School of Arts and Sciences

First Experiences in Research

First Experiences in Research (ARTSC 0120) provides undergraduates with the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge research with faculty in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

Goal

The goal of First Experiences in Research is to provide undergraduates with an initial experience of engagement in faculty research within the context of a one-on-one faculty mentorship. 

Objectives

  • Students receive orientation and training for the particular part of the research projects in which they will be involved.
  • Each student meets regularly with the faculty mentor and works on the research project for five to 10 hours per week.
  • Students meet every other week as a group to explore topics about research and scholarship including presenting a research project.

Background and Rationale

A notable change in our entering students in recent years is the extent to which they expect to be engaged in research, and the extent to which they plan to pursue graduate and professional schools upon graduation. In a recent survey, 50 percent of the freshmen indicated that they expected to work on a research project with a faculty member outside of course requirements, and more than 80 percent said they planned to attend graduate or professional school upon graduation. First Experiences can assist students in achieving these goals.

The success of the program rests upon faculty commitment to incorporate undergraduate students in their research environment. We believe that faculty mentorship of a student researcher can be a rewarding experience and one that can have an immediate impact on first year students' satisfaction with the University. Faculty mentorship has also been proven to be a major influence on students' research and career goals as well as academic achievement.

Role and Responsibilities of a Faculty Mentor

  • Incorporate the student (s) into his or her scholarly pursuits in a meaningful way.
  • Meet one-on-one with students on a regular basis to provide feedback about their progress and contributions to the project.
  • Provide appropriate orientation and training specific to the project, including background reading about the research topic, an introduction to the research hypothesis, and previous research conducted on the research topic to date.
  • Provide a means for students to track their hours and work accomplished.
  • Provide an evaluation of the student’s work at the end of term to enable a grade of satisfactory (S) or not satisfactory (NC) to be assigned.

Role and Responsibilities of the Student

  • Work for five hours per week or 10 hours per week on the research. 
  • Register for one academic credit if working five hours per week, or two academic credits, if working 10 hours per week.
  • Students who have qualified for Federal Work Study as part of their financial aid package may elect to receive a work-study wage (paid through OEL).
  • Attend bi-weekly cohort session and participate in poster presentation.

Role and Responsibilities of the Office of Experiential Learning (OEL)

  • Publicize and promote First Experiences program to freshmen.
  • Identify faculty mentors.
  • Obtain research project descriptions and post for Web access by students.
  • Facilitate faculty/student interviews and assignment of students to faculty projects.
  • Facilitate student registration in ARTSC 0120.
  • Administer payment of work-study wages.
  • Facilitate student access to skill building workshops, consultation, and referral to on-campus resources as requested by faculty mentors.
  • Director, as instructor of record, enters students’ grades into PeopleSoft based on faculty evaluations.
  • Student commitment based on 10 hours per week over 14 weeks = 140 hours.
  • 95 percent of commitment is to the research project and faculty mentorship; 5 percent to cohort sessions.
  • Student commitment based on five hours per week over 14 weeks = 70 hours.
  • 90 percent of commitment is to the research project and faculty mentorship; 10 percent to cohort sessions.

Cohort Session Topics  (seven hours total over the term)

Session 1 [Week of January 14]: orientation, keeping a research notebook/log, registration

Session 2 [Weeks of January 21 and January 28]: information seeking and bibliographic skill building—students working on social sciences and humanities projects attend sessions at Hillman Library; students working on natural or computational projects attend sessions at Eberly Library

Session 3 [Week of February 4]: reading scholarly and peer reviewed papers

Session 4 [Weeks of February 18]: how to write an abstract /how to create and critique a poster

Session 5 [Week of March 3]: peer review of abstracts

Session 6 [Week of March 24]: presenting your research: prepare and practice oral presentations in small groups

Session 7 [Week of April 14]: First Experiences in Research poster session

 

If you would like more information please contact the Office of Experiential Learning at 624-5386 or stop by B-4 Thaw Hall.

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