristics of the undergraduate education that research universities can offer and to demonstrate the "value added" of such an education; 2) Examine specific strategies and techniques that can be put into practice to achieve genuine transformation; 3) Advance the efforts of research universities to foster a frame of mind that drives their research activities to their undergraduate education in ways that impact their large and diverse populations; 4) Make faculty and graduate students aware of the substantial literature on learning that now exists and its potential applications in order to strengthen connections between research on learning and instruction; and 5) Provoke widespread discussion and action to address the implications the changing state of knowledge and the demography of the undergraduate population have for future education at research universities. Deliverables will include publication of the conference proceedings; a Web-based inventory of successful integrative courses and programs; and a Web-based compilation of "Resources" on effective application of principles of learning in a range of educational contexts and disciplines. The Office of Multidisciplinary Activities in the Mathematics and Physical Sciences Directorate funds this award with cofunding support from the five MPS divisions: Chemistry, Mathematical Sciences, Materials Research, Physics and Astronomical Sciences.
