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UNIVERSITY HONORS PROGRAM HONORS EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING PROJECT PROPOSAL

Honors experiential learning projects are held to high standards. Each of these elements must be reflected in your proposal and project: 1. Abstract: Provide a detailed overview of this project so that a reader with no background on this topic would fully understand your projects goals and what you intend to learn. Describe the extent of this time commitment, including planning, executing, and reflection in this project. If applicable, provide an itinerary. Why is this project personally meaningful? Your work and learning should be equivalent to that of a 3-credit hour honors seminar. While the quality of the experience and learning outcomes are most important, you should expect to engage in at least 75-90 hours of direct contact and/or research/reflection/documentation. 2. Connection to Learning Outcomes within an Honors Thematic Area: Your project should result in substantial learning through which you make progress towards meeting specific learning outcomes within the theme. You must explicitly identify 2-3 learning outcomes associated with the thematic area (see page 2 for the complete list of learning outcomes). How will your project help you achieve 2-3 specific learning outcomes within an honors thematic area? Provide specific examples. 3. Connection to Goals and Academic Theories (This is a two-part prompt): Your project must be related to your development (personal, academic, general education competencies, or professional interests). How does this project contribute to your future academic, professional, and/or personal goals? You are expected to connect academic theories or concepts to your experiential learning work. Your proposal should identify several theories or concepts you plan to explore in your project. Name 2-3 specific theories, readings, concepts, or courses youll use to prepare or gain background knowledge for your project. Explain how/why youve chosen your resources and how they will inform your project. Provide citations, as appropriate. 4. Initiative, Independence, and Creativity: You are expected to demonstrate a degree of independence in the planning, design, or implementation of an honors experiential learning project. Some aspect(s) of the project must be self-initiated. Some projects will involve a higher level of independence than others. Additionally, you are encouraged to identify creative and unique topics, activities, learning methods, solutions, etc. for your project. What is your unique contribution to this project? 5. Reflection: Reflection leads to higher-level conceptual learning and can take many forms including journals, lab notebooks, blogs, audio/video blogs, sketch books, and more. Reflection is not merely a summation of activities completed and opinions formed; rather, it should be thoughtful, integrative, substantive, and well-crafted. Your project must have an active reflective component throughout the experience. How will you actively reflect on your learning throughout the experience? Additionally, in order for a project to be considered completed: You must write a reflective essay to be submitted for review through the Honors Database within one month of project completion (more details available on the UHP website). You must document the experience in your learning portfolio. 6. Dissemination: Your work and learning must be disseminated publicly. Consider how your reflection can inform your dissemination. Examples of dissemination include presentations, poster displays, published papers or articles, video compilations, websites, scrapbooks, a well-developed blog, etc. How will you share what youve learned/created with others in a public forum? Why have you chosen this specific audience? 7. Project Advisor: Projects must involve the guidance of a faculty or staff member, mentor, supervisor, or other person with whom the student can develop a base of knowledge and receive feedback. Who will help you conceptualize this project and provide you with support? Note: In most cases, this will not be your Honors advisor. 8. Budget:

2 A budget is not required. However, if you would like to apply for an honors grant to support this project, provide an itemized budget listing all of your project-related expenses. If you plan to receive funding from other sources, please indicate that in your budget. Grant funding is impacted by the quality of your proposal.

HONORS EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING PROJECT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Your project should result in substantial learning through which you make progress towards meeting 2-3 of the learning outcomes for an Honors Thematic Area. Your proposal must focus on one thematic area; choose the one that best fits your learning goals. Learning Outcomes for the Community Engagement Theme: Possesses awareness of purpose of service, including need for reciprocity, understanding of social issues, and ability to see those issues from multiple perspectives. Recognizes how public policies and practices, and power and privilege, have an influence on social issues. Explores ways to alter public policy and/or identify solutions. Relates, communicates, and works effectively with others towards sustainable social change. Participates in community and understands own role as citizen of community. Learning Outcomes for the Creative Arts Theme (adapted from AAC&U Creative Thinking VALUE Rubric): Acquires or further develops competencies within a particular creative domain. Possesses ability to define the creative problem; ability to frame and develop a problem statement and appropriate methodology. Possess a well-developed awareness of theories and methods in the field. Demonstrates/takes appropriate risk in successfully completing project (going beyond original parameters of assignment, introducing new materials and forms, tackling controversial topics, advocating unpopular ideas or solutions, etc.). Possesses ability to embrace contradictions and integrate alternate, divergent, or contradictory perspectives. Possesses ability to think innovatively. Connects, synthesizes, and transforms ideas.

