HHMI Grant Ideas 2003

Big Ideas

• Summer Science Research Camp - Our goal is to create an endowed fund and the infrastructure to support student and faculty stipends, supplies, administrative support, and conference travel funds. Support for some or all of these costs for a fixed time while endowment support is built.

  In some ways the current HHMI grant has been doing just this during the past couple of years. We have a good start on the text for this in the document we worked on last Summer, it's located here.

• Computational Methods Course Modules - Develop the computational research capabilities of undergraduate faculty and students through an integrated series 1 credit modules designed to be co-offered with particular upper-level courses in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics. These course modules would infuse our undergraduate science environment with computational methods; which ultimately leads to a larger number of graduate school students in the natural sciences who are prepared to utilize these important new research tools and techniques.

  Modeled on Earlham's strong history of bibliographic instruction.

  Team-taught, primary course instructor and someone from computer science.

  Eco-Bio offers a great opportunity to combine field data collection/analysis with computational methods in a science context. This would require hardware (hand-held devices, laptops, wireless networking, etc.) and a fair amount of design effort but the overall impact and pedagogy should be powerful.

• Small college libraries as electronic publishers of record for their student's and faculty's research and writings. This isn't a particularly well-developed idea but it is one I've spoken to TomK about. This could be part of a package that justifies an Internet II connection. How does this relate to/support undergraduate student/faculty research? It seems like a case could be made that it does.

• Design and deliver a series of May Term workshops in computational methods for natural science faculty from the GLCA. Start small with just EC folks the first year.

• Design and deliver an introductory general science class aimed at non-science majors. Hands-on approach using experiments and analysis from a wide range of the sciences. Computational component, quantitative reasoning, critical reading, etc. Possible labs:
  • Remote data collection using Palms - river water?
  • Record voices of the 4 common types of verbal feedback, multiple languages, perform Fourier analysis, compare and contrast. Fairly basic hardware requirements and software techniques.
  • Analyze the science published, endorsed and used by public agencies.

Small Ideas

• Any one of the computational methods modules, say Eco-Bio in conjunction with the course re-design it is going through soon.

• Design and offer a course in computational methods for the natural sciences. Upper-level class for confirmed majors in one of the natural science areas. Would need to be offered each year or every other year at the most. This would be an intensive course requiring significant help from a TA.

Hardware

• Data acquisition equipment for any existing or planned scientific instruments where we could design and perform experiments with computational components. Physical structure analysis using NMR, laser, etc. and simulations of same, liquid chromatograph (?), SEM (?), others? This could easily be tied to the computational methods course modules.

• Handheld computers, laptops, wireless networking gear, etc. to do short and long term field data collection for Biology research. Weather, species census, mapping, etc. Integrated into one or more laboratories in Eco-Bio.

• Internet II connection (circuit costs and local infrastructure). Unlikely that there is one application that could justify this; but is there a combination?
  • Library publishing
  • Scientific data transfer
  • Plowshares (distance ed)
  • Conner Praraie (distance ed)
  • Others?

  Tom Steffes and Tom Kirk probably have some ideas for this item.

Other

Linkages to the upcoming capital campaign, shows institutional commitment to science generally.

HHMI's report on what science education needs, how do we address items they identify?

Support for a post-bacc position in computer science specifically tasked to work with faculty developing and teaching either the computational methods course modules and/or the computational methods course. Four years of support and then the College will find funds to continue the position? Any of the course development items will require lots of help to organize and deliver the first couple of times.