Louise Hainline - US grants

Oculomotor control systems have been extensively studied in adult humans and various animal species, but very little information exists on how these systems develop in young humans. It is important to establish the normal course of development of these behaviors during infancy, since many visual problems include oculomotor components which may be detectable at early ages. The long term objective of this project is to map the development of the conjugate oculomotor systems (optokinetic nystagmus and afternystagmus, smooth pursuit, saccades and fixational control) in normal human infants in the first year of life. Because oculomotor behaviors are sensitive to the state of arousal of the organism, the influence of infant behavioral state on these behaviors will be examined. The research described will provide a quantitative analysis of the oculomotor systems mentioned above by recording eye movements with a non-invasive infra-red corneal reflection eye movement monitor. For maximum precision such devices require individual calibration, which can be difficult with infant subjects; one aim of the research is to explore means for improving accuracy in recording infant eye movements, in part by improving methods for calibration. Data from infant subjects can then be readily compared with information available on these behaviors in adults and in other species. The specific studies will explore the effects of factors such as monocular vs. binocular viewing conditions, direction and velocity of stimulus movement, size of stimulus, position of stimulus in the visual field, and the context in which the stimulus is embedded on various parameters of the different classes of eye movements.

Oculomotor control systems have been extensively studied in adult humans and various animal species, but very little information exists on how these systems develop in young humans. It is important to establish the normal course of development of these behaviors during infancy, since many visual problems include oculomotor components which may be detectable at early ages. The long term objective of this project is to map the development of the conjugate oculomotor systems (optokinetic nystagmus and afternystagmus, smooth pursuit, saccades and fixational control) in normal human infants in the first year of life. Because oculomotor behaviors are sensitive to the state of arousal of the organism, the influence of infant behavioral state on these behaviors will be examined. The research described will provide a quantitative analysis of the oculomotor systems mentioned above by recording eye movements with a non-invasive infra-red corneal reflection eye movement monitor. For maximum precision such devices require individual calibration, which can be difficult with infant subjects; one aim of the research is to explore means for improving accuracy in recording infant eye movements, in part by improving methods for calibration. Data from infant subjects can then be readily compared with information available on these behaviors in adults and in other species. The specific studies will explore the effects of factors such as monocular vs. binocular viewing conditions, direction and velocity of stimulus movement, size of stimulus, position of stimulus in the visual field, and the context in which the stimulus is embedded on various parameters of the different classes of eye movements.

When a person looks at a visual stimulus, all the information in the scene is not taken in in one glance. Rather, the person scans the visual scene in a series of "snapshots" (individual pauses or fixations of the eye), while sequentially collecting the information from which the brain constructs a unified experience of the world. How this scanning takes place depends, to some extent, on what the person already knows, and how sophisticated the person is cognitively. But how does a baby, whose visual system is immature and who has neither extensive experience in the world nor highly developed mental abilities, scan the world? Can the way in which babies look at visual stimuli be used as a way to understand their mental processes? This research will explore the relationship between visual scanning and information processing during infancy. Babies will be shown one pattern repeatedly, until their interest in this stimulus wanes (a process called "habituation"). Each baby's pattern of scanning eye movements and fixations during the habituation process will be recorded using specialized television equipment. The baby will then be shown a new pattern, different from the first. Usually, if the new pattern is distinctive enough, the baby's attention to the new stimulus increases again, in a process termed "dishabituation". This research will examine the details of visual scanning during habituation and dishabituation to see whether differences in scanning across phases of the experiment reveal the expectations that the babies have developed about what they are looking at. The results of the research will contribute to our knowledge of how babies learn about the world around them.

This award provides funds to The Infant Study Center and Visual Research Lab in the Psychology Department at Brooklyn College to establish an REU-Site which will offer students a research experience which focuses on areas in Experimental and Developmental Psychology, and related areas in the Neurosciences. Together with a colleague from Medgar-Evers College of CUNY, mentors will provide training on many aspects of the visual system. The training program includes laboratory seminars, an active role in a specific research "team", and public presentations of results. The research areas are all heavily computerized and instrumented: (i) Development of infants' abilities to focus their eyes on objects around them (i.e., mechanisms of accommodation and convergence); methods will include quantitative photorefraction. (ii) Brain mechanisms associated with vision. Visual evoked potentials will be recorded to examine the maturation of physiological systems, especially those involving the lateral interactions that are so important for object recognition. (iii) Color vision, particularly the use of scaling techniques to specify color appearance under a variety of viewing conditions, such as changes in retinal positions; results will be related to known variations in anatomy and physiology across the retina.

