The University of Wisconsin-Madison proposes to organize a workshop for NSF BIO REU Sites that will bring Principal Investigators (PIs) together to discus evidence-based approaches in REU program development and implementation. The overarching theme of the meeting will be to use Evidence-Based Approaches to Enhance and Strengthen the REU Experience. The structure of the workshop will align with the goals of the NSF REU program and will be designed to develop community among the PIs through presentations, discussions, networking panels and poster sessions about strategies for delivering high quality meaningful research experiences to undergraduate students in the biological sciences. A pre-workshop on-line survey will be sent to the PIs to assess their needs and expectations for the workshop and to gather information that will inform workshop planning. PIs will be asked to identify their interests regarding networking opportunities in the pre-survey and this information will be used to define topics for discussion. Informal mechanisms will be used to collect feedback during the workshop which will then be used to make mid- point adjustments to the workshop agenda. Members of the Bio REU LC (Leadership Council) will meet at the end of the first full day to check-in, review the comments box feedback, share their informal feedback from participating in the activities and, if necessary, make adjustments to the final day's agenda. A post-workshop on-line evaluation survey will be administered immediately following the workshop to assess the effectiveness of the workshop logistics, the workshop activities and to gather suggestions for future workshops. The results of this evaluation will be included in the final report submitted to NSF. More information is available by contacting the PI, Dr. Janet Branchaw at branchaw@wisc.edu.
