SCIENCE ALLIANCE GRANTS

MCCD Faculty Teams:
EMCC-Rachel Smith
PC-Philip Pepe & Elena Ortiz-Barney & Tice Supplee
SCC-Roy Barnes
SMCC-Marshall Logvin

Plans and Procedures:
Monthly Forums will be held at MCCD campuses or selected field sites on a rotating basis. Each will be dedicated to the achievement of one or more of our objectives. Campus teams will prepare for and participate in each forum.

Forum 1, August 06: Each campus team will present their desired educational and monitoring outcomes. Partners will discuss and critique their feasibility. Campus teams will modify and solidify their plans for implementing desired outcomes.
Forum 2, September 06: Each campus team will report on the suitability of nearby, monitoring sites for long-term, student, research projects. Partners will critique the proposals’ usefulness to the conservation community. Campus teams will make final site selections by choosing a total of three sites that we all will use.
Forum 3, October 06: Each campus team will present information about an environmental education funding source and plans for applying for funds in support of our learning community. Partners will describe how they can support each application.
Forum 4, November 06: Each campus team will present an active learning lesson and field trip protocol for meeting their desired educational and monitoring outcomes. Partners will discuss and critique their feasibility. Campus teams will modify and solidify their plans for implementing their lesson. Partners will work selected lessons into their course syllabi for Spring 07 classes.
Forum 5, January 07: The meeting will be held at a Central Phoenix field site. The campus teams bringing students to this site will provide a site familiarization tour and demonstration of an active learning lesson being implemented at the site. Partners will discuss and provide input into it’s usefulness to the conservation community.
Forum 6, February 07: The meeting will be held at a West Valley field site. The campus teams bringing students to this site will provide a site familiarization tour and demonstration of an active learning lesson being implemented at the site. Partners will discuss and provide input into it’s usefulness to the conservation community.
Forum 7, March 07: The meeting will be held at an East Valley field site. The campus teams bringing students to this site will provide a site familiarization tour and demonstration of an active learning lesson being implemented at the site. Partners will discuss and provide input into it’s usefulness to the conservation community.
Forum 8, April 07: A student forum will be held at Phoenix College for all participating students to present their various findings. Partners will provide input into necessary modifications to foster long term success and encourage future participation in the Alliance.

Explain how the proposal directly supports and is aligned with the college's strategic priorities, goals, and initiatives. Include specific references to the college priorities/goals/initiatives which it supports.

The Science Alliance will enhance our learning environment and delivery options. It will enhance the development of alternative learning environments on or off campuses. It will promote the use of off-site facilities for course delivery by adding active learning activities to be performed both indoors and outdoors. The Alliance will enhance collaboration and increase our ability to partner with institutions outside our district by allowing our students to take an important step into real-world situations. It will contribute to improvements in enrollment and retention by providing students with exiting new learning opportunities.

The proposed project will benefit the Maricopa Community College District (MCCD) in ways that are beyond the scope of individual biology courses. The development of an interactive relationship between MCCD Colleges, Institute for Sustainability of AZ State University, Flood Control District of Maricopa County, AZ Game and Fish, and AZ Audubon.will promote a new partnership in public education and increase our efforts in community outreach. The allied institutions will benefit from a dialog about the overlapping aspects of our missions. Using the Salt River as a tool to link the various partners will not only advance the dialog but will bring the community at large into the discussion.

Explain how the proposal enhances, enriches, and advances student learning. Clearly articulate the relationship to student learning.

The Science Alliance will provide current environmental science experiences directly to students in a variety of biology classes. The active learning materials developed by the Alliance will be taken to and used at off-campus locations for hands-on learning experiences. It will provide biology students with applications in lecture, laboratory, and field. The experiences will include hypothesis generation and testing, data collection and analysis, and written and oral presentations.

The Alliance will advance teaching and learning pedagogies in ways that are not supported by instructors working alone. Instructors will advance their knowledge of riparian habitats, restoration ecology, and the activities of governmental and environmental organizations. Students will have ready access to information, instructions, and computational aides during active learning exercises in lab and field settings. Alliance materials will be put to immediate use in Bio105, Environmental Biology, Bio 109, Natural History of the Southwest, and Bio182, Biology for Majors II, classes on five MCCD campuses (impacting hundreds of students per year, multiple times each semester throughout the year). The success of these courses depends heavily upon the knowledge of their instructors and the use of local educational resources.

Explain how the proposal has potential for improving student learning and enhancing best practices within the discipline(s) involved.

The Science Alliance will encourage and broaden the student learning experience by supporting innovative instructional delivery methods. It will help ensure relevancy in bioscience education by reflecting current practices and technology used by industry and research in environmental areas.

The Science Alliance will promote current bioscience education and will help strengthen our relationships with governmental and environmental organizations in the community. It will help promote community partnerships and service learning with governmental and environmental organizations to assist students in developing skills to apply in the work force.

The project will benefit Valley Cities, Maricopa County, and AZ State institutions and the Audubon Society. Salt River parks and restoration sites will be visited by many people from all over the city and the country. They contain restored natural resources that provide many opportunities for educational activities. Use of the Salt River sites will be much enhanced by the addition of some exciting, educational pieces donated through the efforts of educational institutions like MCCD. This will increase public interest in all of the allied institutions.