This award provides funds to The Infant Study Center and Visual Research Lab in the Psychology Department at Brooklyn College to continue a successful REU-SITE which offers students a research experience which focuses on many aspects of the visual system. Together with a colleague from Medgar-Evers College of CUNY, mentors will constitute a REU-Site aimed at students who might be persuaded by their research experience to continue to the doctorate in Experimental and Developmental Psychology, and related areas in the Neurosciences. Both institutions have many women and minority students as well as special programs to attract and guide such students; heavy emphasis will be placed on recruiting among them. The training program includes laboratory seminars, an active role in a specific research "team", and public presentations of results. The research areas are all heavily computerized and instrumented: (i) Development of infants' abilities to focus their eyes on objects around them (i.e., mechanisms of accommodation and convergence); methods will include quantitative photorefraction. (ii) Brain mechanisms associated with vision. Visual evoked potentials will be recorded to examine the maturation of physiological systems, especially those involving the lateral interactions that are so important for object recognition. (iii) Color vision, particularly the use of scaling techniques to specify color appearance under a variety of viewing conditions, such as changes in retinal position; results will be related to known variations in anatomy and physiology across the retina.

This award provides funds to The Infant Study Center and Visual Research Lab in the Psychology Department at Brooklyn College to continue a successful REU-Site which offers students a research experience which focuses on many aspects of the visual system. Together with a colleague from Medgar-Evers College of CUNY, mentors will constitute a REU-Site aimed at students who might be persuaded by their research experience to continue to the doctorate in Experimental and Developmental Psychology, and related areas in the Neurosciences. Both institutions have many women and minority students as well as special programs to attract and guide such students; heavy emphasis will be placed on recruiting among them. The training program includes laboratory seminars, an active role in a specific research "team", and public presentations of results. The research areas, which are all heavily computerized and instrumented, include: (1) Development of infants' abilities to focus their eyes on objects around them (i.e., mechanisms of accommodation and convergence); methods will include quantitative photorefraction. (2) Brain mechanisms associated with vision. Visual evoked potentials will be recorded to examine the maturation of physiological systems, especially those involving the lateral interactions that are so important for object recognition. (3) Color vision, particularly the use of scaling techniques to specify color appearance under a variety of viewing conditions, such as changes in retinal position; results will be related to known variations in anatomy and physiology across the retina. This award contributes to the Foundation's continuing efforts to attract talented students into careers in science through active undergraduate research experiences.

For effective human vision, the brain must integrate the binocular input from the two eyes, and in turn drive the two eyes to move binocularly in appropriate directions. The development of sensory binocularity appears to depend on the ability to align the two eyes to give visual stimulation of corresponding points on the retina of each eye. This alignment is a precursor to development of cells in the visual cortex that are sensitive to retinal disparity, and for stereoscopic vision. This project studies how oculomotor and sensory factors combine to contribute to the development of binocular visual functions during infancy in humans. Models are outlined for possible developmental relationships, and a novel binocular eye-tracking technique will be used to measure human infant eye movements. Data on developing motor binocularity is compared to data on developing sensory binocularity measured by a variety of behavioral and non-invasive tests, to see how sensory and motor factors are combined. Results from this study will be important to visual science, and also to developmental human research and to human performance analysis, with further likely importance to understanding disorders in binocular vision. ***

9452229 Hainline This project involves a novel approach to teaching statistics and survey research methods in psychology and sociology. Undergraduates, particularly majors, utilize a computer-equipped classroom/laboratory. A more intuitive method is used and interactive graphics better illustrate statistical concepts. This approach helps lessen students' statistics and computer anxiety. The heavily graphical introduction to undergraduate statistics also integrates the use of computer technology and course materials to introduce statistical concepts and a feeling for exploratory data analysis. Existing undergraduate statistics courses are being modified and specific materials and methods are adapted for use in both fields.

