Project Goals:

The overall goals of this proposal are the long-range improvement of recruitment, the access to education and retention of underrepresented students in South Texas through the teaching of updated technology-based classes at DMC. These goals will be accomplished through five objectives:

1) A comprehensive improvement of the technology curriculum at the DMC Natural Sciences Department, using technology-enabled pedagogy, and implementing a seminar series related to the biological sciences. Collaboration with the Texas State Science Fair will establish the connection between pre-college minority students and DMC.

2) A long-range improvement of the instrumentation in teaching laboratories at DMC, providing exciting hands-on active learning which crystallizes classroom concepts and demonstrates technology application;

3) Provide funded, intense summer undergraduate mentorship experiences encouraging participation of minority women, role modeling and mentoring;

4) Develop computer resources to improve the instructional delivery while considering differences in student learning styles and

5) Disseminate project materials. To successfully implement alternative instructional methods we will provide problem–based laboratory exercises utilizing both modern scientific instrumentation and computer/communication technology.

To successfully implement alternative instructional methods we will provide problem–based laboratory exercises utilizing both modern scientific instrumentation and computer/communication technology.

We plan to meet the objectives in the class room by

1) designing and developing interactive computer exercises with multimedia workstations;

2) establishing the course on the DMC campus fully integrating scientific technology as an integral "hands-on" component of the course methodology; and

3) development of over 1200 DMC students real world skills to more effectively prepare for science-based careers during the 36-month project.

DMC is interested in improving capacity to recruit, provide educational access, and retain under-represented, under-served and first-generation students.