In collaboration with Arizona State University at the West campus (ASU West), Glendale Community College (GCC) is integrating the use of an NMR spectrometer and other instrumentation with a pedagogical change to hands-on experiences across organic chemistry and biotechnology. This combination is establishing a strong foundational STEM educational program that improves the quality of student preparedness for industry and four-year degree programs. Specifically, the objectives are: 1. To bridge chemistry and biotechnology curricula by creating courses that focus on parallel instrumentation, other laboratory technical skills, and pedagogical changes that include hands-on use of the instrumentation. 2. To immerse community college students in the university research environment by leveraging GCC's partnership with ASU West. This partnership provides students with a clear route for entry into four-year degree programs and is expected to increase the future success of the students in the pursuit and attainment of advanced degrees. 3. To create an assessment loop that focuses on the links between student success and the exposure of students to instrumentation and to revised instructional pedagogy.
Intellectual Merit. Because of the small class size and high faculty to student ratio, GCC is an ideal setting in which to maximize student exposure to hands-on, active-participation strategies in the learning process, and to assess pedagogical techniques. GCC students are gaining from valuable and extensive experience on both academic and research grade instrumentation using up-to-date pedagogical techniques. They also are given opportunities for professional development through a unique program that exposes them to the ASU West research environment, research dissemination, and potential academic, government and industry careers.
Broader Impacts. GCC is one of ten community colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCD), one of the largest community college districts in the world. The GCC student population is highly diverse with 33% (of which 24.9% are Hispanic) of the students being members of groups underrepresented in STEM fields. Thus, the project is serving underrepresented groups including those from low socioeconomic backgrounds and first-generation college students. The alliance with ASU West is creating a pipeline for GCC students to enter STEM fields, and is preparing them for baccalaureate and graduate studies. The project serves as a national model of using complementary instruments to develop a synergistic and transformative partnership between a Community College and a University.
A rigorous evaluative program is documenting student understanding of instrumentation when integrated with hands-on pedagogy as well as attitude changes as a result of this project. The faculty involved will disseminate the results of the project through publications in relevant peer-reviewed journals and by presentations at appropriate conferences. They also are conducting workshops with the intent of aggressively encouraging adoption of this project at other MCCCD colleges, especially those already equipped with an NMR instrument.
