1. Aaron Ohta University of Hawaii (UH)
Keywords: vertically integrated projects, VIP, project-based learning, undergraduate research
Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program at the University of Hawaii
Aaron Ohta
University of Hawaii (UH)

2. Why? Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program VIP Advantages:
Project-based teams consisting of a faculty mentor, graduate student researchers, and undergraduates from the freshman to senior levels
Teams are large (10 to 20 undergraduates each semester)
Projects are long-term (at least 5 years) and based on externally funded research topic
Undergraduates in VIP teams earn academic credit for their participation
VIP Advantages:
Increased student engagement on campus
Workforce development (teamwork, project-based work environment)
Increased research productivity
Educational objectives
Expand the VIP Program to include more teams (currently have eight teams)
Expand the range of disciplines involved (currently: Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Information and Computer Sciences)
Quantify the educational experience that VIP students receive, and maximize the benefits for the students

3. When? VIP developed by Ed Coyle (Georgia Tech) in 2006
VIP Consortium began in January 2015
UH VIP Program began in January 2015
Spring 2015: 3 teams, 70 students
Fall 2015: 7 teams, 121 students
Spring 2016: 8 teams, 145 students

4. Where? VIP Consortium: 21 institutions worldwide
All students on VIP teams earn academic credit
VIP course series created at UH
Freshman VIP course
Sophomore VIP course
Junior VIP course
Senior VIP course still under development
Arizona St.
Morehouse
UC Davis
Boise St.
Nat’l Dong Hwa (Taiwan)
U. Delaware
Colorado St.
Nat’l Ilan (Taiwan)
U. Hawaii
Florida Int’l.
NYU Tandon
U. Michigan
Georgia Tech
Purdue
U. Strathclyde (UK)
Howard
Rice
U. Washington
Inha (Korea)
Texas A&M
Virginia Commonwealth

5. What?
Increase the publicity of the UH VIP Program by holding public VIP poster session
Current VIP students will be asked to present their work at this public forum
Addresses Outcomes 1, 2, and 3
Increase the variety of student majors in VIP through a grassroots campaign
Current VIP students will be asked to recruit their friends and acquaintances in other majors
Spreading information about program to faculty in various colleges
Addresses Outcome 2
Evaluate the student experience
Create surveys for students to quantify their VIP experience
Create exit surveys to track where the students end up after graduating
Addresses Outcome 3
Create portable learning modules that can used across all UH VIP projects, and possibly any project in the VIP Consortium.
Review of the scientific method and experimental planning
How to do literature searches
How to read research papers

6. Prognosis? How are you documenting impact?
Student surveys
How do you plan to scale-up?
Institutionalization needed; this is complicated…
What challenges are you currently facing?
Scaling up, long-term sustainability
What advice would you like from others at FOEE?
Institutionalization of educational programs
Team management practices, especially in peer-managed team
Best practices in team formation
Fostering good team dynamics