Specific reading disability (SRD) is found in over 3% of children in this country. Despite the prevalence o the disability, it is still defined by exclusion since no reliable diagnostic tests for SRD have been found. Part of the reason for this failure is that SRD is a heterogeneous disorder. Deficits in visual and auditory processing, memory impairments and intersensory integration have all been shown to exist in SRD subjects. This project is designed to investigate the role of temporal processing, especially in relation to the visual system, in SRD subjects. Visual evoked potentials will be used to study separate visual pathways which have been implicated in SRD. Previous studies have suggested that when parallel pathways within the visual system are assessed separately, the magnocellular pathway is found to be impaired in SRD subjects, while the parvocellular pathway is unimpaired. The magnocellular pathway is thought to be involved in processing movement and depth and is therefore involved in assessing the location of objects in space. The parvocellular pathway is involved in assessing the form of an object. Impairment of the magnocellular pathway might therefore explain the anecdotal reports of some SRD subjects that letters and words appear to move on the page. The functions of these individual visual pathways will be assessed in SRD adults and children. The results of these studies will be combined with information on specific reading deficits, and with measures of temporal processing in the auditory and motor domains. The investigation is designed to assess whether SRD is a disorder which affects the temporal processing in the visual, auditory and motor domains simultaneously, or whether there are groups of subjects with disorders of only one of these processes. This information could lead to a more precise description of the processes involved in reading disability. This, it is hoped, will result in a more objective diagnosis of the disability, with concurrent implications for better treatment and/or remediation of individual difficulties.

Psychology - Cognitive (73)
In order to teach students psychology, it is essential to provide them with opportunities to measure and analyze real samples of behavior. In this proof of concept project, we are exploring the use of new technology, namely DVD recordings, to bring behavior samples into developmental psychology courses in a more efficient and structured way than has typically been done in undergraduate psychology classes. Through contacts with researchers in child development, we are obtaining copies of videotaped experimental sessions, and transcribing them on DVDs for ease of use and presentation in the classroom. This project includes three components: (1) technical demonstration of editing, compressing, and transferring laboratory segments of developmental research sessions to DVD with a quality acceptable for use in the classroom; (2) obtaining subject and investigator releases in accordance with intellectual-property and privacy issues that will allow us to expand the project for full development; and (3) obtaining reliable data demonstrating effective educational use of this new format for delivering examples of behavior during standard classes. Although our work in this project is focused primarily on issues in developmental psychology, the considerations we address are general; they could deal equally well with many instructional topics. A critical aspect of this process is depicting a range of behaviors ranging from normal to a variety of abnormal developmental patterns. This is facilitating improved learning by students because they are more fully able to understand the range of behaviors that one sees in studying a particular aspect of development. Psychological research on learning and memory has shown that the greater the range of examples portrayed, the better able students/learners are at generalizing what they learn to new circumstances.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Brooklyn College of CUNY proposes to develop and implement an MBRS-RISE program to overcome institutional barriers to increasing the interests, skills and competitiveness of minority group students and science faculty in pursuit of biomedical research careers. Our self study defined those institutional problems for students to be a) academic difficulties in the transition from high school to college science courses; b) students' lack of appropriate learning skills, resulting in poor performance in key science classes; c) insufficient opportunity for students to be directly involved in research that will increase skills, interest and motivation for science careers; and d) lack of knowledge about potential biomedical science careers and the process of developing effective applications to graduate schools. We will remedy these barriers with a tightly integrated set of activities that includes: a) a summer pre-freshman bridge program emphasizing the learning strategies and content mastery to succeed in college science classes; b) a 4-year Learning Community, with required skills-and-content oriented workshops in key science classes and intensive comprehensive advisement; c ) weekly RISE seminars with content that changes as students progress through the program; d) a structured research ladder in the academic year and summers, starting from the post-freshman summer, which systematically introduces students to research methods, techniques, and hands-on laboratory work, including a summer research externship, and culminating in a full independent research project and paper in the senior year; and e) enrichment activities to improve student computer literacy, GRE performance, and strategies for successful applications to biomedical graduate programs. Students will be trained to read and critique original research papers, and develop the communication skills and confidence to present their own research in a professional manner. Interest in biomedical careers will be motivated through interactions with successful academic and industrial biomedical scientists. The goals of the student activities are to maintain students in science major tracks, particularly as underclassmen, and improve their grades and other credentials so that more can move successfully to biomedical graduate programs. On the faculty side, Provost's Seminars on Innovative Science Teaching will involve faculty in improving how key science courses are taught. Barriers to greater research productivity will be addressed by a faculty grant workshop to train new faculty to write effective grant applications in support of their research programs and greater research output. The outcomes of these activities will be systematically evaluated during the project, with adjustments made to assure that our goals and objectives are met.

