State of the Program
Greig Stewart, Executive Director August 1, 2008
It's No Surprise
Active Interdisciplinary Inquiry
Using Research to Inform Practice
It's No Surprise
“Higher Education is America’s best industry.” So claims the editor of Newsweek International, Fareed Zakaria, in his recent book, The Post-American World (p. 190, 2008). Zakaria examines this point by referencing two rankings of universities worldwide: The London Times Higher Education World University Rankings; and the Institute of Higher Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Academic Ranking of World Universities. It’s no surprise that the University of Maryland appears on both lists. In fact, it is the only university on both lists in immediate proximity to the nation’s Capital, and one of only two universities in the State of Maryland (the other being Johns Hopkins).
College Park is a special place. In 1988, the State of Maryland reorganized its higher education system, identifying the College Park campus as the System’s flagship, a title held by our peer institutions, The University of California at Berkeley, The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. And like its peer universities, College Park is one of 62 elite research institutions, in the Association of American Universities, an organization that promotes excellence and standards in research and graduate education. Similarly, as with UC Berkeley and Illinois Urbana-Champaign, College Park is the State’s designated Land-Grant University. And as President C.D. (Dan) Mote, Jr., has often claimed, the University of Maryland has an “unfair advantage” over other research institutions, given its proximity to the wealth of government laboratories (such as NASA and FDA), information reserves (e.g., the Library of Congress and the National Institutes of Health Library), and cultural centers (the Smithsonian Institution, Kennedy Center and the National Gallery of Art, just to name a few).
Active Interdisciplinary Inquiry
How does all this translate into a student’s experience at Maryland?
- State-of-the-art research and technology constantly inform the knowledge transferred in lectures and assumptions tested in laboratories.
- Internships and service opportunities abound, particularly where science and policy intersect.
- Complexities of issues are examined in a global context.
Drilling down further, how does this impact a student enrolled in College Park Scholars?
Today’s challenges are extremely complex. More often than not, these challenges benefit from multidisciplinary examination. The hallmark of College Park Scholars is active interdisciplinary inquiry. Examples from this past year follow:
- A team of freshman Public Leadership Scholars participated in a community-based learning project with the National Capital Parks and Planning Commission. What appeared to be a fairly straight-forward question – “Why are the soccer fields wearing out so fast?” – opened the team up to the intricacies of the nation’s labor force and immigration policy. To quote from one of the team members:
We were surprised at the complexity and encouraged by the possibilities of working on issues relevant to our surrounding society.
- In the Cultures of the Americas first-year colloquium, students examined immigration and immigration law, farm subsidies, entrepreneurship and cultural mix, through the lens of food. A student’s observation follows:
Food plays a huge role in helping to define a culture and the way it has been adapted in America. There are huge related legal and ethical issues.
- Science, Technology and Society first-year students examined the intersection of society and technology by studying the automobile. As one student commented, she gained:
. . . an understanding of the interdependency which occurs between societal values and technological achievements.
Active interdisciplinary inquiry informs the research experiences in Scholars. Consider the following:
- A team of sophomore Advocates for Children Scholars, during their sophomore practicum, examined the use of shelters for homeless women in Montgomery County, as a result of their enrollment in the Community-Based Research seminar. One member of the team observed:
Women constitute what many call a hidden homeless population. In our research we were able to ask important questions and lend the women a voice they never had. Although our research question wasn’t answered the way we had expected, it yielded data that lead us to new issues, new ideas, and new possibilities.
- International business major and Public Leadership Scholar Peg Maguire, examined “Why were some women able to own property in the 18th and 19th centuries if they were considered property themselves?” through her enrollment in our Library of Congress research seminar.
- Government and politics major and International Studies Scholar Kim Stites, researched “What made Thailand’s approach to dealing with its AIDS crisis so effective, and how can Africa follow in its footsteps?” Using policy analysis, library research, surveys and content analysis, Kim researched an extremely complex issue through her enrollment in the Scholars Discovery research seminar.