The project will also benefit the regional environment. The Valley Cities have succeeded in restoring prime examples of endangered natural habitats. They are now expanding there work along the Salt River Corridor and beyond its banks into the surrounding human community. This will enable the Valley Cities to connect, learn from, and share with other land owners, land managers, local residents, and scientists to bring back productive, ecologically healthy natural systems in the heart of the Valley. Education is an important tool in this new approach to land utilization and the proposed project would serve in this effort.

We will provide students with an additional pathway to the bio-workplace by updating student environmental biosciences skills in both lower and upper division courses. This significant pathway has been developing in the public and private sectors in Phoenix with major investments in infrastructure. Environmental biosciences is a key area of workforce development and is projected by the U.S. Department of Labor to add substantial numbers of new jobs to the economy and affect the growth of other industries. It is our intention to introduce our students to technology and environmental bioscience skills relevant to these emerging industries at a formative level giving them an advantage in the bio-workplace.

Finally, we are establishing internship programs for students to work in bioscience institutions in Arizona. We are arranging for environmental bioscience student placement with AZ Audubon, Phoenix Zoo, Phoenix Botanical Garden, Boyce-Thompson Arboretum, City of Phoenix, AZ Game and Fish, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other State and Federal government agencies. We also hope to establish an internship opportunity with the Institute for Sustainability, Central Arizona Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research at ASU. Our goal is to develop a long-term sustainable training program that will adapt quickly to the needs of a dynamic bioscience workplace in Arizona.

Cooperation across the state is imperative for current biology education, and the universities in Arizona are actively pursuing updating the laboratory and field educational experience for their students. We have begun working with the Institute for Sustainability, Central Arizona Phoenix-Long Term Ecological Research (CAP-LTER) at ASU, and we will continue to work with the universities to the greatest extent possible to collaborate on biology laboratory and field educational initiatives.

Explain the plan to evaluate the success of the project and to measure the benefits to the students.

A process of measuring success is built into the program. Each forum has a tangible outcome. The program will be a success if each of the campus teams creates a set of educational and monitoring outcomes, explores and selects a study site, developments a funding application, produces and implements an active learning lesson and field trip protocol, participates in the student forum, and commits to continuing the program in the future.

Participating faculty will also evaluate the contributions of the program toward student learning. Faculty teams will be asked to describe how the student research projects contributed to their own courses and to individual students.

Explain the plans to communicate the results of the project to other professionals (internally and externally).

A process of communicating the results has been built into the program. Each forum serves as a platform for MCCD faculty from five different campuses to share in professional development. They include learning community members from outside the District and outside academia. All partners will be encouraged to present their varying points of view and contribute to the overall outcome. These partners will communicate with others in their respective institutions.

Participating faculty will also tell others about the program. Faculty teams will be asked to describe their experiences to other members of their departments. In addition, Phoenix College will host a web-site where forum minutes and other informative documents and links will be posted.

Part 4: Plan for Implementation

Timelines
Activities (What/Where) Start/End Dates (When) Responsibility (Who)
1. Forum 1: Educational and Monitoring Outcomes August 06 All Participants
2. Forum 2: Site Selections September 06 All Participants
3. Forum 3: Funding Applications October 06 All Participants
4. Forum 4: Active Learning Lessons November 06 All Participants
5. Forum 5: Central Site Familiarization Tour and Demonstration January 07 All Participants
6. Forum 6: West Site Familiarization Tour and Demonstration February 07 All Participants
7. Forum 7: East Site Familiarization Tour and Demonstration March 07 All Participants
8. Forum 8: Student Forum April 07 All Participants


Explain the roles and/or responsibilities of all participants.
Campus teams will prepare for and participate in each forum.

Part 5: Amount Requested with Specific Breakdown of Budget
Personnel Breakdown
Object Code Description Amount
51114 Residential - Extended Contract: Rachel Smith
31 hrs @ $24.95/hr + $139.22 statutory benefits 912.67
51114 Residential - Extended Contract: Elena Ortiz-Barney
31 hrs @ $24.95/hr + $139.22 statutory benefits 912.67
51310 Part-Time Wages: Tice Supplee
31 hrs @ $24.95/hr + $139.22 statutory benefits 912.67
51114 Residential - Extended Contract: Marshall Logvin
31 hrs @ $24.95/hr + $139.22 statutory benefits 912.67
51114 Residential - Extended Contract: Phil Pepe
34 hrs @ $24.95/hr + $152.69 statutory benefits 1,000.99
51114 Residential - Extended Contract: Roy Barnes
31 hrs @ $24.95/hr + $139.22 statutory benefits 912.67
Personnel Subtotal $5,564.35

Operational Breakdown
Object Code Description Amount
No operational expenses
Operational Subtotal $0.00
Personnel and Operational Grand Total $5,564.35

Part 6: Funding Questions
Are you willing to accept partial funding?
Yes. We would conduct fewer Forums if given partial funding and drop corresponding objectives.

Are you expecting to receive additional funds for this project?
No. We are asking colleges that are hosting Forums to provide facilities.

Does your college administration intend to continue to support this project after the Learning Grant is completed?
Yes. We will continue the learning community partnership established by this project.