The Brooklyn College departments of Physics, Geology, and Education and the
Interdepartmental Program in Environmental Studies are collaborating to implement an innovative program to redirect students to majors in under-enrolled science majors. The program offers a four-year program in support of STEM majors in Physics, Earth Science, and Environmental Studies. Participants are selected from among
entering freshmen who have performed well in high school mathematics and science but have not expressed an interest in majoring in STEM fields. The program provides a summer bridge program to develop quantitative reasoning, problem solving and study skills and to expose students to career opportunities in physical-science related, socially- rewarding professions. It continues in the freshman year with activity-based instruction in physics, block-programming in other coursework and Peer-led Team Learning (PLTL) support in the context of a science Learning Community. Summer internships provide guided experience with research in years one, two and three. Coordinated class enrollments continue for years 2-4, but participants are weaned from formal support. We project that 50% of entering participants will ultimately graduate as majors in the physical sciences identified above, increasing graduation rates in these areas by a factor of five.
Intellectual Merit: The project is testing a model for increasing the number of STEM majors in physical sciences including physics, earth sciences and environmental studies by redirection of qualified students who have not expressed interest in a STEM major. This project is based upon the hypothesis that if entering college students are made aware of the variety of rewarding careers available to STEM graduates, they can be induced to enter STEM majors in the physical sciences. A second hypothesis is that activity-based
instruction supported by Peer-led Team Learning will help retain these redirected students. A third hypothesis is that a summer bridge program will ease the transition to the critical first year of college-level science study and contribute to success among redirected students. A fourth hypothesis is that a learning environment that is supportive both socially and academically will contribute to retention of these redirected students in STEM majors. A final hypothesis is that such a program can become self-sustaining in a comprehensive publicly-supported urban institution.
Broader Impacts: The project is developing and testing a prototype for redirection of
qualified college students into majors in physical sciences that can be replicated in other large urban colleges. Locally, our city's young people will be made aware of, and provided with, an avenue to enter a broader range of financially and socially rewarding careers. The project also is expected to increase the number of well-trained local high school science teachers, which should positively impact the pipeline of qualified STEM majors from the largely minority area high schools in the future.

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of the MORE Division for MBRS programs and the Brooklyn College RISE program is to increase the numbers of underrepresented faculty and students engaged in biomedical and behavioral research and to broaden the opportunities for these individuals to participate in biomedical and behavioral research through the provision of integrated developmental activities to increase knowledge, skills and information as students move from undergraduate status into doctoral programs. Diversification of the science workforce is an important national public health goal. Our RISE program proposes to improve on our earlier positive impacts on undergraduate URM success by extending efforts to assist RISE students develop strong academic knowledge and skills and motivation to enter science careers through a series of linked developmental activities and milestones. In response to a needs analysis and program evaluation, a plan for extending undergraduate activities and introducing doctoral students to the program is proposed. [unreadable] [unreadable] The key activities for the undergraduate component of the program are a comprehensive 6-week pre-freshman summer program concentrating on orientation to the demands of college-level work in the sciences; introduction to peer-assisted methods to improve academic outcomes in a for-credit precalculus class; and a variety of workshops to help students adjust to college, develop skills in communication, information and computer literacy, begin to be exposed to information about research careers, and above all, improve academic outcomes compared with control subjects. Many of these activities continue in a tightly integrated Learning Community and academic support throughout the 4 years of college. Students will begin to work in faculty labs to develop information about research and research careers, and will be encouraged to get external summer research experience. They also will be exposed in a series of workshops on information on responsible conduct of research. Work on preparing for graduate school and standardized tests in support of successful applications to graduate school are also part of the program. The graduate component includes admission of a new cohort of RISE doctoral students, academic support, and excellent research training to allow them to progress successfully and without delay to completion of the doctoral degree and movement into postdoctoral and research scientist positions after graduation. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]

PROPOSAL #: 0638718
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Wayne Powell
INSTITUTION: CUNY Brooklyn College
TITLE: Brooklyn College GK-12 City As Lab (BC-CAL)


The Brooklyn College GK-12 CITY AS LAB (BC-CAL) project aims to achieve four essential goals: 1) better equip graduate students for successful careers as scientists (academic, governmental, business); 2) improve the ability of urban high school teachers associated with the "Small School" movement to teach science in an authentic and community-based fashion; 3) enhance learning of science for students in grades 9-12; and 4) create an enduring, cooperative network of educational partners that includes Brooklyn College, thematic Brooklyn-based high schools, NYC DOE, and informal science partners of Brooklyn. The intellectual merit of this project focuses on answering the questions "How can GIS software be employed to best address the needs of teachers and students in secondary school STEM education? How can community partners best use their resources to aid science-themed small schools in meeting national, state and local science standards?" Broader impacts include but are not limited to expansion of graduate fellows' skills, improvement of research skills of K-12 teachers, and improvement of 9-12 STEM education.

