Project Overview
There is increasing public pressure on universities to provide students with relevant career skills in a cost-effective manner. The goal of this proposal is to expand and enhance the educational and career opportunities available to students in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) and related majors (e.g. Biochemistry, IPHY) through a series of practicum modules implemented in the newly created Skills Center (SC) (https://skillscenter.colorado.edu/). While standard course work in MCDB provides students with a background in the foundational ideas of modern biology, opportunities to develop and demonstrate competence in practical experience-based skills can be limited. Without such demonstrable skills, students’ access to the independent research opportunities that a research-focused institution such as UC Boulder is uniquely positioned to provide can be limited. Moreover, the absence of such skills can limit students’ post-graduation opportunities and employability. The goals of this proposal are to expand, in collaboration with other institutions/departments, the available SC modules, develop micro-credential badging of stackable skills, and evaluate the impact of SC modules on student agency.
Project Purpose
A major drive for establishing the MCD Biology Skills Center (and the MCDB 1234 and 3456 courses) in 2021-22 was the recognition that a number of educational opportunities are closed to students due to students’ lack of demonstrated technical skills. Consider, for example, the ability of a student to take part in independent study research projects (a common pre-requisite for continuing to graduate school or employment as a research technician). Currently the number of such opportunities is limited; research labs simply do not have the resources in terms of personnel and funds to train students “from the bottom up.”
By establishing a staffed Skills Center within MCDB, located in an under-utilized lab space, we have provided students with the opportunity to obtain certification in basic but key experimental skills Mastery of such skills dramatically increases the usefulness of a student to a research lab, and ipso facto enhances what the students gain from such experiences. The self-paced nature of Skills Center-based certification process also offers an alternative path that enables students without the free time needed for more open-ended independent study projects to develop and demonstrate valuable skills. The proposed two-six week skill modules offered by the Center include rigorous certifications that serve to demonstrate student mastery of specific skills. We are working with the department so that successful (certified) completion of 10-14 weeks of module activities will count as two credit hours on the student’s academic transcript and that these credits can be used to replace other departmental laboratory course requirements such that there is no net increase in degree requirements. Additionaly we are working to create micro-credentials for stacked skills that can be completed outside of a regular credit hour requirement.
Stakeholders + Needs (125)
Undergraduate STEM students
Needs: Real world practical skills to enhance success after graduation.
Research Faculty (from MCDB, EBIO, BIOCHEM, IPHY and perhaps CHEM and PYSCH/NEUROSCI)
Needs: Decrease the burden for bringing undergraduates into the lab environment and improve success
Local Biopharma and Biotech companies
Needs: Practically trained employees who can immediately contribute
Intended Impact
Besides the practical and career benefits of achieving certified laboratory skills, the program offers flexibility to students who, for financial or other reasons, may not be able to commit to time-intensive traditional independent study projects. It also recognizes that there is no one educational outcome that suits the needs of all students. As an example, MCDB majors may enter graduate school in pursuit of a research-based Ph.D., enter medical training to earn an M.D., P.A., or other health care certification, enter the business world in a number of occupations, from investment, intellectual property, or management, or may enter the world of public policy and communications. We envision the Center to function as a focal point to facilitate students’ transition to working directly with a faculty member, or in a range of internship-type situations. The Skills Center will serve to catalyze the formation of interest groups to provide support and community for various groups of students, including those taking the Computer Science Minor, the business minor (in A&S), working as interns in the Tech Transfer or CU Foundation offices, or off-campus with various commercial enterprises. As the Center develops, we anticipate that it will organize courses focused on developing expertise in public policy, science communication, education, and out-reach. Finally, the Center could help coordinate various volunteer opportunities, such as those now offered by the Boulder County Medical Society for students interested in the health care professions. Training in genetic counseling and the tools involved is an obvious future direction. Taken together, the Center’s offerings can be expected fill a needed gap in student training and to help students’ identify and pursue training and educational experiences relevant to their future careers. We envision our impact to be broad reaching and are currently working with UT Austin, Front Range community College and Austin community college to develop cross institution certifications.