Learning Outcomes for the Global Studies Theme: Possess global literacy, including knowledge of geography, history, current world issues and similarities and differences among cultures Recognize the interdependence of world economies, political systems and the environment Interact with individuals from different cultures and express a sensitivity, appreciation and respect for the complex range of experiences of diverse peoples Participate in a global society and understand the role of a global citizen Note: If youre planning a self-designed travel experience, you must include a detailed itinerary. Please note that you are required to attend a pre-departure orientation session with UC International Programs if your honors experiential learning project involves international travel. It is your responsibility to schedule a session with UC International. At minimum, your time abroad should be at least 1 week. Proposals for experiences with less than 1 week of travel will not be approved. Learning Outcomes for the Leadership Theme: Possesses knowledge of various leadership theories and identifies with the characteristics of leadership Identifies the various characteristics of a leader in a given situation/role Has the ability to relate, communicate and work effectively with peers Develops a vision of the future and acknowledges the impact of decisions (as applicable to the individual and affiliated organizations) Learning Outcomes for the Research Theme: Ability to frame and develop the research project question or problem.

3 Possess a well-developed awareness of literature in the field. Formulate a theory, problem, or hypothesis for the proposed research project that is based on the literature review. Ability to identify and apply appropriate methodologies to design research study, and collect and analyze data. Disseminate the research results and knowledge gained. Demonstrate awareness of key weakness/limitations of the research and provide guidance on the most important and fruitful directions for future research on this topic. Ability to think beyond the just completed research and articulate how your world view has been impacted by the experience.

HONORS EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM Complete this proposal and upload it in the UHP Database (https://webapps.uc.edu/uchonorsstudent) for review. Create a project (Add a new record) in the Tracking Project tab and then upload your proposal document as an attachment. After making changes, click the E-Mail Advisor button to notify us of your submission. While the quality of the proposal is most important, strong proposals are typically 3-4 pages in length (single-spaced). Basic Information Full Name: Charles McCombs UC Email: mccombcb@mail.uc.edu College: College of Allied Health Science Major: Health Sciences Title of Project: Cincinnati Childrens Hospital/UC College of Medicine (UCCOM) Biomedical

Research Mentoring Program for University Honors Students

Thematic Area (choose only one): Community Engagement, Creative Arts, Global Studies, Leadership, OR Research Expected Project Start Date: 1/21/2013 Expected Project End Date: 4/25/2013 Project Information 1. Provide a detailed abstract of your proposed honors experiential learning project. The Cincinnati Childrens Hospital/UC College of Medicine (UCCOM) Biomedical

Research Mentoring Program for University Honors Students is a program designed to give first and second year undergraduate students an introduction to the research process by matching them with a mentor at UC College of Medicine or Cincinnati Childrens Hospital and Medical Center. I have chosen to take a position with Mindy Engevik at the UC College of Medicine. Between January 16th and April 25th, I will be in the lab twice a week for four hours at a time. Outside of the lab I will be reading related research articles and reflecting on the experience.
In Mindys lab, I will be looking at the effects of knocking out a specific protein channel, Colonic HydrogenPotassium ATPase. This protein channel is an antiport pump in the gastrointestinal tract, it pumps hydrogen out of the cell and potassium into the cell help maintain pH. When this channel does not function properly the individuals in which this pump fails have many problems. The goal of my project is to determine what the effect of knocking out these pumps on mice is, specifically the effects on the gastrointestinal tract as well as the pH, potassium ion levels, sodium ion levels, and chloride ion levels. At this point in time, I plan to go to graduate school to earn a medical doctorate. While I do not currently plan on being a researcher when I graduate, it is essential that I understand the research process because I may choose to enter an MD/PhD program when I enter medical school. These programs are heavily focused on research and most doctors who come out of these programs engage in research as well as clinical practice. For this reason, not only will I learn a great deal about my topic of research, I will also learn whether or not I enjoy the research process and whether or not I would consider it as part of my career in medicine. Clearly and thoroughly address how each of the following elements will be exhibited in your work: 2. Connection to Learning Outcomes within the Honors Thematic Area (identified above) This research experience is the first that I have been involved in. I have a lot to learn, important things such as how to follow lab protocols to the letter, different laboratory techniques and how to analyze the data that I collect. It is also extremely important that I learn why I perform various tests. Often in classroom labs such as physics and chemistry, the background or reason for the experiment is not explained well which makes the person performing the experiment mixing things for no foreseeable reason. I would like to learn why I am performing certain tests, what I am looking for and how it will benefit me to perform the experiment. Just as important as learning technique, is learning how to come up with a research question. To do this, I will address the learning objective Ability to frame and develop the research project question or problem in several ways. My mentor, Mindy, has already picked out a project that she would like me to work on so I would like to figure out why she chose this project over another. Even though I am not picking my project, I will still be learning what goes into making the decision of what the question to research should be. I think that she will be able to explain and have me formulate questions for future research from this project. In that way, I will learn to frame and develop a future research project in the

