Central Valley Region Interdisciplinary Symposium on Education Research

The Center for Engaged Teaching and Learning at UC Merced offers the Students Assessing Teaching and Learning (SATAL) Program as a mechanism to support the community of instructors working to enhance teaching and learning on campus. SATAL involves trained undergraduates in the data collection, analysis, and reporting. Instructors can partner with SATAL to assess the teaching and learning experiences of students in their classes by implementing different protocols such as Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS). The purpose of this poster is to share the rich information instructors can derive from the COPUS implementation to advance student engagement. The SATAL staff share COPUS results as a fruitful mechanism to document active learning practices complemented with guidelines and suggestion notes. Also, SATAL showcases actions taken based on the COPUS data received and impact on the instructors’ experiences as a responsive approach to advance student engagement. Providing wait time, using worksheets, diversifying active learning activities, and adding clicker questions were among the changes introduced by instructors. Moreover, SATAL addresses how the presented assessment practices can be utilized for different purposes apart from classroom assessment, such action research and tenure and promotion.

Riley Whitmer, SATAL Intern, UC Merced

Shaira Vargas, Graduate Student, UC Merced

Today’s elementary school students face myriad traumatic issues including poverty, violence, physical and emotional abuse, homelessness, and parental substance abuse. These adverse childhood experiences are responsible for an increased risk of academic failure and behavioral problems in childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood. Social-emotional learning (SEL) programs, provided through school and community partnerships, attempt to address these needs in both school-based and out-of-school-time (OST) learning settings. The purpose of this action research study was to examine one northern California-based nonprofit organization’s OST SEL program for elementary students and determine actions and interventions for greater program effectiveness. Students, parent/guardians, site administrators, school-staff, and community members engaged in focus groups, completed surveys, participated in validation groups, and acted as research associates throughout the iterative plan, act, observe, reflect cycle. Qualitative data included identified themes from authenticated and coded transcripts while quantitative data included descriptive statistical analysis of participant surveys. Based on themes and data trends, as well as the application of self-determination theory’s basic psychological needs satisfaction mini-theory, findings demonstrate that student self-management skills improved during the 4-week action research cycle, as did their sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Findings also suggest growth opportunities in the areas of responsible decision-making and program improvement through development and implementation of integrated and universal SEL supports in classrooms, schools, families, and the larger community. Recommendations for future action research cycles include age and developmental considerations regarding instruction and application of responsible decision-making skills, and integration of all five SEL competencies. There is also a call for implementation of partnerships between schools, families, and community organizations for resource coordination. By focusing on continuous improvement through an ongoing action research process, this study advances the work of the northern California-based nonprofit organization and its programs and offers a model for other organizations seeking positive youth outcomes.

Karen Sarafian, Associate Professor, University of the Pacific

The ability to directly edit genetic sequences with technology like CRISPR/Cas has revolutionized the biological sciences. We have developed a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) that will give students hands-on experience with gene editing techniques that, in a short time, have become standard in biology and biomedical research. Our course introduces students to discovery-based research. Students will learn how to design, execute, and assess gene editing strategies and create unique, user-defined changes in target genes. We recruited 6 undergraduate students for our research team for a trial run in the fall semester of 2021. Each student was assigned one gene and designed and executed a CRISPR-based knock-in strategy for each gene. To accommodate their experience level, we held lectures covering fundamental concepts related to the project such as CRISPR/Cas9, DNA repair, and recombinant DNA technology. We also held structured training demonstrations of the protocols to be used in their research — with surprising success: we are currently in the process of identifying germline transmission for 4 of the initially targeted 6 genes. In addition to their lab work, the students were also encouraged to develop their presentation and scientific communication skills; all 6 students presented their work at an end-of-semester symposium attended by members of the Woo and Materna labs and others in our department. Two students presented posters on their work at the annual SACNAS conference in October 2021, and two students presented a poster describing this project at the annual Quantitative and Systems Biology retreat at UC Merced. We hope to provide more opportunities for research participation especially for underrepresented minorities and help increase scientific literacy and critical thinking — in line with the "Vision and Change" (AAAS) recommendations for biology education. Our new course proposal was recently approved by UC Merced and will be offered starting Fall semester 2023.

Gloria Denise Ligunas, Graduate Student, UC Merced