The problem of quickest detection and classification in the statistical behavior of sequential observations is a classical one, with numerous applications in engineering, economics and epidemiology. In today's fast-growing technologies new areas of applications constantly emerge. In particular, the automatic 3D image reconstruction and classification of urban scenes is a problem whose complexity still challenges computer scientists. It has traditionally been treated through the acquisition of data using laser-scanners, which produce high-resolution images, but can be very slow. It is thus essential to concentrate laser scanning only to the areas of interest, which leads to fast decision-making about areas of interest. This can save significant time and cost, while still producing high-resolution 3D images. The goal of this project is to develop and implement real-time algorithms for processing and analyzing 3D laser range data. The high-dimensional nature of the data is reduced by a clever innovative selection of a measurement model. Interdependent streams of observations are then processed by on-line parametric and non-parametric classification and detection techniques. And finally, new statistical models are used to capture obstacles in urban scenes. This provides a systematic treatment of the problems of fast and efficient 3D image classification using high-resolution laser data.

The current proposal is expected to develop and establish a new line of possibilities for the traditional quickest detection and classification techniques. This project promises to expand the applications of classical sequential statistics to the area of 3D Computer vision, thus carving the road for the creation of new synergistic interdisciplinary research and education teams of computer scientists and statisticians with well-defined common goals. Combining the expertise of these two communities is expected to lead to more sophisticated technology and software for the acquisition and processing of 3D data that comes from laser scanners. This project creates a stimulating research environment for undergraduate students, motivating them to seek advanced studies on the interdisciplinary frontier of mathematics and computer science. It also provides a framework for innovating the curriculum at Brooklyn College, a minority-serving institution, through the development of interdisciplinary courses.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Brooklyn College RISE program is designed to broaden the opportunities of students from under- represented groups through the integration of developmental activities and opportunities for research experiences to increase the knowledge, skills and motivation of students moving from undergraduate status into graduate programs in biomedical and behavioral research fields. The RISE program has achieved the evaluated goals of increasing knowledge and skills through provision of academic supports, improvements in the quality and impact of teaching in college science classrooms, developmental workshops that teach about the steps needed to enter graduate programs, and ample opportunities during the academic year and summers to be involved in research, including training in research methods and participation in faculty- mentored research experiences. In the next cycle, the RISE program will continue all these successful components, expanding and institutionalizing supplemental instruction for more science classes, developing components for more freshman and sophomores to become directly involved in interesting group research projects to increase their interest and skills for more intensive research involvement as students progress through college. The program will work with the developers of a new curriculum to equip younger students for research to customize and test the course with our students. The RISE program will also continue to serve as a pilot program for pedagogical innovation, including approaches such as SCALE-UP and POGIL in basic science classes. Also continuing will be components that introduce students to important academic networks for summer externship programs (required by the program) and graduate school success by partnering with T- 32 level research institutions in New York City to give students regular access to what such institutions are like, how graduate students function within them and most importantly, how to make good use of individuals in such institutions who can help them reach their goals. Also in this new cycle, the program will be adding a significant and innovative component: to work more directly and in a more individualized manner with issues of URM students' motivation and motivational barriers to academic success for those with high potential to achieve entry to graduate school, using information from psychological assessments of relevant constructs. The method employs early, student-directed research on career options to link short-term activities with longer-term career and life goals. Working intensively with individual students, program staff will coach students to develop explicit sets of goals, subgoals, and related tasks each semester that will lead to successful careers. These Formula for Success documents will guide advisement and programming for individual students and for cohorts in the program. By directly addressing motivational issues, framed by sound psychological theory, we will improve student outcomes and program yields in the service of NIH MORE Division goals and increase the numbers of URM students and faculty in biomedical and behavioral research.