Team Description
Professor Michael Stowell, Interim Director and Skills Center Faculty Proctor. Skills Center Management, Skills Identification, SOP drafting, outreach to stake holders
Professor Michael Klymkowsky, Interim-Co-Director and Skills Center Faculty Proctor. Skills Center Management, Skills Identification, SOP drafting, outreach to stake holders
Zachery Hazlett, Skills Center Graduate TA Proctor, Module building, operations, student assessment
Team Gaps
Assesment expertise, micro-crediential expertise
Intended Scale
The current SC has the capacity for 30 students per semester and with additional support we expect to grow the SC to 50 students per semester. We are also working with the Front Range Community College, UT Austin and Austing Community College to expand the reach of the Skills Center and to expand beyond Colorado.
Funding Request + Intended Use of Funds
Personnel ($32,500). Most of the funds for this initial project period will go to support staff and students to determine and establish new skills modules and their certification criterion, and to identify new core skills desired by stakeholders. New modules will be introduced in the Fall of 2023 and help run a set of two to four skills modules. These people will include senior level undergraduate learning assistants (eight total, $3000 per student). We intend to identify a graduate researcher to work with the project team to survey stakeholders to prioritize skills module development, and to construct, apply, and evaluate outcomes assessment instruments, including observations of student behavior within modules.
Space ($0): The department as assigned ~1600 sq feet of laboratory/office space on the ground floor of Porter Bioscience. Students carry out their skills development projects and certification tasks in this space. The space includes office space for instructors and teaching assistants. Future costs for space renovation are not included in the budgetary requests of this proposal.
Equipment ($0): All equipment needed for this proposal has been obtained from the lead faculty labs or from other MCDB faculty on a temporary basis if needed.
Disposable Research materials ($17,500): enzymes, plasticware, glassware, culture media, DNA sequencing costs, etc. are estimated at ~$8750 per semester.
Anticipated Long-term Needs
The long-term viability of the Center will depend upon university (tuition) based support, as well as a fund-raising through the CU Foundation, particularly through our relationships with local biotech and biopharma companies. Our goal is to raise an endowment for this student-centered program within MCDB. After the initial project period we will work within MCDB and the College of Arts and Sciences to secure a permanent staff line for the Center Director, a person we expect to identify through a national search. Ultimately, we hope to branch out the SC to include other departments such as Biochemistry, EPOB, IPHY, CHEM, PSYCH/NEUROSCI, etc. Additionally, we have already created a working group with Front Range Community College, UT Austin and the Austin Community College to harmonize skills certification so that community college student that transfer to 4 year colleges can gain applicable skill to ensure they can effectively transition.
Return to the ASSETT Webpage
Hey, Team! Thank you for submitting your idea to the ASSETT Innovation Incubator. Yours is a well thought out and detailed draft. Right off the bat, I see some overlap between your proposal and a an idea submitted by Don Grant (linked below), specifically in your long-term goal to establish a center focused on workforce development in undergraduate students. I wonder if there is a way for you to join forces with Don’s team or to somehow cross-pollinate your ideas.
Something that could strengthen your idea is to demonstrate increased interdisciplinarity beyond STEM disciplines. For example, you mention developing business acumen, public policy, and communication skills in students as future workers. Might you then also look for team collaborators from the business minor and/or political science, or Women and Gender Studies? I look forward to seeing how your idea develops before the final submission date of April 11th!
https://www.innovationincubatorsubmit.com/published/redesigning-care-collaborative-problem-solving-for-aspiring-helping-professionals/
Hi Blair, thank you for your response! I appreciate the connection to Don’s proposed work as well. Our approach is a quite distinct in form and function from Don’s, but we might consider the potential in our overlapping goals. And yes, we envision our system being useful for those in and beyond STEM in the future. The system is so new, however, that we believe we should validate the approach in a more discipline-focused context, first, then display the efficacy/value to cross-disciplinary teams after. A very important consideration though. Thank you!
