Academic Components
Through the Moravian Integrated Learning Environment (MILE) general education program, students will enroll in a paired writing course and research and professional development course structured around a research project with student-collected data addressing real-world issues in their community.
A third course on research communication will bring together scholars from multiple cohorts and will be taken during the spring of freshman, sophomore, and junior year. Other activities throughout their four years of study will promote cohort building and a sense of belonging and involvement in their chosen field of study.
Other activities include participating in a summer research experience after sophomore or junior year, presenting at STEM conferences on and off campus, and integrating Moravian’s general education curriculum with one’s major and career goals. Scholars will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in their science discipline with the ability to use quantitative skills in their respective fields and to conduct scientific research, developing the confidence in their major and profession. They will understand the connections between their formal education and intended career path, and have transferable and leadership skills for an ever-changing career landscape.
Paired Courses on Writing and Research
- The first-year writing course focuses on writing, critical thinking, and information/digital literacy, and includes field trips to learn first-hand from local community partners. Place-based and community-driven learning featuring local, regional, and national cases will heighten the course’s relevance. The instructor, Kate Brandes, has more than 20 years of work experience as a geologist and environmental scientist, teaches biology and English courses, and is a published novelist.
- The first-year research course will have students develop projects requiring them to interact with data sets and learn quantitative skills. Students will devise a research question based on a topic that matters to them personally and relates to their home community. They will become comfortable with research and data by starting with small sets of data that they collect from their own personal community before looking at bigger data sets that are related to their interests in science. Both data sets will help students to explore quantitative approaches to analyzing and interpreting data.
- To increase student engagement with their projects as well as highlight communal goals and values in science, students will be encouraged to interact with their families and other members of their communities to collect data, complete assignments, and communicate their findings. A reception highlighting their research will be held at the semester’s end with students, their families, and communities. The instructor, Sarah Johnson, is a faculty member in the psychology department and neuroscience program and teaches research methods and statistics courses. She mentors students in individual research from both programs, and her own research focuses on stereotyping and particularly gender and race bias in science.
Research and Professional Development Course
- The research-communication course taken during the spring semester in freshman, sophomore, and junior year will prepare students for STEM professions focusing on communication of research results to a STEM audience and to the public.
- This spring-semester course will help with connecting one’s formal education and career path in STEM, and with developing transferable leadership and communication skills for an ever-changing career landscape. It will include professional training focused on career development and public speaking.
- The instructor, Shari Dunham, is a member of the chemistry department and mentors students on research projects involving biochemistry and cancer research.
To culminate their four years at Moravian in their major field, scholars will describe the connections between their major and their summer research experience with the assistance of their major advisor. They’ll also reflect on their professional development, including their experiences presenting at conferences, and explain how the general education curriculum ties into their chosen field of study. Scholars will finalize the reflective digital portfolio that they have been developing since the first year.
Beyond the Classroom
As part of the HERITAGE Scholarship Program, scholars are presented with opportunities for research, professional development, and networking.
All Moravian students have opportunities beyond the classroom for research-based transformative engagement experiences. One such experience is the SOAR program—Student Opportunities for Academic Research. The goal is for students to engage with changing, interdependent social and/or natural environments as informed, well-rounded contributors to local and/or global communities and cultures. As part of the HERITAGE Scholarship Program, scholars receive funds and are guaranteed a summer research experience.
Present at Research Conferences
ƽ values the learning experience that students gain by participating in undergraduate conferences. Scholars will be encouraged to present at disciplinary conferences—Moravian students routinely present at the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research, and at Undergraduate Research at the Capitol in (Harrisburg) Pennsylvania. Travel grants available from the SOAR program and other endowed funds help offset travel costs and the HERITAGE Scholarship Program has budgeted for each scholar to take one trip to a professional conference where they will present their research.
Social events will be held for all S-STEM scholars to facilitate interaction amongst the student groups. Every fall, Moravian holds a campus-wide Family Day in which scholars can share the campus, HERITAGE Scholarship Program, and first-year projects with their families. Picnics, potlucks, and outings will offer a place for informal interactions and networking. Families will be invited to campus for events to encourage students to integrate their home communities, identities, and heritage with their growing ƽ identity.
Academic Support Programs
ƽ offers various resources to assist scholars during their college journey.
Laurie Riley ’82 Center for Career Success
The Center for Career Success collaborates with campus and community partners to lead students and alumni on a journey of self-discovery and connection-building.
Center for Inclusive Excellence
The Center for Inclusive Excellence provides mentoring and guidance, strives to improve student outcomes, helps students to embrace their identity and form a community within the campus, and empowers students to take on leadership roles and to identify needs for their community.
Quantitative Resource Center
The QRC makes available peer educators associated with STEM fields to assist with calculus, statistics, and other mathematical and quantitative skills. One quantitative peer mentor will be specifically allocated for the first-year paired research course.
Academic Support Office
The Academic Support Office helps students by bringing together academic advising, tutoring, peer-assisted learning, writing support, and pre-college and first-year student general education programming. Each scholar will have a member from their career success team from the Academic Support Office as well as Shari Dunham as an advisor until they declare a major, at which point the student will transition to an advisor from the major department.
Faculty Mentors
Each scholar will perform research under a mentor in their declared major. The following faculty have committed to serving as research mentors:
- Chris Jones (Biological Sciences)
- Sara McClelland (Biological Sciences)
- Josh Lord (Biological Sciences & Environmental Science)
- Daniel Proud (Biological Sciences & Environmental Science)
- Cecilia Fox (Biological Sciences & Neuroscience)
- Steve Dunham (Chemistry)
- Alison Holliday (Chemistry)
- Shari Dunham (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
- Jeff Bush (Computer Science & Data Science)
- Ben Coleman (Computer Science & Data Science)
- Nathan Shank (Mathematics)
- Sarah Johnson (Neuroscience)
- Kelly Krieble (Physics & Earth Sciences)
- Keith Wood (Physics & Earth Science)
In addition, each scholar will have a wellness mentor who will engage with students to assist with mental and physical well-being. The wellness mentor will be a faculty member who matches the student’s demographics and/or discipline who will schedule two check-ins per semester.
Questions?
Kelly Krieble
Associate Professor of Physics
krieblek@moravian.edu
ƽ Heritage
ƽ’s heritage arises from its founder, John Amos Comenius, a bishop in the Moravian Church in the 17th century and considered the “Father of Modern Education.” Comenius affirmed the importance of education for all when he said, “Not the children of the rich or of the powerful only, but of all alike, boys and girls, both noble and ignoble, rich and poor, in all cities and towns, villages and hamlets, should be sent to school.” A statue in the heart of campus commemorates Comenius, signifying that his views represent those of the university. Founded in 1742, Moravian is the nation’s sixth-oldest academic institution. The city of Bethlehem, which includes some buildings on campus, has been named as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its Moravian Church Settlements, further strengthening the heritage of ƽ. The institution also celebrates its own version of Heritage Day and Founders Day each fall semester.