skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Building capacity for undergraduate education and training in computational molecular science: A collaboration between the MERCURY consortium and the Molecular Sciences Software Institute
Abstract The Molecular Sciences Software Institute (MolSSI) is an National Science Foundation (NSF) funded institute that focuses on improving software, education, and training in the computational molecular sciences. Through a collaboration with the Molecular Education and Research Consortium in Undergraduate computational chemistRY (MERCURY), the MolSSI has developed resources for undergraduate and other early career students to lay an educational foundation for the next generation of computational molecular scientists. The resources focus on introducing best practices in software engineering to students from the very start to make their software more useable, maintainable, and reproducible.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2018427
PAR ID:
10456151
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
International Journal of Quantum Chemistry
Volume:
120
Issue:
20
ISSN:
0020-7608
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Maloy, Stanley (Ed.)
    ABSTRACT In undergraduate life sciences education, open educational resources (OERs) increase accessibility and retention for students, reduce costs, and save instructors time and effort. Despite increasing awareness and utilization of these resources, OERs are not centrally located, and many undergraduate instructors describe challenges in locating relevant materials for use in their classes. To address this challenge, we have designed a resource collection (referred to as Open Resources for Biology Education, ORBE) with 89 unique resources that are primarily relevant to undergraduate life sciences education. To identify the resources in ORBE, we asked undergraduate life sciences instructors to list what OERs they use in their teaching and curated their responses. Here, we summarize the contents of the ORBE and describe how educators can use this resource as a tool to identify suitable materials to use in their classroom context. By highlighting the breadth of unique resources openly available for undergraduate biology education, we intend for the ORBE to increase instructors’ awareness and use of OERs. 
    more » « less
  2. The Multiple Institution Database for Investigating Engineering Longitudinal Development (MIDFIELD) has been developed over many years with substantial investment by the National Science Foundation through Engineering Education and Centers in the Engineering Directorate and the Division of Undergraduate Education in the Education and Human Resources Directorate. This project is focused on transitioning MIDFIELD to the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). The current team of MIDFIELD researchers continues to support this project including helping others learn to use the database. We have developed detailed tutorials in R that introduce MIDFIELD, key metrics, and example scenarios. We have also designed and facilitated workshops. In year 2, we offered the MIDFIELD Institute, an online three-day workshop to help researchers learn about and use MIDFIELD effectively. Attendees included graduate students, early career faculty, senior faculty, and an NSF program officer. Results from the 2023 offering of the MIDFIELD Institute are described in this paper. Dissemination and products are also summarized. 
    more » « less
  3. Neuroscientists are increasingly relying on parallel and distributed computing resources for analysis and visualization of their neuron simulations. This requires expert knowledge of programming and cyberinfrastructure configuration, which is beyond the repertoire of most neuroscience programs. This paper presents early experiences from a one-credit graduate research training course titled ECE 8001 “Software and Cyber Automation in Neuroscience” at the University of Missouri for engendering multi-disciplinary collaborations between computational neuroscience and cyberinfrastructure students and faculty. Specifically, we discuss the course organization and exemplar outcomes involving a next-generation science gateway for training novice users on exemplar neuroscience use cases that involve using tools such as NEURON and MATLAB on local as well as Neuroscience Gateway resources. We also discuss our vision towards a course sequence curriculum for graduate/undergraduate students from biological/psychological sciences and computer science/engineering to jointly build “self- service” training modules using Jupyter Notebook platforms. Thus, our efforts show how we can create scalable and sustainable cyber and software automation for fulfilling a broad set of neuroscience research and education use cases. 
    more » « less
  4. Abstract Conducting ecological research in a way that addresses complex, real‐world problems requires a diverse, interdisciplinary and quantitatively trained ecology and environmental science workforce. This begins with equitably training students in ecology, interdisciplinary science, and quantitative skills at the undergraduate level. Understanding the current undergraduate curriculum landscape in ecology and environmental sciences allows for targeted interventions to improve equitable educational opportunities. Ecological forecasting is a sub‐discipline of ecology with roots in interdisciplinary and quantitative science. We use ecological forecasting to show how ecology and environmental science undergraduate curriculum could be evaluated and ultimately restructured to address the needs of the 21stcentury workforce. To characterize the current state of ecological forecasting education, we compiled existing resources for teaching and learning ecological forecasting at three curriculum levels: online resources; US university courses on ecological forecasting; and US university courses on topics related to ecological forecasting. We found persistent patterns (1) in what topics are taught to US undergraduate students at each of the curriculum levels; and (2) in the accessibility of resources, in terms of course availability at higher education institutions in the United States. We developed and implemented programs to increase the accessibility and comprehensiveness of ecological forecasting undergraduate education, including initiatives to engage specifically with Native American undergraduates and online resources for learning quantitative concepts at the undergraduate level. Such steps enhance the capacity of ecological forecasting to be more inclusive to undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds and expose more students to quantitative training. 
    more » « less
  5. At San Francisco State University, a Hispanic Serving Institute and a Primarily Undergraduate Institution, 67% of engineering students are from ethnic minority groups, with only 27% of Hispanic students retained and graduated in their senior year. Additionally, only 14% of students reported full-time employment secured at the time of graduation. Of these secured jobs, only 54% were full-time positions (40+ hours a week). To improve the situation, San Francisco State University, in collaboration with two local community colleges, Skyline and Cañada Colleges, was recently funded by the National Science Foundation through a Hispanic Serving Institute Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Strengthening Student Motivation and Resilience through Research and Advising program to enhance undergraduate engineering education and build capacity for student success. This project will use a data-driven and evidence-based approach to identify the barriers to the success of underrepresented minority students and to generate new knowledge on the best practices for increasing students’ retention and graduation rates, self- efficacy, professional development, and workforce preparedness. Three objectives underpin this overall goal. The first is to develop and implement a Summer Research Internship Program together with community college partners. The second is to establish an HSI Engineering Success Center to provide students with academic resources, networking opportunities with industry, and career development tools. The third is to develop resources for the professional development of faculty members, including Summer Faculty Teaching Workshops, an Inclusive Teaching and Mentoring Seminar Series, and an Engineering Faculty Learning Community. Qualitative and quantitative approaches are used to assess the project outcomes using a survey instrument and interview protocols developed by an external evaluator. This paper discusses an overview of the project and its first-year implementation. The focus is placed on the introduction and implementation of the several main project components, namely the Engineering Success Center, Summer Research Internship Program, and Faculty Summer Teaching Workshop. The preliminary evaluation results, demonstrating the great success of these strategies, are also discussed. 
    more » « less