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Brooklyn College MARC USTAR program serves a large and diverse institution including many underrepresented students who can help address our country's need to increase diversity in the scientific workforce. Our program's MARC USTAR goals are to increase substantially the research training of students from nationally-recognized under-represented groups and prepare them for successful entry into and graduation from high quality Ph.D. programs in the biomedical and behavioral sciences for entry into research positions. In the current cycle, a total of 6 MARC Fellows have obtained PhD or combined MD/PhD degrees with several due to defend soon. Another 15 Fellows are enrolled in or soon will enter doctoral programs at high-caliber research institutions. Eight Fellows are doing short-term targeted post-baccalaureate work to improve their credentials for competitive acceptances to high quality doctoral programs; the program's goal is not just doctoral acceptances, but those at the best institutions. The credentials of current Fellows are higher than ever, and the program has a high-level of institutional support for accomplishing the goals of the program. In this renewal proposal, we describe activities that will continue our current successful record of graduating well-trained URM students who are admitted to biomedical and behavioral doctoral programs at our nation's leading research universities. This will be accomplished by focusing on having our students in settings where they get training doing excellent research in the labs of well-trained, externally-funded faculty advisors during the academic year and in summers. In addition to research training, elements of the program will focus on insuring that our students are developing the best possible credentials for acceptance into high-caliber, competitive research doctoral programs through workshops and activities to develop their skills at writing proposals for nationally-competitive scholarships and fellowships and by fostering excellent scientific communication skills including critical reading and analysis and effective oral and written communication. The program will also help Fellows acquire the professional and personal skills to insure that Fellows not only enter high quality doctoral programs but thrive in and graduate from them. We have also reconfigured our pre-MARC component to better develop the talent in the substantial pool of undeclared URM STEM students who are in their first two years of college; our institutional research shows with the rigt support and programs, these students can be assisted to succeed academically in historically difficult courses and also become interested and motivated to pursue research careers about which they know little on entry to college. With these two prongs, a MARC Fellows program aspiring to develop the highest quality candidates for doctoral study and a program to foster the development of many more qualified students in the general student population, our MARC USTAR program will contribute to the national need to increase the numbers of URM research scientists.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program at the New York City College of Technology (City Tech) represents an integrated, evidence-based set of student developmental activities conducted in partnership with Brooklyn College that promotes academic excellence and facilitates the timely progression of underrepresented (UR) students from the associate to the baccalaureate level of the educational pathway. City Tech is nationally held as a model institution of STEM education (1) and Brooklyn College ranks among the top public regional universities in the Northeast (2). The program leverages the strengths of both institutions to address a critical need in two-year to four-year degree transitions and is predicated upon the achievement of three important specific aims: 1. Increase the retention rate of UR first-time, full-time freshmen enrolled in the associate of science (AS) degree programs within the School of Arts & Sciences (SoAS) at City Tech. 2. Increase the on time graduation rate of UR students completing AS degrees, and 3. Increase the annual number of UR students who successfully transfer to baccalaureate programs in biomedical and behavioral sciences at Brooklyn College, i.e., bachelor's degree programs in Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology. To fulfill its specific aims, the research education program plan is comprised of project activities formulated on the framework of Engagement, Capacity & Continuity (ECC) trilogy developed by Jolly, Campbell and Pearlman (3) as a basis of academic success in the sciences and quantitative disciplines. ECC is integrated into the design of critical program components which are broadly classified into two interrelated categories: I. Initiatives for academic enrichment and student support. Activities include strengthening of a peer-led mentoring program in Mathematics and Chemistry at City Tech, establishment of pre-semester math preparatory workshops, implementing a customized academic advisement model in discipline-based curricular programming, career education in biomedical/behavioral fields, and transfer preparation, and creation of a supportive peer mentoring network between cohorts of students (Bridges Scholars), and Brooklyn College juniors/seniors. II. Integrated student development in research. Activities for Bridges Scholars include the establishment of a summer research academy, followed by a two-semester research development and enrichment program, and culminating in a nine-week summer bridge research experience at Brooklyn College prior to matriculation to the baccalaureate. In addition, a project-based digital platform to promote robust student-mentor interactions, and facilitate innovative means of documenting student activities, scholarly works and undergraduate research experiences will be developed. This platform will help synthesize the program components to build and sustain engagement in research. Collectively these strategies will foster higher rates of student success in enrollment, retention, transfer and completion of associate's and bachelor's degrees in biomedical and behavioral sciences.

Undergraduate research is a high-impact practice that increases retention, fosters academic performance and scientific literacy, increases motivation to study science, and raises STEM graduation rates. This project will test an innovative, cost-effective method, Peer-Assisted Team Research (PATR) that will involve more students in undergraduate research experiences earlier in college, improving their scientific reasoning abilities and STEM self-efficacy. Trained peer leaders will supervise student teams as they design and conduct increasingly complex research studies on interdisciplinary topics. PATR students will master scientific reasoning and seeing themselves as "people who do science," becoming more motivated and taking more STEM courses.

