STEM Active Learning Vignette Series: The Undergraduate VIP Program at Virginia Commonwealth University

In 2017, Equal Measure visited five campuses representing four of the initial seven STEM Active Learning Networks to delve into site-level changes supporting progress toward network goals. This report discusses our visit to Virginia Commonwealth University focusing on their Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) program.The design of Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) arose from concerns about how academic disciplines are siloed at many higher education institutions, and that this structure does not enhance the undergraduate experience. VIP programs, at 18 colleges and universities at the time of this report's writing, integrate undergraduate education and faculty research in a team-based context. In addition, the program is multidisciplinary, and attracts students from schools and departments across the campuses of each participating institution.The long-term nature of VIP creates a mentoring environment with faculty and graduate students, with experienced undergraduate students mentoring newly enrolled undergraduates, and with students moving into leadership roles as others graduate. VIP also allows businesses to invest in the various design/discovery teams

Decision-focussed resource modelling for design decision support

Resource management including resource allocation, levelling, configuration and monitoring has been recognised as critical to design decision making. It has received increasing research interests in recent years. Different definitions, models and systems have been developed and published in literature. One common issue with existing research is that the resource modelling has focussed on the information view of resources. A few acknowledged the importance of resource capability to design management, but none has addressed the evaluation analysis of resource fitness to effectively support design decisions. This paper proposes a decision-focused resource model framework that addresses the combination of resource evaluation with resource information from multiple perspectives. A resource management system constructed on the resource model framework can provide functions for design engineers to efficiently search and retrieve the best fit resources (based on the evaluation results) to meet decision requirements. Thus, the system has the potential to provide improved decision making performance compared with existing resource management systems

Regulation, Competition and Liberalization

In many countries throughout the world, regulators are struggling to determine whether and how to introduce competition into regulated industries. This essay examines the complexities involved in the liberalization process. While stressing the importance of case-specific analyses, this essay distinguishes liberalization policies that generally are pro-competitive from corresponding anti-competitive liberalization policiesCompetition, Regulation, Liberalization

VIP Approach at the University of Strathclyde : A Pilot Evaluation Report 2015-16

The potential for enhanced knowledge creation through collaborative group effort has been reasonably well established within educational discourse. This stands in direct contrast to former traditional models, where knowledge was treated as a transmitted commodity from ‘expert’ to ‘student’. Such transmission models have long been viewed as broadly ineffectual, especially as regards the teaching of primary Science, Technologies, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) subjects. The Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) approach may offer pedagogical advancement in terms of STEM teaching and learning in Higher Education (HE). Established within the University of Strathclyde some five years ago, an initial University-wide evaluation of the programme was piloted in Session 2015-16. Students’ perceptions of their participation in VIP generally very positively reported within the pilot evaluation. Key messages centred on students’ perceptions of the benefit of participation in the unique collaborative real-world study afforded by the VIP approach and their desire for the programme architecture to expand even further both laterally and vertically across the University

Regulation, competition, and liberalization

In many countries throughout the world, regulators are struggling to determine whether and how to introduce competition into regulated industries. This essay examines the complexities involved in the liberalization process. While stressing the importance of case-specific analyses, this essay distinguishes liberalization policies that generally are pro-competitive from corresponding anti-competitive liberalization policies

Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Programs: Multidisciplinary Projects with Homes in Any Discipline

A survey of papers in the ASEE Multidisciplinary Engineering Division over the last three years shows three main areas of emphasis: individual courses; profiles of specific projects; and capstone design courses. However, propagating multidisciplinary education across the vast majority of disciplines offered at educational institutions with varying missions requires models that are independent of the disciplines, programs, and institutions in which they were originally conceived. Further, models that can propagate must be cost effective, scalable, and engage and benefit participating faculty. Since 2015, a consortium of twenty-four institutions has come together around one such model, the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program. VIP unites undergraduate education and faculty research in a team-based context, with students earning academic credits toward their degrees, and faculty and graduate students benefitting from the design/discovery efforts of their multidisciplinary teams. VIP integrates rich student learning experiences with faculty research, transforming both contexts for undergraduate learning and concepts of faculty research as isolated from undergraduate teaching. It provides a rich, cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable model for multidisciplinary project-based learning. (1) It is rich because students participate multiple years as they progress through their curriculum; (2) It is cost-effective since students earn academic credit instead of stipends; (3) It is scalable because faculty can work with teams of students instead of individual undergraduate research fellows, and typical teams consist of fifteen or more students from different disciplines; (4) It is sustainable because faculty benefit from the research and design efforts of their teams, with teams becoming integral parts of their research. While VIP programs share key elements, approaches and implementations vary by institution. This paper shows how the VIP model works across sixteen different institutions with different missions, sizes, and student profiles. The sixteen institutions represent new and long-established VIP programs, varying levels of research activity, two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), and two international universities1. Theses sixteen profiles illustrate adaptability of the VIP model across different academic settings

MOTIVATORS FOR EXTRACURRICULAR RESEARCH PROJECT PARTICIPATION AND PERSPECTIVES OF INTERNATIONALISATION: : CRIMINOLOGY STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES OF VERTICALLY INTEGRATED PROJECTS AT MALMÖ UNIVERSITY

Research-based teaching methods foster an environment that cultivates new knowledge to tackle real-life challenges. Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) utilise this pedagogical approach to promote collaboration among students and researchers in multidisciplinary teams at the faculty level. This supports the development of soft and hard skills, teamwork, and leadership abilities. However, VIP is not easily accessible for international students in non-English-speaking universities due to language barriers and structural constraints. The present study employs a qualitative focus group method to explore the motivations and barriers faced by Criminology master’s students in participating in extracurricular activities like VIP, their perspectives on international opportunities at Malmö University, and whether VIP could enhance internationalisation. The findings indicate that students recognise the benefits of VIP and extracurricular activities; however, various factors, including misconceptions, affect student participation. Moreover, a desire for international collaborative research was expressed.Forskningsbaserade undervisningsmetoder främjar en lärandemiljö som utvecklar nya kunskaper som kan användas för att lösa utmaningar i det verkliga livet. Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) sätter denna undervisningsform på sin spets och möjliggör för studenter att arbeta tillsammans med forskare och andra studenter från olika utbildningsnivåer att bedriva forskning i multidisciplinära arbetslag på fakultetsnivå. Detta främjar utvecklandet av hårda (ex. metodteknisk kunskapsutveckling) och mjuka (interpersonell utveckling och kommunikation) färdigheter såväl som teamwork- och ledarskapsförmågor. VIP har upplevts ha en begränsad tillgänglighet för internationella studenter vid universitet i icke-engelskspråkiga länder på grund av språk- och andra strukturella barriärer. I denna studie genomförs en kvalitativ fokusgruppundersökning för att utforska motivationer och barriärer för kriminologistudenter i ett internationellt masterprogram att delta i aktiviteter utanför programmet, såsom VIP, studenters upplevelser av internationella möjligheter, samt reflektioner om huruvida VIP skulle kunna bidra till internationalisering vid Malmö universitet. Resultaten visar att studenter kan se fördelarna med VIP och aktiviteter utanför programmet, dock lyfts andra faktorer som påverkar studenters deltagande vilka diskuteras i föreliggande studie