Chapter 1
Introduction
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Timothy W. Chapp*,1 and Mark A. Benvenuto2 1520
North Main Street, Department of Chemistry, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania 16335 24001 W. McNichols Road, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, Michigan 48221 *E-mail:
[email protected] Conducting undergraduate research is both challenging and rewarding. However, the path to achieving a thriving research group is not always straightforward. In very general terms, the introductory chapter describes the motivation for carrying out undergraduate research and also highlights some constraints that are institution or subdiscipline specific. The authors of subsequent chapters address these topics in more detail and provide their own unique context.
Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it. — Albert Einstein Professors and research advisors have always endeavored to make the opportunity to gain new knowledge available to their students. However, new knowledge takes different forms. From a student perspective, it comes from reading textbooks and primary literature or attending classes and seminars. Professors share in these activities with their students, but they know that physically taking part in the acquisition of new knowledge through active research is where the true excitement begins. For many, if not all, faculty members research is the source of passion for chemistry, and sharing it with a rising generation of chemists often comprises a substantial part of the decision to pursue a career in the field of undergraduate education. In a traditional classroom setting there is an upper limit on how effectively passion can be communicated and transferred. Frequently it is not until mentor
© 2013 American Chemical Society Chapp and Benvenuto; Developing and Maintaining a Successful Undergraduate Research Program ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2013.
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and mentee share a laboratory space that this transfer, and thus transformation, can take place. Research can easily become the most intense form of education, as the student works one-on-one gaining firsthand experience in the laboratory while learning how to design and carry out new projects. Additionally, involvement in such projects relates the undergraduate student’s education to problems, situations, and a greater understanding of the world. Notably, there is often renewed vigor for learning in the traditional classroom setting as the new researcher realizes that education is not simply a passive activity. In recent years, there has been a growing realization and more formal recognition of the fact that performing real, hands-on research is one of the most effective ways to enhance the learning experience. Few would now argue against the fact that student participation in research improves learning, but how does one provide and implement such an opportunity in a primarily undergraduate environment? At a very basic level, advances in instrumentation and equipment, as well as a change in culture over the past few decades, have made it possible to construct worthwhile undergraduate projects and pursue them to completion. Proof of the former is seen in the way computers have become coupled to instrumentation, so that even less-experienced users — such as new undergraduate researchers — can utilize them and produce meaningful data. Proof of the latter can be seen in the dedicated funding that national agencies and private organizations have made available to researchers at predominantly undergraduate institutions (PUI) (1, 2). However, just because the instrumentation and funding exist to carry out undergraduate research projects does not mean that every institution will be able to access these resources. In a general sense progress has been promising, but it must be acknowledged that each PUI brings with it a certain set of challenges and opportunities. These are influenced by several factors including, but not limited to, a curricular framework for training undergraduate researchers, student demographics, available instrumentation, and institutional support. It is unlikely that any PUI has the perfect combination of the above factors, therefore this book seeks to provide information and first-hand accounts of how other successful educators have met the challenges presented by their institutions. Within the following chapters there are a variety of answers to the question posed above. A handful of the authors describe departmental approaches whereby progress toward research excellence is a built-in learning outcome for most if not all courses. Summer research is encouraged and there is often a culminating senior project with which students have the opportunity to demonstrate the new knowledge they have acquired in the classroom and the research laboratory. Such an approach requires like-minded faculty who are dedicated to such a curriculum, as well as significant investment of institutional and external resources. The examples that fall into the category above have reached “critical mass” to sustain momentum and provide research opportunities to many if not all of their undergraduate students. It is clear that such transformations do not occur overnight. At the department level it can take a decade or more of persistent work to establish a thriving research culture at an undergraduate institution. Moreover, once that culture is established, the effort must be maintained to build on the momentum for future students. 2 Chapp and Benvenuto; Developing and Maintaining a Successful Undergraduate Research Program ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2013.
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These chapters and additional ones provide starting points for developing such a culture at the department level. In several cases the starting point is redesigning introductory or research methods courses to place a stronger emphasis on authentic research and its associated skills. In other cases the establishment of a thriving research group by one faculty member is the catalyst for initiating the departmental transformation. There are also several examples of how to set up an undergraduate research group in departments that place a heavy emphasis on research, and those that place less emphasis on research. Many of these offer roadmaps for developing interdisciplinary research groups or translating resource-intensive graduate-level research to an environment that is resource-restrictive. In still other cases the research has an experiential learning component. For many of the above examples the departmental/institutional role is not always obvious and may not be influential or important. This is a reminder that undergraduate research need not be “institutional” to be successful. In summary, successful undergraduate research can be accomplished in a variety of different ways and the pages that follow are an example of that. They are also an example of the dedication of faculty members who have committed themselves to undergraduate teaching and research. One of the strengths of this book is the breadth of the contributing voices and writing styles. This stems in part from the nature of the subject matter and the fact that, in some instances, the topic lends itself to a less formal scientific style. As one contributing author put it: “I have authored a chapter before, but it was all filled with equations and reactions, etc. This was in many ways more difficult.” The result is that certain chapters have a greater degree of anecdotal advice that gives the feel of an impromptu conversation in the hallway between colleagues, while others have a more formal tone that is reminiscent of a traditional book chapter. As editors we perceived both styles to be equally valuable. Just as there is no one right way to carry out undergraduate research, so too is the case with writing about it. In this way, we hope to appeal to the broadest range of readers. This book is based on the symposium “Developing and Maintaining a Successful Undergraduate Research Program,” which was presented as part of the programming of the Division of Chemical Education at the 245th National Meeting, in New Orleans, Louisiana, in March of 2013. Several excellent talks were given that outlined and discussed both the challenges and the rewards of building and maintaining a research group with predominantly undergraduate students. It is our hope that this volume will serve as a guide and aid to others who wish to pursue research in this way.
References 1. 2.
National Science Foundation, Specialized Information for Undergraduate Students. http://www.nsf.gov/funding/education.jsp?fund_type=1. Council on Undergraduate Research. http://www.cur.org/.
3 Chapp and Benvenuto; Developing and Maintaining a Successful Undergraduate Research Program ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2013.