PATR is an adaptable template useful in a variety of institutional settings: general education and introductory major's courses, STEM classes without labs, and co-curricular activities such as science clubs. Brooklyn College is collaborating with four other branches of City University of New York to evaluate the effectiveness of the PATR method in a variety of settings. The project's intellectual merit resides in the method's grounding in proven STEM pedagogy and current cognitive research. The project's broader impacts stem from enabling more students to participate in undergraduate research experiences, thus fostering a well-trained, diverse work-force. PATR is an adaptable, scalable and cost-effective method that prepares students for faculty-mentored research. The project will generate data using behavioral assessment and standardized test instruments to determine if students participating in PATR are developing the higher-level abstract reasoning abilities required to plan and carry out research, compared with control students.

Project Summary/Abstract: The specific goals and objectives for Brooklyn College?s MARC USTAR program will prepare high achieving UR MARC Fellows to enter and complete doctoral programs in the biomedical and behavioral sciences. Our goals and objectives flow from both the NIH?s goals for all MARC programs, as well as from the history of achievements and progression in doctoral programs by previous cohorts of our college?s MARC Fellows. Our goals include increasing rates of application, acceptance and completion of doctoral programs and improving the effectiveness of Fellow involvement in associated support activities designed to support Fellows preparation for these goals. Program activities will continue to provide academic and professional development support to our pool of academically strong UR Fellows in defined areas of biomedical and behavioral sciences. Our Fellows? levels of performance, particularly in our last full cycle of the program, shows that we are meeting or exceeding the NIGMS goals for MARC programs, but there is more we can be doing to improve on these outcomes. The following activities will support the attainment of these goals through (among other things): ? Consistent use of undergraduate Individual Development Plans (IDPs) on 5-, 10- and 15-year time frames, to keep Fellows thinking in future oriented terms that define the elements of successful transitioning to the Ph.D. and careers beyond it. ? Multiple quality research experiences at Brooklyn College and at other institutions ? Workshops and activities to improve written and oral communication skills, critical reading of the research literature, and computational skills, among other professional competencies. ? Activities to develop psychological awareness of factors such as stereotype threat and micro- aggressions that underrepresented students may encounter in graduate programs. ? Discussions and activities to foster personal and social techniques to manage stress and develop each Fellow?s self-efficacy and self-confidence about the Fellow?s ability to succeed in college, graduate school and post-doctoral study. ? Experiences such as shadowing doctoral recipients in different types of jobs/professional settings and other discussions about STEM career options to inform Fellows about options for employment after the Fellow completes his/her training. ? Support for faculty to become more effective research advisors and mentors.

The overall goal of ESTEEMED is to increase the diversity of the biomedical, behavioral, and clinical workforce by preparing under-represented (UR) individuals to enter and complete Ph.D. or MD/Ph.D. degrees in these STEM fields. This will be accomplished by educational activities in the first two years of college that focus on research and mentoring experiences so that well-qualified UR undergraduates can enter advanced honors programs and after graduation, be admitted into and complete doctoral programs. Our Science Undergraduate Research Gateway Experience (SURGE) will recruit ten incoming college students each year to participate in a series of summer and academic-year activities over two years to reach this goal including (but not limited to): ? An 8-week summer bridge program with a credit-bearing course in scientific computing; a hands-on orientation to Brooklyn College; team-based research modules; building a supportive community of SURGE peers; a team-based project on careers in STEM, including with local biotechnology start-ups; workshops on communicating science; and development of a preliminary Individual Development Plan (IDP). ? Multiple quality research experiences at Brooklyn College and at other institutions, including a novel team- based method, Peer-Assisted Team Research (PATR) to actively involve lower division students in planning and completing their own small research projects as preparation for summer externships at research institutions and joining research labs of faculty members at Brooklyn College or Downstate Medical Center. ? Supplemental Instruction workshops in all historically-difficult science and mathematics classes. ? Consistent use of undergraduate IDPs on 5-, 10- and 15-year time-frames, to keep SURGE students engaged in self-reflection for goal planning and future-oriented strategizing to define the elements of their successful transition from college to the Ph.D. and the careers beyond it. ? Workshops and activities to improve written and oral communication skills, critical reading of the research literature, presentations at conferences, and computational skills, among other professional competencies. ? Workshops for students on choosing and using mentors effectively and support for faculty to become more effective research advisors and mentors. ? Activities to develop psychological awareness of factors such as stereotype threat and micro-aggressions that UR students may encounter in graduate programs. ? Development of teams of mentors with faculty and research advisors at our college and externship sites and with UR doctoral recipients via national networks (e.g., NRMN, The Leadership Alliance) and others. These activities will occupy three summers and two full academic years, at which point, students will apply for an advanced honors program, either our recently refunded NIH MARC program or our Scholar?s Program. Both require a strong academic record and research leading to an honors thesis in preparation for graduate study.

