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.