5 same subject or in another based on the process I learn with Mindy. Because I do have a formal project that I will be gathering data on, I plan to disseminate my research results. In fact that is one of the learning objectives I want to address, Disseminate the research results and knowledge gained. To do this I would like to find an undergraduate research conference that I can submit my project to and take part in. Every few months there is a scientific research presentation for undergraduate students. My goal is to have my project thoroughly researched by the end of March or in early April. Provided that I manage to finish my project I will present my findings at an undergraduate research conference. Whether or not this falls through, I hope to publish a paper on the topic under Mindys guidance. If I can publish my own paper that would be great, but I hope to be a useful member of Mindys lab so that I can be included in some of her future published work. Between a research conference and a published paper, I hope to gain experience in disseminating my research results. This will be a learning experience that I can carry forward as a physician whether or not I participate in research of my own. The final learning objective that I will address is the Ability to think beyond the just completed research and articulate how [my] world view has been impacted by the experience. As an addendum to this research into the protein channel colonic HKATPase and a way to address this learning objective I would like reflect on my career exploration. Similar to my last project, I would like to reflect on whether or not research seems to be a good fit for my future or not. To do this, I will add to the audio blog that I started as part of my last self designed learning experience. I already plan to update this blog over my spring break, on top of that I will add another update at the end of my research this term that will discuss my thoughts towards the research process and whether or not I plan on including research in my career.

3. Connection to Goals and Academic Theories Many different theorists have tried to come up with models to describe how people go about choosing a career. Some say that people simply fall into a career, as suggested by the Happenstance Theory of career choice. Another more common theory suggested by Frank Parson says that for one to choose a career, they must analyze their skills, values, interests and personality and then match those with the careers that use them. More information on each of these theories can be found in the book Theories of Career Development by Samuel Osipow and Louise Fitzgerald. I am choosing to investigate a different theory explained in this book, Donald Supers theory, which says that career choices are made with emphasis on an individuals self concept, which can change over time. Supers theory says that people choose a career that will enable them to express themselves and continue to develop their self identity. Most importantly, Super notes that career development is lifelong and the only way to continue to grow is through experience. Engaging in research will allow me to experience another side of medicine. Some doctors are clinical as well as research physicians, research projects often lead to new methods in clinical practice and research often uses clinical trials to explore a concept more deeply. I will be able to use this experience either as a stepping stone to future projects if I find myself interested in research, or if I find out that research is not for me, I will have discovered it in a safe environment with plenty of time to change my mind about what I would like to do. This project will let me grow and learn more about my career options and what in particular I am interested in. Beyond understanding the direction I would like to go as a professional, I will be able to explore a personal interest of my own. I enjoy learning about human physiology, however, I have never looked so deeply into the physiology of one small part of a whole organ system in the human body. This experiential learning project will allow me to explore both my interest in research as well as my interest in the organ system I will be researching, the gastrointestinal tract. To prepare myself to delve into this project, my mentor has provided me with several articles to help me understand the purpose of my project as well as some of the published information concerning it. The first article, Basolateral ion transporters involved in colonic epithelial electrolyte absorption, anion secretion and cellular homeostasis, by O. Bachmann, M. Juric, U. Seidler, M.P. Manns and H. Yu, provides basic information about ion channels. It discusses the function and regulation of many of the transporters found in native tissue. The other two articles I have are specifically concerned with the knockout mice that I am studying, the Colonic H +-K+-ATPase deficient mice. Throughout the project I hope to read more articles as I begin to understand more of the research process as well as my own project. I hope to be able to compare the data I collect and the methods I that use to collect it with other studies that have been done here at UC and across the published scientific community. 4. Initiative, Independence, and Creativity Initiative: To get into graduate school or to get a job, one must have some sort of experience in the field they want to go in to. One of the ways that I am trying to gain experience is through participating in research. While I did not design or choose the specific research question I am working on, I had to do a lot of work to earn a spot in this mentorship program. The initiative I contributed to this project came from the time I spent writing eight letters of interest as well

