DISCOVERY-BASED LEARNING: A BRIDGE BETWEEN RESEARCH AND TEACHING

摘要

Despite a chorus of voices from our nation's academies that have consistently called for new methods to better prepare students for the future, universities continue to educate students in a "pipeline model": a linear approach to learning where students are taught didactically in classrooms and may engage in highly focused research in relative isolation, often setting teaching and research at odds. The modern discovery and business milieu requires new skillsets of teamwork, communication, project planning and management. Preparing students for the complex realities of this environment requires rethinking the educational model. Solving the most complex, vexing grand challenge, problems requires that education and research can no longer exist in separate academic spheres. To this end, we have established discovery-based-learning in multi-disciplinary teams (DBL) to include both faculty mentors across several departments and colleges and a proven innovative process that combines multi-disciplinary research, effective education, inclusion, and economic development. In the DBL model, students take control of their learning as they form multidisciplinary teams to pursue complex, authentic research questions embedded in a didactic environment. The overarching goals of DBL are to mimic the modern real world research ecosystem through immersive, multidisciplinary, discovery-based learning, foster an appropriate mindset, and produce stem graduates capable of effective innovation regardless of their chosen career path. After two years of implementation, the metrics of DBL are clear -- multiple research awards, conference papers/posters, grants, and publications have been achieved by both students and mentors.