- Mechanical Engineering Major and Science, Discovery and the Universe Scholar Samantha Sawyer, spent the summer between her freshmen and sophomore years engaged in research at the National Atmospheric and Space Administration's (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). While at the Center, Samantha wrote a program to analyze data from Titan's atmosphere, collected by the Hubble Space Telescope. In her research summary, Samantha observed:
There I was, 19 years old and already living my dream. What a privilege to be given such a beautiful and fulfilling opportunity!
- Electrical engineering major and Earth, Life and Time Scholar Mo Zhu, interned at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Dr. Thomas Winters, where he assisted in determining the amount of DNA repair proteins certain cancerous cells produced.
I extracted cell lines for proteins. Then, I did a western blot to create gels which had protein on them. After creating these gels, I analyzed them for the different amounts of a target protein. This was a small part of a much bigger project to find a treatment for cancer that has minimal, harmful side effects.
Active interdisciplinary inquiry also made its way into students’ internships:
- History major and Earth, Life and Time Scholar Katie Rudolph, interned at the Delaware Natural History Museum. In her internship summary, Katie observed:
As a history major I have an interest in museum studies that was only intensified by my work at the museum. I learned valuable skills such as collection organization, exhibit maintenance, event planning, and visitor interaction. These are valuable skills which I could use in any job, not just in a museum.
- Environmental science and policy major, and Environmental Studies Scholar Bryan Maloney, who interned for The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), at the Mai Po Nature Reserve in Hong Kong. Together with a member of the field staff, Bryan systematically surveyed, mapped and tagged 594 trees. Bryan attributes his ability to determine his major and further define his academic goals to this internship, focusing his studies on wetland ecology. In Bryan’s words, pairing
. . . real-world practice and in-class learning will give me a thorough understanding of wetlands. The WWF internship solidified Bryan’s desire to contribute to the international scientific community.
- Art studio major and Science, Discovery and the Universe Scholar Elizabeth Terry, interned at the NASA GSFC in Greenbelt, Maryland, where she assisted in the mapping of Jupiter’s atmosphere. In her internship summary Elizabeth captured the excitement of being part of a scientific discovery:
The sheer size, depth, and intricacies of this giant planet are never more real than when the first images are downloaded off the satellite and the researcher becomes one of the very first people to see what Jupiter looked like only a few hours previously.
Central to the Scholars experience is a commitment to serving others. This begins the day after move-in, when all first-year students engage in Service Day. More than 3,000 service hours are provided to area schools, parks and community service agencies. For most students, service becomes more than a one-day commitment. Opportunities thrive at Maryland, such as the Scholars Lakeland Stars mentoring program with Paint Branch Elementary School. Given this commitment, it’s no surprise that some students engage in active interdisciplinary inquiry by exploring their service commitment in global settings. Two examples follow:
- Michael Fischer (pictured above on left), another Environmental Studies Scholar and sophomore finance major, participated in a Rotary, International sponsored service practicum to San Pablo, Ecuador, where he helped construct two houses, a food tunnel and fencing to restrict stray animals. Michael observed that this practicum exposed him to:
. . . different aspects of business and finance that I would not have learned in class. I interacted with people of a different culture. I learned how to minimize the amount of waste I created and resources I used. Additionally I now understand how micro-finance loans help to economically develop a community. The most important aspect of the internship was working as a team.
- Sophomore biology major and Life Sciences Scholar Munaf Kachwala (pictured below on left), volunteered in Ghana with Unite for Sight. Participating in a team of volunteers, Munaf helped screen over 350 Ghanaians, distributed medication, prescription glasses and sunglasses, and referred patients needing extended care to a clinic in the capital, Accra. Munaf observed that:
. . . the most important aspect is that by restoring their vision, they can work and increase their household earnings and not be a burden to their families.
Spanning global boundaries is not limited to students’ sense of adventure. This past year, a number of Scholars programs offered travel study opportunities, such as Life Sciences’ to Australia and Belize; Earth, Life and Time to the Galapagos Archipelago in Ecuador, and Cultures of the Americas in Puerto Rico. The International Studies program tapped into our proximity to Washington, D.C., with learning excursions to embassies, such as Rwanda and The Republic of South Africa, and to the U.S. State Department. More programs are examining similar opportunities: Public Leadership is exploring a Winterterm course to Morocco; and a select group of Business, Society and the Economy Scholars may find themselves in the Emirate of Dubai this coming January.
