The purpose of the Project BioEYES Outreach Program is to foster an enthusiasm for science education, promote interest for future participation in a biology-related field, and allow all students the opportunity to learn life science through a hands-on, student-centered approach to instruction. In the 7 years since the program's inception, we have studied our growth and impact in and out of the classroom. Our model of promoting science education through a University-K12 partnership is exemplified by Project BioEYES success in multiple cities. This effort has allowed students to perform real experiments as lead scientists in their own classrooms. The University-K12 partnership model has also provided teachers with the training and skills needed to facilitate their teaching of the experimental process by integrating complex scientific concepts into the classroom setting. Our demonstrated success with Project BioEYES in a number of large public school districts supports our effort to disseminate Project BioEYES both nationally and internationally.

Career professionals who serve as adjunct faculty at the university level are expected to engage in continual research and publishing to maintain their status as adjunct (part-time) faculty, to be considered for potential advancement, and to qualify for additional compensation.  One way of meeting this objective is to participate in online collaborative research projects benefiting from a set of multiple lenses, multiple insights, and a multitude of considerations in regard to design, methodology, data interpretations, and broader reaching implications.  A narrative inquiry approach was applied to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of adjunct faculty working in online collaborative research teams. Data was gathered through phone interviews where adjunct faculty shared their personal experiences and reflections about working as collaborative researchers in an online environment. Using an inductive process, themes were drawn from the responses of the participants to address the research question. The dominant themes found were organizational skills, interpersonal skills, and personal growth and development. The results of the study led to recommendations for supporting adjunct faculty in online collaborative research for building a sense of scholarly community and expanding opportunities for personal professional growth.