First Experiences in Research provides opportunities for Arts & Sciences undergraduate students to work with faculty on research projects in subjects across the disciplines.
The class, offered every spring semester, is “premised on the impact of early engagement in research and having a mentored experience with a research faculty member,” explains Peggy Heely, Office of Experiential Learning. “Students meet regularly with their mentor and benefit from having the guidance and support of a professional researcher.”
The Office of Experiential Learning publicizes the First Experiences program each fall, inviting interested undergraduates to submit resumes and view abstracts describing the available research projects. Students select the projects that capture their interests and interview with faculty members for those research projects. Faculty members choose the students who will work with them. Ultimately, students are assigned to research projects that interest and challenge them, and faculty members benefit through mentoring enthusiastic and engaged learners.
The students choose whether to work five hours per week for one academic credit or ten hours per week for two credits. The students also attend bimonthly cohort sessions that prepare them for an end-of-term poster fair, where they display posters that represent the primary purpose of their research projects.
First Experiences in Research helps to clear up misconceptions many students have about research. “Research is a lifelong endeavor and involves a multitude of tasks that many students aren’t aware of,” says Heely. “Since the students receive a piece of a research project to work on, they not only learn about their own piece of the puzzle, but also how their assignment fits into the larger purpose of the project.”
Peter Siska, Chemistry, is a participating faculty mentor this term. Siska, who is working on a photoionization project, is very excited to have a student researcher participate. “My research blends well with what students learn in class,” says Siska. Siska’s student researcher, Trista Polaski, “is able to connect what she’s learned in class and apply those concepts in the lab. It reinforces the knowledge from class, but also gives her a new perspective by actually applying it to a project.”
Polaski explains, “Every time I leave the lab, I feel a little more intelligent than when I walked in. I’ve gained an appreciation for the tedium of experimentation. I would suggest anyone to participate. It’s an eye-opening experience most students across the nation don’t get.”
“The most rewarding aspect of this experience as a mentor is seeing students grow,” says Siska. “They are in a state of uncertainty and doubt when they begin, but as they learn and grow throughout the semester, they gain self-confidence.”
Katie Szokoly is a senior majoring in Nonfiction Writing and is in the Public and Professional Writing Program. She is also a peer tutor at the Writing Center.
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