Brooklyn College of the City University of New York will implement an ADVANCE Catalyst project to conduct an institutional self-assessment to understand the status of women faculty in STEM disciplines on the main campus. This project will include the collection and analysis of STEM faculty data to uncover the systemic gender-based inequities that exist at the institution. The project will focus on individuals from underrepresented groups, including women, those from racial/ethnic groups under-represented in STEM areas, and individuals with non-binary gender identities. The project will add 10 years of historical data on all faculty to an existing academic data warehouse including information on salaries, rank at hiring, tenure decisions, history of progression in rank, and work factors such as start-up funding, laboratory resources (space, renovation), and workload flexibility for family needs. The data in the warehouse will be used to determine how the target groups have fared historically in STEM and will be the key resource for assessing equity needs and will provide a long-term data collection system for monitoring the impact of the ADVANCE project as well as other faculty focused efforts. This two-year project will prepare the university for future data collection and data analyses of faculty equity which can be used by institutional leadership to inform decision-making. The Catalyst work will also prepare the institution to implement evidence-based strategies to enhance the university climate for all faculty which will be outlined in a five-year faculty equity strategic plan that will be produced as part of this project.

The NSF ADVANCE program is designed to foster gender equity through a focus on the identification and elimination of organizational barriers that impede the full participation and advancement of diverse faculty in academic institutions. Organizational barriers that inhibit equity may exist in policies, processes, practices, and the organizational culture and climate. ADVANCE "Catalyst" awards provide support for institutional equity assessments and the development of five-year faculty equity strategic plans at an academic, non-profit institution of higher education.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Training a diverse neuroscience workforce to address health disparities is critical when considering the cost and burden on society of unequal care and treatment among racial and ethnic groups. Numerous reports link socioeconomic and ethnic disparities to the frequency, care, and severity of brain disorders and disabilities including stroke, neurodegenerative disease, epilepsy, addiction, traumatic brain injury, and psychological disorders. The Borough of Brooklyn has a population of over 2.6 million, one of the most diverse urban communities in the nation. Brooklyn College (BC) of City University of New York (CUNY), State University of New York Downstate Medical Center (Downstate), and Medgar Evers College (MEC) of CUNY are located within a few miles of each other in a part of Brooklyn that is overwhelmingly populated by under-represented groups: 50% of the population is comprised of Black residents primarily from West Indian and Afro-Caribbean backgrounds, and 12% is Hispanic, also of Caribbean origins. Our institutions will partner to develop a neuroscience-focused educational and research agenda ranging from basic neural processes to cognitive and behavioral neuroscience, including the introduction of Fellows to the socioeconomics of health disparities and public health issues related to neurological health and disease in minority communities. Our program, BP- ENDURE: Brooklyn Neural NETS (Neuroscience Education and Training for Scientists) or B-NETS, is intended to prepare well-qualified underrepresented (UR) juniors and seniors who are interested in careers in the neurosciences requiring PhD or MD/PhD degrees. Such individuals will both increase the diversity of researchers in neuroscience and contribute research findings that can help to address chronic neurological conditions that occur more frequently in minority and low-income populations, including the catchment area of the participating institutions where our students live and study. Working as a tightly knit consortium and exploiting prior successful cross-institution collaborations, B-NETS will have the experience, scientific expertise, assessed institutional need, and motivation to develop a highly effective BP-ENDURE program for upper division undergraduate students from UR backgrounds. The proposed B-NETS program will meet the goal of developing neuroscience research education programs by creating a full neuroscience major at BC and an expanded neuroscience curriculum at MEC. The senior administration of all three B-NETS partner institutions has prioritized STEM diversity programs and increasing faculty diversity and fully supports the B- NETS program. Many of our UR undergraduates, including some in programs like MARC and RISE, express the goal of becoming college faculty and serving as research mentors for UR undergraduates like themselves ? a vital pipeline to increase the size of the pool of UR faculty. Innovative aspects of the B-NETS program include the blending of basic neuroscience, behavioral neuroscience, community-engaged research and an outstanding depth in neuroscience research to develop a new cohort of diverse neuroscience researchers.