Noting the following, “Most of the funds for this initial project period will go to support staff and students to determine and establish new skills modules and their certification criterion, and to identify new core skills desired by stakeholders. New modules will be introduced in the Fall of 2023 and help run (in the Spring of 2019) a set of two-four skills modules.” I am curious about how you plan to identity the new core skills desired by stakeholders. Can you tell a bit more of the story of how and who would be involved in this?
Hi Nicole, thank you for your comments. Our stakeholders are those with vested interest in the students who are trained in the various research techniques we seek to teach. So to “identify new core skills desired by stakeholders,” we plan to connect with industry partners who are hiring students matriculating from life-science degree programs. We seek to build our training modules and connected assessments to align with the standards of these partners to ensure that our students are being trained sufficiently for employment in these positions. We are working with our local team from CU consisting of a small number of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students. Additionally, we are partnering with educational researchers from UT Austin to share resources and build toward these goals together. We plan to use our connections and make those that are needed to ensure our skills training is sufficient for our students to gain greater access to their desired career positions.
Your proposal sounds interesting and I like the idea of stackable skills for learners to take away from their UG experience! I may have missed this, so I apologize in advance if I did. Is the proposed Skills Center only available for UG in Biology? You had mentioned the degree requirements may not be affected for the Biology department and if this is available for learners in other disciplines, do you know yet if their degree requirements would be affected?
Hi Kalpana, thank you for your response! Currently the SC is only available for UG’s in Biology, chemistry, biochemistry, and chemical engineering majors. We envision this type of system being valuable for students across many different disciplines, but given our current limitations (number of people, time, energy, etc.) and the need for validating the current system, we are choosing to start small and build beyond once we’ve gathered more evidence supporting the efficacy and benefits of this approach. Regarding degree requirements, student participation in the SC is currently satisfying students’ general ed laboratory experience requirement. This would be the same for other degree programs until the university starts integrating this system into the requirements for specific degrees.
I agree that this is a well-developed draft with a strong idea. I also agree that there appear to be opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration acknowledged in your draft but worth emphasizing in greater detail. One thought I did have about your proposal is that it seems pretty much already fully elaborated and envisioned. As specified in the CFP, the incubator involves an iterative process of design thinking and development to help participants refine and develop their ideas. How will the incubator process help you develop of grow your idea? How might collaboration with CTL, OIT, and/or RIO help you realize or extend your vision?
Hi David, thank you for your comments. So our course has been developed to the extent that it is an operational course currently available to students, but our whole team recognizes the many areas needed for growth and refinement. From the systems of student engagement, to the review and distribution of student feedback, to the continued building and refining of the specific skills training modules, our system needs greater support for it to be developed to the point of being most valuable for students. Specifically, we envision building our students’ skills certifications into micro-credentials that can be collected as digital badges to be displayed to future employers. This is one of the most underdeveloped areas of our current system that we are working toward where and how we can. External support and increased collaboration would be very helpful for us to achieve our goals and maximize career opportunities for our students.
Hello, congratulations on the submission of your proposal. It is really exciting how everyone around is trying and understanding the fact that students need more practical skills. As a student, I know for a fact that the amount of practical skills an undergraduate students receives over the course of 4 years is really minimal. There are no extra curricular or opportunities at college level that would help a student acquire more practical skills. The project is really exciting to me as a student, as it’s making that connection of being a college student and getting more practical skills that would help students in the real world after they graduate.
Hey Vansh thank you for your response! We agree that this type of approach will be so much more beneficial for students seeking careers in jobs that require developed technical skills. As many mention in the previous comments, there is no reason for this educational approach to be limited to biology or even the life-sciences. Many employers of other careers are seeking employees equipped to be confident and competent members of their workforce, and we (and now it seems others) are recognizing the value of tailored skill development opportunities. We’re excited to see how this develops!