Assessing Science Inquiry and Leadership Skills (AScILS)

An NIH-Funded Study to Support Biomedical Research Career Development

At the University of California, Santa Cruz and other campuses around the world, enrichment programs aim to help students, particularly underrepresented minority students and women, succeed in biomedical research education and careers. Research suggests that these programs are successful, but we do not yet know the specific features that have the greatest effect. The goal of the four-year AScILS project is to understand how program activities such as involvement in faculty research and mentoring affect students’ self-confidence and skills in research and science teamwork, their self-definition as scientists, and their commitment to and success in the sciences.

The research questions include:

1.  How do program activities, particularly research participation and mentoring, influence: (a) students' skills in science inquiry and teamwork; (b) their beliefs in these abilities; and (c) their stage-appropriate career outcomes?

2.  Are these influences similar for minority and non-minority students?

In addition to the scientific contribution of this study, assessment tools and simulations will be useful for relevant programs. They can be embedded as learning objects in the program activities themselves, serving both to evaluate education needs and to develop skills. The research will inform program designers as they consider the length of research experience, complementary activities, and new models for building research into broader educational settings.

Download the AScILS Project Description (PDF)

Download a recent presentation: M. Chemers (2006, November), Understanding undergraduate and high school science support programs: A theory-driven, interdisciplinary, multi-method approach. Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the American Evaluation Association, Portland, Oregon.

Download the AScILS presentation to the COSMOS Advisory Board, July 2008 (PDF)

For more information, contact:
Barbara Goza, Project Coordinator
(831) 459-5677
bkgoza@ucsc.edu