Learning Science by Doing Science | Immersive Learning | UM News Special Report | University of Miami

Michael Gaines is assistant provost of undergraduate research and community outreach, director of pre-health advising and mentoring as well as the director of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) undergraduate education program. 

Q: How is the College of Arts and Sciences reinventing the way science is taught in the classroom?

A big change is an emphasis on active learning in the classroom. This means that the teaching methods are student-centered rather than instructor-centered. The faculty’s role has switched from a “sage on stage” to a “guide on the side.” There is beginning to be a shift in science courses at UM in which students learn the basic information at home and do critical thinking and problem solving during class time guided by the instructor. In the purest sense, this is called flipping the classroom. The overarching goal in science education in recent years has been to develop strategies to engage students in their own learning. Under the leadership of the College’s Dean Leonidas Bachas and Senior Vice-Provost Bill Green, UM has been in the forefront of this movement.

Q: What is your mission when it comes to preparing students for careers in the sciences and STEM?

We have been fortunate to receive funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation to develop programs to prepare students for careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). We have used the funds to support science programs for Miami-Dade County middle schoolers and high schoolers, Miami Dade College students and UM undergraduates and graduate students. I have been particularly interested in focusing on students from disadvantaged backgrounds who may never have considered a career in science. The cornerstone for all our programs is a meaningful research experience supplemented with a myriad of other professional development activities. We want students to develop self-efficacy to see themselves as scientists.

Q: Why is it important for students to participate in research and STEM education?

Generating new knowledge through research is a major activity at the University of Miami. That’s what we do. It is essential to involve students in research so they become vibrant members of the academic community. Research untethers students from disciplinary silos and at the same time hones their critical thinking skills. It provides the freedom to explore areas beyond formulaic course work and blurs disciplinary boundaries. When it’s working as it should, sparks of imagination fly from the student to the faculty research mentor and then back to the student. STEM education doesn’t get more exciting than that! It’s learning science by doing science. 

Q: What is your proudest accomplishment since becoming director of the HHMI program?

My proudest accomplishment as director of the HHMI program has been to open the eyes of students to careers in science who otherwise might never have looked. My aim is to keep students engaged in science from grade school to grad school. There are three programs that stand out in this regard. In our Science Made Sensible program undergraduate students (“resident scientists”) are partnered with science teachers in their classrooms to develop hands-on activities in under-resourced middle schools and high schools in Miami-Dade County. In our Miami Dade College Bridge Program, community college students do research with UM faculty. Finally, our HHMI research laboratory course for first-year UM undergraduates taking chemistry and biology courses enables students working in a group to do an authentic integrated research project with a faculty member in the biology department collaborating with a faculty member in the chemistry department. 

Q: In what ways are you making STEM education appealing and exciting for students at UM?  

It’s all about engaging students in STEM by allowing them to be discoverers of new knowledge rather than being passive receptacles of information. It could happen through problem solving in a flipped classroom, doing authentic research in a traditional mentor-mentee relationship or group research in our HHMI integrated authentic research lab course. The bottom line is one of those magical “ah ha” moments when the student realizes that she has solved a problem in a unique way in a classroom setting or discovered something no one else has found or knows about while doing a research project. These opportunities make science education exciting and appealing for students at UM.