Using Research to Inform Practice
Returning to Zakaria’s Post-American World, he describes the visit to the United States by a team of educators sponsored by the Singapore Ministry of Education. The purpose of the visit was to examine “a culture of learning that challenges conventional wisdom,” and stimulates “creativity, curiosity, a sense of adventure, ambition.” Essential to this culture is an instructor’s ability to guide students in the process of making meaning of their experiences in the context of what they are learning in the classroom. The above classroom, internship, research and service experiences demonstrate how adept the Scholars faculty are in inspiring students to translate their curiosity and ambition into learning. But to transfer educational methodologies to other settings, more than anecdotal data is required. College Park Scholars puts research into practice. From 2002 to 2005, Scholars conducted in-depth, program assessments. These reviews resulted in the identification of 10 best practices; each is in the process of being systematically integrated into all 12 programs.
Scholars research efforts have received national attention:
- In a multi-year, multi-campus study funded by the Boyer Center, investigators sought to identify principles of good practice used in educational partnerships. Data were collected from 18 institutions. Results from the study’s analysis have appeared in two publications:
- The May-June 2008 issue of The Journal of College Student Development cited the value of the College Park Scholars program in implementing multiple approaches to assessment.
- An earlier report (July-August 2007) from the same journal observed that students participating in College Park Scholars were "more aware of knowledge and learning for its own sake than for other motives."
- Since 2005, Scholars faculty have focused their collective energies on learning outcomes assessment. Details of these efforts were published as an invited article to the Living-Learning Programs Theme Issue of The Journal of College and University Student Housing, (March/April, 2008.) Preliminary observations indicate that students cite their Scholars experience as providing a lens through which they integrate their learning at Maryland. An example from one of this year’s Media, Self and Society Scholars follows:
When I came to college, I selected the Media program because I thought that it would be nice to study a topic unrelated to education. Little did I know that I would constantly relate our weekly discussions and papers to my experiences as an education major. It was so exciting for me to be able to introduce issues we discussed in Media colloquia to my fellow education majors and professors. I was able to connect my Scholars experience to my own interests, to develop a comprehensive understanding of media and its impact on society today. I am currently conducting educational research about the importance of connecting classroom concepts to student experiences and often find myself using my Media Scholars experience as a perfect example of learner-centered education.
Maryland and Scholars are quite different places than they were 15 years ago, when the first Scholars class matriculated at College Park. As essential as personal examples and research are to telling the Scholars story, we cannot overlook a key element -- our alumni. Under the leadership of Mr. Chris Branin, the College Park Scholars Alumni Association (CPSAA) has entered its fifth year, with over 1,000 registered members. The commitment of our alumni is profound evidence of how Scholars adds value to the Maryland experience. Chris’s leadership was instrumental in capturing alumni’s affinity for Scholars. Maryland will be forever grateful to Chris for his commitment and energy in this endeavor. With Chris’s departure, we look forward to the leadership of CPSAA’s new President and Chair, Ms. Erica Rossi, a 1999 Bachelor of Arts degree recipient in government and politics, and a former Public Leadership Scholar.
In addition to our alumni, the unique dedication of our faculty and staff and the steadfast support from the colleges’ deans and campus leadership, make Scholars – and the University of Maryland – prominent examples of America’s “best industry.”
Image Credits
Entrance path to the Cambridge Community, University of Maryland, March 2008.
Public Leadership Scholar Samantha Hanagan and Director David Crocker at the 12th Annual Scholars Academic Showcase, May 2008.
Environmental Studies Scholar Michael Fischer in San Pablo, Ecuador, Summer 2007.
Life Sciences Scholar Munaf Kachwala in Ghana, Spring 2008.
Officers of College Park Scholars Alumni Association, Inc. at a study break hosted for current Scholars, May 2008.
Students in International Studies, the winning program at the 11th Annual "Step to Bat for Kids" Charity Softball Tournament, May 2008.
