TEACHING SCIENCE BY ENGAGING STUDENTS IN DUNE RESEARCH: THE FIRST-YEAR RESEARCH IN EARTH SCIENCES (FYRES) PROJECT

Although undergraduate research experiences are often targeted at upper-level students in a discipline, a new project at Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI) explores what first-semester college students can learn from immersion in authentic dune research. Students who take the First-Year Research in Earth Sciences (FYRES): Dunes course gain both an undergraduate research experience and core curriculum science credit by the end of their first college semester. A research focus on the nearby Lake Michigan coastal dunes provides the setting, purpose and motivation for student learning. Peer-mentoring by upper-level geoscience majors facilitates the first-year student experience.

Students begin by learning skills in research, field methods, and the practice of science through guided inquiry experiences that start at dune sites. Students finish the semester with a substantive team research project focused on an original research question of interest to local dune managers or the scientific community. Central to the FYRES course is the weekly 5-hour lab period which creates a block of research time that can be used for travel to dune sites and data collection or for deep, on-campus engagement in research design, data analysis or scientific communication. In addition, three regular class periods each week engage students with knowledge about dunes, science and the practices of research. By the end of the fall semester, each research team presents their research results in two formats: a conference-style research poster presented at a campus poster session and a conference-style oral presentation to an audience which includes classmates, dune managers and other faculty and students.

Thirteen first-year students participated in the initial FYRES course offered in Fall 2011, including science and non-science majors. Assessment of the program’s effectiveness through interviews and pre-/post- tests shows that the first-year students found the research-based course design to be inviting, and they report a number of benefits. A striking result is that both the science and non-science majors expressed equal appreciation for the inquiry-oriented approach. The course demonstrates the potential of Earth science research experiences to help undergraduate students learn about science.