MARC Peer Enhanced Early Research (M-PEER)
M-PEER is an honors preparation program with the mission of supporting underrepresented minorities in graduate bio-medical, social science and life science research fields. Funded as part of the MARC (Minority Access to Research Careers) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), M-PEER walks a student down a path of exploration, skills development and academic achievement. While M-PEER is open to all students that need our support to achieve their goals, it has been designed specifically to promote diversity in designated research fields.
M-PEER is a preparatory program for all those interested in research of any kind. It can lead to admission into other CASE programs like Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC).
M-PEER research activities are developed around a "bundle" concept.
What is a "bundle"?
“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I’ll
remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”
This is essentially the goal of a
bundle. It is a hands-on, interactive introduction to
meaningful scientific research experience. The bundle curriculum progressively develops
the necessary skills to succeed in research. It provides opportunities for students to think
independently as they think
about experiments and design experiments. Through collaborative learning and direct
experiential learning students come to experience science as a social, collaborative activity and become more confident in
doing science and talking about science.
Each concept bundle provides students with immersive, exploratory science learning, centering on a new and interdisciplinary area of science that makes science accessible and applicable while encourages thinking through the research process as opposed to passively accepting it.
A bundle includes:
i.
a real world
focus (topic or mainstream article);
ii.
a related journal
article (explored with the C.R.E.A.T.E. method);
iii.
a hands-on
activity or lab;
iv.
a discussion
component based on 3 steps forward (students encouraged to think about broader applications and/or implications, along with ethics, feasibility, applicability
and policy.
