Working Across Disciplines
In the fast-paced and often competitive realm of faculty research, interdepartmental coordination can become a rarity, especially across diverse disciplines. For one scholarly partnership at Lubbock Christian University, however, such collaboration has been a boon to faculty researchers and their students.
Data analysis can be a major element of in-depth research, and in projects involving large amounts of statistical input, the task of disseminating that data can be daunting, as Dr. Julie (Maxcey, '89) Marshall, Chair of LCU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, can attest.
“You can receive a spreadsheet with thousands of lines of data to analyze and try and understand the relationship between variables. This is not an easy task. How will the data be treated to make comparisons ‘apple-to-apple?’ Which variable changes are most critical to understanding a trend? What are best practices related to comparing sets of numbers? What is the best way to visualize changes other than just a correlation chart? Instinctively, I understand relationships and what data to collect,” she added, “but making conclusions from that data accurately and with repeatability is daunting.”
It was precisely because of this challenge that she decided to reach out for help from a couple of her colleagues, Dr. Ashley (Ray, '10) Cherry, an Associate Professor of Mathematics, and Dr. Brian Fisher, a Professor of Mathematics.
“The idea for the project began over a lunch provided by the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship,” explained Dr. Fisher. “Through that conversation with Dr. Cherry and Dr. Marshall, we came to realize that faculty members across campus have data sets that need analysis. This led Dr. Cherry and me to start exploring ways that we could use our skills in mathematics to work alongside our colleagues across campus.”
The process is more involved than the simple data drop-off, as Dr. Marshall explained. “Typically, the 3 of us meet together to discuss the data set and what expectations I have with respect to the type of analysis that would be productive,” she shared. “They crunch the numbers, and we review the data. After several rounds, we have come up with standard treatments and visualization methods.”
“After helping Dr. Marshall with data analysis a few times, Dr. Fisher and I realized that students could benefit from doing this type of research as undergraduates,” shared Dr. Cherry.
“One way this occurred was to begin a special topics course called Advanced Stats & Data Analysis, in which we immerse our students in actual data gathered by LCU researchers and give them a chance to organize the data, perform statistical analysis, and then communicate their findings,” added Dr. Fisher.
“Any student who has taken the probability and statistics course is allowed to enroll for this class,” Dr. Cherry continued. “We recruit professors from across campus to share their research data with our students. Dr. Julie Marshall, Dr. Doug Swartz, Dr. Cathy Box, and Professor Jessica Rogers have visited our class to explain their research projects and share their spreadsheets and what types of information they are hoping to discover. Dr. Fisher and I then lead the students through the process of dealing with real world data.”
Dr. Marshall explained that the collaboration has yielded numerous presentations and papers, including the following:
- “Proteomic Analysis of Raw and Roasted Arachis hypogaea Seeds”, A. Cherry, B. Fisher, M. Gilliam, C. Liebold, and J. Marshall, APRES, July 14th, 2021, virtual attendance.
- “Proteomic Analysis of Arachis hypogaea Seeds from Different Maturity Classes”, J.A. Marshall, A. Cherry, B. Fisher, W.D. Branch, H. Molina, C. Liebold, APRES, July 13th, 2022, Dallas, TX.
- “Proteomic Analysis of Arachis hypogaea Seeds from Different Maturity Classes”. A. Cherry, B. Fisher, W.D. Branch, C. Peralta, M. Gilliam, O. Pahom, C. Liebold, and J.A. Marshall, Plants, 2024, in progress. Invited to submit it for publication.
The collaboration has also led directly to multiple student projects.
“Students make written reports and present their findings to the professor,” shared Dr. Cherry. “Students also are expected to give a presentation of their findings at the LCU Scholars Colloquium. This is a great experience for the students, and it helps us introduce our math and pre-engineering majors to undergraduate research. Students see how statistics are used in a variety of fields such as biochemistry, education, natural sciences, and the scholarship of teaching and learning.”
“A recent graduate that was one of our double majors (math and chemistry), Truett Corder (‘24), worked with Dr. Cherry on methods to analyze DNA sequencing data,” shared Dr. Marshall. “How do we know the data is ‘good’ and what quality control parameters should be in place when we view the data?”
Dr. Cherry believes that the interdepartmental nature of their partnership has been beneficial across the board. “I know this collaboration has increased the level of scholarship in the math department, and students outside of our department have taken the course and benefited from it as well,” she explained. “When we work with colleagues outside our department, we are challenged to learn new things and to grow in our scholarship, and we stay engaged with the rest of campus. Our work is more meaningful when we work together and help each other succeed, and I've loved getting to know so many wonderful members of LCU's faculty through these projects.”
One of the key factors involved in fostering this development is LCU’s Center for Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship (CTLS), directed by Dr. Cathy Box. The CTLS is an LCU platform for faculty and staff to explore innovations in education, enhance their scholarship endeavors, and discover ways to meet the demands of 21st century learners.
“The CTLS was a major part of this collaboration,” Dr. Cherry emphasized. “Dr. Fisher and I were participating in the Writing Scholars Program developed by Dr. Box when we first met with Dr. Marshall. Dr. Box had invited her to come speak at the writing retreat about the writing and publishing process, and our discussion led to meeting with Dr. Marshall about her peanut data, and everything unfolded from there.”
“It is impressive to witness the level of collaboration that is occurring in research between the Departments of Mathematics and Chemistry and Biochemistry at LCU,” shared Dr. Toby Rogers, Dean of the B. Ward Lane College of Science and Health Professions. “Not only is this collaboration advancing scholarship for our faculty, but it is also growing scholarship amongst our undergraduate students in a unique way. Having these students involved in problem solving, organizing, analyzing, and communicating these big research data sets is helping them develop skills that will prepare them well for employment in industry or graduate school pursuits.”
“I’m thankful for the high-level of student mentorship from Dr. Marshall, Dr. Fisher, and Dr. Cherry represented by these projects,” Dr. Rogers added. “It demonstrates the best in creativity, innovation, and high-impact experiences that faculty at Lubbock Christian University strive to provide our students.”