AFACCT 2023 Conference presentation

1. Creating and Accomplishing a Virtual Three-Credit
Lab-Oriented Honors Independent Study Course
Debbie Ellis, Liz Gildersleeve, Gabrielle A. Trobare, and Alan Whelan
Science Department, Frederick Community College, Frederick, MD
Acknowledgements
Dr. Bruce Thompson, FCC
Director, FCC’s Honor Program
Dr. Christopher Stromberg, Hood College
Dr. Perry Wood and Dr Christine Chin Choy, FCC
Description
Honors STEM majors at Frederick Community College (FCC)
are frequently interested in gaining independent lab
experience, and/or working with new technology. During
Spring 2021, the authors of this poster (two faculty, two
students) created an Honors-level independent project that
provided the students with the opportunity to
1) virtually explore the technology used in their areas of
interest; and
2) expand their knowledge of instrumentation used across
STEM fields.
We will share how chemistry faculty directed the completion of
Honors research projects by Honors students interested in
STEM fields outside of chemistry, how novel formats were
used to present material virtually, and how both students and
faculty rose to the challenge of creating a way to make these
independent projects happen, the challenges met and
overcome along the way, and the resulting benefits to all.
Figure 4:
Diagram
summarizing
formation
of the
Milk Way .
(image to
Left)
Gabrielle: Formation of the Milky Way
Figure 8: ROV gathering corals
Gabrielle’s Project Goals:
• Learn technologies applied in a variety of sciences in order
to build knowledge, confidence and experience.
• Increase literature research and analysis skills
• Create and present two astronomy-oriented PowerPoints
Alan’s Goals Going In:
• Learn more about robotics in deep-sea exploration and
sampling
• Gain in-depth experience in literature research and
presentation creation
• Become more familiar with research instrumentation during a
period of remote labs.
Gabrielle A. Trobare
Alan Whelan (in the back)
Gabrielle: Adaptive Optics
Communication: Employ academic presentation techniques Honors Forum and Presentations 1 & 2
Source:
National
Astronomical
Observatory
of Japan
Figure 1:
Creation of a
laser guide
star, utilizing
the sodium
vapor layer
of the
atmosphere.
(image to left)
FCC Honors Learning Outcomes Learning Activities/Deliverables
Critical Thinking: Frame an Academic Question and Proposal Honors Project Proposal
Communication: Demonstrate academic writing Honors Project Abstract
Critical Thinking: Synthesize complex information Presentations 1 & 2
appropriate to the discipline and project Participation in Group Discussions on Technologies
Critical Thinking: Identify major issues, debates, approaches, PowerPoint Presentation at Honors Spring 2021 Forum
and concepts appropriate to the topic, discipline, and project Literature Searches developing Presentations 1 & 2 and
Academic Inquiry: Review and evaluate primary and secondary Honors Presentation
materials to produce an original work
Academic Inquiry: Generate findings and documentation
appropriate to the discipline and project
Communication: Demonstrate effective oral communication in Participation in Group Discussions on Technologies
scenarios resembling research group meetings
Figure 2: The effect of
adaptive optics
technology on
telescope star imaging.
(image to the right)
Figure 3: Diagram of
adaptive optics
instrumentation
(image below)
Alan: History of ROVs
Figure 5: infographic depicting
structural features of a ROV;
(image above)
Figure 6: “Slurp gun”: sampling
Tool; (image to right)
Alan: Undersea Robotics
Figure 7: Super Scorpio ROV
• Successfully completed Honors research lab project,
“Detecting Dibenzalacetone (DBA)”.
• Pursued new-found love of astronomy by using my
position as president to establish a new STEM Club
tradition of hosting a telescope viewing each month.
Detecting DBA
Gabrielle: After the Honors Course
By Emeldir (talk) - Own work, Public
Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/
w/index.php?curid=31474853
Alan: Benefits Gained from the Honors Course
• Enhanced my presentation goals
• Focused the undersea research field I am interested in.
Now supplementing my biology degree with a study of
robotics
• Encouraged to explore internships and other
opportunities that will provide hands-on experience with
undersea research
• Course interactions led to an interest in community
colleges. I am now serving as President of FCC’s
Student Government Association and Vice Chair of
MHEC’s Student Advisory Committee
Technologies and Topics Covered
“Energy Alternatives” and “3-D Printing”, both
presented by Dr. Stromberg, Hood College, via Zoom
Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy
Mass Spectrometry
Infrared Spectroscopy - included
opportunity to use Bruker Alpha
FT-IR on FCC campus during
pandemic, led by Professor
Gildersleeve.
All weekly FCC group discussions
were carried out on Blackboard
Collaborate, using scheduled
meeting and screen sharing
https://www.ucolick.org/~max/History_AO_Max.htm
https://www.ucolick.org/~max/History_AO_Max.htm
Bruker Alpha FT-IR, labx.com
https://nautiluslive.org/blog/2020/09/15/underwater-robot-resources-all-ages
Illustration by Karen Romano Young
https://www.naoj.org/old/Pressrelease/2005/07/06/index.html
https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/~george/ay20/Chiappini-MilkyWay.pdf
https://www.geomar.de/en/centre/central-facilities/tlz/
rovkiel6000/specifications-logistics/sampling/rov-tools
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Navy_040426-
N-7949W-007_Deep_Submergence_Unit_(DSU)_
Unmanned_Vehicle_Detachment_(UMA_Det)_
personnel_guide_the_Super_Scorpio_remote_o
perated_vehicle_(ROV)_to_a_safe_recovery.jpg https://www.sciencefriday.com/educational-resources/rovs-swiss-army-knife-ocean/