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A Hierarchy Model for Integrating Research, Education, and Peer Mentoring
Summary: Isiah Warner's analytical chemistry research focuses on the development and application of improved methodologies (chemical, mathematical, and instrumental) for studying complex chemical systems. His HHMI project provides an academic support system—a "mentoring ladder"—that integrates research, education, and mentoring to enable undergraduate students the opportunity for advancement in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. The mentoring ladder is the project's main tool for implementing metacognitive learning strategies.
HHMI PROJECT SUMMARY
Original Project (2002 grant)
The initial project involved the development of the Louisiana State University (LSU) HHMI Professors Program, an academic support system encompassing a number of initiatives designed to help students, including those from underrepresented minority groups, advance in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Central to the LSU-HHMI Professors Program is the "mentoring ladder," which allows the enthusiasm for science and research to be transferred from one mentoring group to the next; that is, from HHMI professor to other faculty and secondary school teachers to graduate students to undergraduates to high school students.
The program accepts undergraduate students who are majoring in a STEM discipline and who have first or second year grade point averages (GPAs) ranging between 2.5 and 3.0. These students entered college with high school records indicating their capability of maintaining high academic standards. The students attend regular meetings with their faculty and graduate student mentors. Additionally, students are paired in mentoring groups with other undergraduates based on area of interest and other characteristics. These preassigned peer mentoring groups meet to discuss the students' individual development plans, which are designed to set personal goals and create assignments appropriate to the students' particular situations.
The students take a four-course series—Success in Education, Mentoring, and Research. The courses, which are taught in collaboration with LSU's Center for Academic Success, focus on individual needs and goals. The series uses Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Objectives to show students and faculty the different levels of learning expected. An online Blackboard supplement provides students with flexible access to course information, discussion forums, summer research information, and other resources. As students progress through the courses, they shift their focus. In the first course, they gain an understanding of new learning strategies and basic research skills. In the second course, the undergraduates begin a service learning project, such as mentoring high school students. In the third course, the students begin conducting research and mentoring new undergraduates in the program. In the fourth and final course, students take on leadership roles as mentors and researchers, share their experiences through research presentations, and focus on preparation for graduate school.
Students who improve their GPAs to 3.5 or higher can enter the Louisiana (LA)-STEM research scholars program, for students who are committed to pursuing a Ph.D. in a STEM field. If the students' GPAs decrease below the minimum requirement for continued participation in LA-STEM, they can return to the LSU-HHMI Professors Program. The two programs have become sister programs, combining their activities through the Success courses and an intensive two-day selection weekend for program applicants. The two programs also collaborate on a summer bridge initiative that helps incoming freshmen adjust to the university and gives them the tools they need to succeed in college. Senior LSU-HHMI Professors program undergraduates serve as mentors for the new students. During the first three years of the program, 55 undergraduates participated. We are conducting an ongoing evaluation to follow the students' GPAs, retention in STEM majors, and pursuit of a Ph.D. in STEM fields.
Another initiative involves working with high school teachers and students through the ACT/GEE Academy, in which high school students learn strategies to increase their likelihood for success on the ACT and GEE exams. Students attending the academy are mentored and tutored by our LSU-HHMI Professors Program undergraduates.
Project Update (2006 grant)
We will continue to refine the mentoring ladder model and develop teaching strategies that maximize the information that students learn and retain early in their science education. The focus will continue to be on students who are not performing at the level of their abilities. We will track the graduation rates of the 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2006 freshman cohorts, with particular attention to African American students graduating in STEM subjects.
We anticipate a steady state of 20 LSU undergraduates participating at any given time. We also will expand the program to include 10 community college students and 20 high school students, who will be mentored by the undergraduates in the program. The community college and high school students, in turn, will be encouraged to mentor their peers. The undergraduate mentors will also conduct sessions on mentoring, education, and research at HHMI Saturday Success Academy workshops for high school teachers and students. In addition, each graduate student, undergraduate, and high school student in the program will be required to provide one-on-one mentoring, as well as tutorial services in STEM subjects. The summer bridge program will be expanded to enable community college students to attend, either with the undergraduates or at their own campuses. A summer bridge program will be held for eighth graders matriculating to high school. The community college students will have academic-year research experiences, and the high school students will have a chance to conduct research during the summer bridge program.
RESEARCH SUMMARY
My research has focused on two distinctly different areas of analytical chemistry: molecular spectroscopy and separation science. My early work involved the development of novel instrumentation for rapid acquisition of fluorescence measurements as well as the development of novel algorithms for processing and interpreting these data. My research has led to many applications of fluorescence in analytical measurements. Several commercially available fluorescence instruments from leading manufacturers now use many of my earlier studies as patterns for hardware and software development.
The current research emphasis of my research group is the development and application of improved methodology (chemical, mathematical, and instrumental) for studies of complex chemical systems. My research interests include fluorescence spectroscopy, guest/host interactions, studies in organized media, spectroscopic applications of multichannel detectors, chromatography, environmental analyses, and mathematical analyses and interpretation of chemical data by using chemometrics (chemical data analysis techniques).
Last updated March 2007
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