Undergraduate Research As Chemical Education A Symposium
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Undergraduate Research from the Perspective of a young Faculty Member Nancy S. Mills Trinity University, San Antonio. TX 78284 Although undergraduate research is usually considered as an integralpart of a student's education, i t is also important in the continuing education of faculty memhers. Effective college teaching cannot he sustained without the continual reinvenation of research. --,-. The advantages of research to teaching are evident in two maior areas. The aualitv . .. of the material presented is enhanced if i t reflects the awareness of current interpretations. In addition. research fuels a facultv member's excitement with chemistry and renews his or her enthusiasm. The enthusiasm should soill over into the classroom, even thourh the hulk of mnterial'tauxht is not germanc 10 the research. Whcn I am excited a h w t mv work. I find that I want to make my students excited too, ahout whatever we are discussing. In addition, actually doing research ourselves and with undergraduates givrs 1;s a fresh appreciation oirhe quality of exnerimentnl data, thr drsirn of experiments, and the nature ofbur science. For example, reproducibility means more to a student after he or she has provided some hard-won knowledge about the products and yields of a novel reaction. One could argue that for the new faculty memher the stimulation and habits of graduate school are still recent enough to sustain one's standing as a scientist, and that the primary challenge is to prepare for courses and learn to teach. Speaking from the perspective of a new faculty member, why does one need to get started immediately in undergraduate research? ~
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Benefits for the New Faculty Member A major reason for starting research as early as possible is to enable one to he active in research 15or 20 years from now. Representatives of the Petroleum Research Fund and the Research Corporation stress the importance of submitting proposals within two or three years of starting a teaching career. A faculty memher with several years of teaching and no puhlications is in a weakend position to pursue a research grant. Reviewers interpret an absence of puhlications as evidence of a lack of discipline or interest. Research and puhlication of necessity require a lengthy time sequence in a fouryear college. If one wants to have the opportunity to do research, one needs to start early. As an aside, pmsessing a grant often encourages a faculty memher in research efforts because he or she hates to think of losing the initiative in research made possible by grant funds. Bwn in Oscwia. Nebraska in 1950. Nancy S. Mills was graauated horn Grinnell College in 1972where she did research wim G. G. Wubbels which was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 1973. She completed her PhD with Roben Batesat the Universityof Arizona in 1976, and held postdoctoral or faculty appointments atthe Illinois Institute 01 Technology and Carleton College before assuming her current appointment at Trinity University where she is Associate &of01 Chemisw. The reciplem of fourresearch grants since 1978, her research with undergraduates on Y-aromatic stabilization of carb-
anions has produced two publications.
There are other less obvious benefits to the new faculty memher. When a proposal is funded or a paper is accepted, the author is immediately plugged into a network. He or she is asked to review other proposals or referee other papen. This exposure to similar work in the field introduces the faculty member to new ideas and colleagues. Perhaps more importantly, analyzing a paper or proposal critically refines one's own thinking. One gets a hetter sense of what makes a good proposal by seeing H variety oigrant propowli. Another b n r f i t of propmal writing stems from the fact that the more knowiedgahle m e is ahout the systrm, thr more comfortahlv conne&ions can be made with other researchers. People from funding agencies srpm anxious to maintain ties wlth active and interested manwes. Throueh them the iarultv member meets others witcmutual interests and learns ah& new research efforts or new funding restrictions.
