Figure 2: Team Science course participants (n = 12 respondents,
representing 80% of the 15 total students who were enrolled) were
assessed based on their feelings of inclusion and connectedness to other
students and other AIMS team members. Data provided by Dr. Eric Welch,
external evaluator of the AIMS project.
Panel 1: The major product of the Team Science class (worth
30% of overall grade) was to develop and refine a conceptual model
connecting the student’s interests to the larger design of the AIMS
project. The first draft was due at Week 7 of the semester, which was
also the point of the first in-class workshop/feedback session. A
revision was due at Week 11, when a second workshop/feedback session was
held. The final drafts were due in Week 15, which coincided with the
virtual AIMS All Hands Meeting. Students presented their refined
conceptual models to the entire project to introduce themselves and
their interests to the larger AIMS network. Iterative feedback allowed
the students to get to know each other, as well as gave experience with
explaining their ideas to students outside of their direct area of
interest. This resulted in the refinement of conceptual models between
the first draft (A) and final draft (B), as shown in this example of a
conceptual model for a Team Science student interested in the effects of
flow intermittency on stream macroinvertebrates.