HR: 0830h
AN: ED11B-0105    [PDF]
TI: Successful Undergraduate Research: Creating Win-Win-Win
AU: * Guswa, A J
EM: aguswa@email.smith.edu
AF: Picker Engineering Program, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063 United States
AU: Rhodes, A L
EM: arhodes@email.smith.edu
AF: Department of Geology, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063 United States
AB: Undergraduate involvement in research has the potential to advance science, enhance education, strengthen the research community, and raise general awareness of the importance and impact of scientific understanding. Rather than being competing objectives, these goals are synergistic. Effective research experiences are those that create win-win-win situations: benefits to the student, benefits to the project, and benefits to the scientific community. When structured appropriately, undergraduate research fits into a learner-centered paradigm that puts emphasis on student learning, rather than instructor teaching. Under such a paradigm the student and professor learn together, constructing knowledge by integrating information with critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, and use this knowledge to address issues in real-life contexts. Creating such a learning environment requires that the professor be vested in the outcome of the research, that the student take a meta-cognitive approach to the project and work at a level appropriate to her abilities, and that the student understand how her contribution fits into the project and the larger field. All of these factors lead to greater independence, confidence, and productivity on the part of the student. By providing undergraduates with these experiences, we introduce not only future scientists but also non-scientists to the excitement of discovery and the value of scientific research. Currently, we involve undergraduates in our research on the hydrology and geochemistry of a tropical montane cloud forest in Monteverde, Costa Rica. At the start of each student's involvement, we provide her with the big picture: our project goals, the relevant social issues, and the importance of watershed research. Each student then articulates her own educational and project objectives. Together, we choose tasks that match her skills and interests with our scholarly work. Specific activities range from literature review to experimental design to installation of field instrumentation to sampling and analysis of data. At the conclusion, each student produces a report on her work along with a written reflection on the value of her experience and how it affected her knowledge, values, and actions. In this learner-centered way, we look to create successful undergraduate research experiences that benefit the student, our project, and the broader scientific community.
DE: 1000 GEOCHEMISTRY (New field, replaces Rock Chemistry)
DE: 1800 HYDROLOGY
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting