Stillman, UA Students Join to Learn ‘Language of Research’

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Most students do not get the opportunity to gain insight simultaneously from three faculty members representing different campuses, but for a new class of University of Alabama and Stillman College students, it is an every class occurrence.

Nineteen UA students and six Stillman College students are enrolled in The Language of Research, a new biology class, taught by Dr. Kim Caldwell, an adjunct professor of biological sciences at UA. The class, made possible by the 2002 Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Undergraduate Science Education Program Grant and held for the first time this semester, alternates meeting on the UA and Stillman campuses.

“It enables students to better develop a broad understanding of how research is done and to arrive at that understanding earlier in their academic careers,” said Caldwell of the new class. This helps prepare the competitively selected students to participate in UA’s undergraduate research program in biological sciences, which is also made possible by the Howard Hughes grant, she said.

Dr. Ruth Washington from Stillman and Dr. Karen Rose from Shelton State Community College, participate in the class.

Since UA’s Hughes-funded undergraduate research program began following a 1998 grant, more than 40 students from UA and Stillman have participated. In that program, students conduct independent research during their junior and senior years. The program, now available to sophomores at Shelton State who plan to transfer to UA or Stillman, awards students research stipends as well as funds to support their travel to regional or national conferences to present their work.

A key element in the Language of Research class is assigning students with mentors, comprised of faculty from UA and Stillman. Interacting with the mentors on a regular basis, including a lengthy interview of the scientists, provides students with the look at the “nitty-gritty” of scientific research, Caldwell said.

“Focusing on the end result of a successful scientific project is common, but gaining an understanding of the trial and error involved, of all the pitfalls along the way, that’s a truer picture of what scientific research is like,” Caldwell said.

The 2002 grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute awarded UA $1.8 million to continue strengthening undergraduate education in biological sciences. UA was selected for this 4-year grant, along with 43 other institutions, from among 189 institutions that submitted proposals.

UA is using the funds to redesign some of its teaching and research laboratories and restructure portions of the biological sciences curriculum; expand its undergraduate research program; broaden the interdisciplinary experiments available to rural high school students and teachers at their sites; expand its popular Rural Science Scholars Summer Program, which brings high school students to campus to learn more about science and its career opportunities; and develop interactive Web-based technologies for use in integrated science programs for middle schools.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a medical research organization whose principal mission is biomedical research. It employs 336 Hughes investigators who conduct basic medical research in HHMI laboratories at 70 medical centers and universities nationwide. Through its complementary grants program, the Institute supports science education in the United States and a select group of biomedical scientists abroad.