as going to seven different interviews in an attempt to be accepted by a research lab. My initiative is what got me the position in this program and in Mindys lab specifically. Independence: In the beginning while I am learning the ropes, I will be fairly dependent on Mindy to explain what is going on and how to do most things in the lab. As the semester progresses, I will gain confidence as well as knowledge about my subject through the experiments I perform and the background reading I do on my subject. As a result I will grow increasingly independent as the semester progresses. I hope to be in the know for my project the whole way through, and eventually come March I hope to be running the experiments that I think are necessary to gather data that I will present in a poster competition at the completion of this experience. Creativity: My creative contributions will increase as my independence in the lab grows. At first I will have little to no creativity in what I do. As the semester of research progresses, I will be able to design my own experiments to gather the data that I need to support the research questions that I choose. 5. Reflection As part of the research I am involved in this semester, I will be keeping a lab manual in which I will record details about the experiment. Details such as the tissue sample type, materials needed and the goal of the experiment will be included, as well as any notes I make on the process. To supplement this and to properly reflect on my first experience in research, I plan to reflect weekly in my lab manual. These reflections will concern the way I felt about various techniques that were involved and how I can see myself grow and progress in the lab. I will articulate these thoughts once each week after my second day in the lab in the form of a journal entry. Beyond this, I would like to add to the audio blog on my own career exploration that I created for my last project. Already I will be adding it over my spring break, when I do so I plan to talk about how the research I am involved in this semester has affected my career decision making. I will record an audio blog entry every other week reflecting on my experiences in the lab. One of the career decisions I will have to make when looking at graduate schools will be to determine if I want to enter into an MD/PhD program or an MD program. In fact, determining the type of program I will enter is one of the reasons that I choose to start research. Considering this, I think it would benefit me greatly to continue adding to my audio blog. 6. Dissemination As I previously stated in my learning objectives, I would like to disseminate my research by entering an undergraduate research conference or poster competition. I have not scouted out a specific conference or poster competition that I would like to go to but thankfully every few months there is a scientific research presentation for undergraduate students in Cincinnati or Columbus. If I do not have the opportunity to enter a poster competition before the semester ends, I would like to find one over the summer that I can enter. Beyond this, I would also like to publish a research paper on my findings. If that is not possible then I hope to have contributed to Mindys projects enough this semester that I can take part in writing a research article for one of her projects. Whether or not that is simply creating tables and figures or contributing data, I hope to be of enough use to have my name published in her paper as well. 7. Project Advisor (list the persons name, title, and contact information) Melinda Engevik

Molecular & Cellular Physiology UC Medical Science Building

513-558-3791 engevima@mail.uc.edu 8. Budget (if applicable)

I will be working in the lab twice a week for 4 hours at a time. This adds up to me working for 104 hours over the 13 weeks while I am involved in this project. Most lab technicians make at least $10 an hour, however, because I have no experience yet I do not expect the same pay. Instead, at minimum wage of $7.85, I would earn $816.40. I plan on walking or taking the shuttle to the Medical Science Building so I will not have any gas cost. I will also be using Mindys supplies for all of my experiments so I will not need any money for research supplies.

These are the only costs I can imagine needing to be covered in my budget. The total amount of money I am requesting for this experience then is $816.40 for my work as a laboratory assistant in Melinda Engeviks lab over the next 13 weeks.