HR: 08:00h
AN: ED41C-01    [Abstracts]
TI: The University of Texas Science and Engineering Apprentice Program as a Model for an REU Site
AU: * Davis, M B
EM: marcy@ig.utexas.edu
AF: Institute for Geophysics, The Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, 4412 Spicewood Springs Rd., Bldg. 600, Austin, TX 78759 United States
AU: Blankenship, D D
EM: blank@ig.utexas.edu
AF: Institute for Geophysics, The Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, 4412 Spicewood Springs Rd., Bldg. 600, Austin, TX 78759 United States
AU: Ellins, K E
EM: kellins@ig.utexas.edu
AF: Institute for Geophysics, The Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, 4412 Spicewood Springs Rd., Bldg. 600, Austin, TX 78759 United States
AB: The University of Texas Institute for Geophysics at (UTIG) is one of five research labs in the Austin area that hosts recent high school graduates for summer research projects through the Applied Research Lab Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP). The SEAP is a program designed to provide summer research opportunities to recent high school undergraduates who excel in science and math. UTIG has been a large proponent of the SEAP and has typically mentored two to four students each year and a total alumni of about twenty. The program has successfully targeted groups that are typically underrepresented in sciences and engineering. Current statistics show that 25% of past SEAP students are members of an ethnic minority and 80% of SEAP students are female. Many of these students have stayed on after the summer program and continued to work part-time or return during summers to UTIG while completing their undergraduate careers. A significant portion of these students present results at professional meetings and ultimately commit to careers in science and engineering, both in industry and academia. SEAP students at UTIG work alongside scientists and graduate students as part of a team, and, through this interaction, improve their scientific knowledge and problem solving skills. Both graduate and undergraduate students involved in NSF-funded research grants mentor the SEAP students, giving them the opportunity to work on their own research problem while contributing data and interpretation to a more fundamental research problem. By uniting student research under the umbrella of Antarctic ice sheet research, students learn how their individual research projects relate to the more unifying science problem centered on ice sheet variability, and Antarctic continental evolution. They also gain an understanding of how research is carried out. At the same time, scientists and graduate students learn how to communicate their knowledge so that it is interesting and relevant to student learning. We are interested in expanding the SEAP model for student research to a scale that can support multidisciplinary REU site activities by extending research possibilities into polar research, marine studies, seismology, planetary science, and science education at UTIG in future years.
UR: http://www.ig.utexas.edu/outreach/projects/defense.htm
DE: 0810 Post-secondary education
SC: Education and Human Resourcese [ED]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting