"What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing"

 
 

For Community Colleges, the traditional model has been to support external research experiences for both Community College faculty and students. While there are numerous examples of highly successful programs that follow this model, what is needed is a model for integrating this type of experience directly into the Community College Curriculum. This type of reform can be challenging, and at numerous workshops around the country, a suite of very significant barriers have been identified that would prevent such reform from being implemented. This site represents a solution to one of those barriers by creating a network of individuals and programs involved in using undergraduate research and project-based learning as an educational tool.

In 2003, the National Research Council of the National Academies published BIO 2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education For Future Research Biologists. One of the primary recommendations of the report is that all students should be encouraged to pursue independent research as early as is practical in their education. Moving this experience into the sophomore, and even the freshman year of college is necessary in order to achieve the recommended level of reform. With approximately half of U.S. post-secondary students attending a community college, the message is clear: Community Colleges must take a leadership position in finding educationally sound methodologies for integrating research into introductory science course curricula.