AN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FORUM AS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES MAJORS

A new undergraduate research forum in Spring 2006 in The Ohio State University's College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MAPS) provided students in Geological Sciences a venue for presenting their research to OSU's scientific community. Students majoring in or doing research in the physical and mathematical sciences presented their research in an afternoon poster session sponsored by the College. Thirty MAPS students, half of them doing research in or majoring in Geological Sciences, participated. Most Geological Sciences students presented their B.S. thesis research but a few students minoring in or doing research in Geological Sciences presented their research. Geology presentations ranged widely, including such topics as Ice-Rafted Debris as a Paleoclimatic Proxy for the North Atlantic for the Last One Million Years, Redox State of Earth's Mantle at 650 my BP based on a Study of Dikes, Penguin Diversity and the Effects of Climate Change on Speciation, and Geochemistry of Stream Sediments and Weathering in a Tropical Watershed. Students presenting also ranged widely in their experience, from sophomores who had newly learned an analytical technique, to graduating seniors who had been working in research labs for more than two years. At OSU, only honors students formally defend their thesis research. Among MAPS students, only do Geological Sciences B.S. majors write a thesis as a requirement for a non-honors degree; non-honors physics, chemistry, math, etc. students generally do not write theses. The research forum thus provided to a broad group of students an opportunity to present their research. Formal pedagogy associated with the research forum included a workshop on poster preparation for Geological Sciences students. More informally, faculty advisors and graduate students consulted with and advised undergraduates on analyzing their results and presenting their findings. Widely favorable feedback from both students and faculty after the research forum suggests that this is an attractive and low-cost, effective pedagogical method for students to learn about the final chapter in a research project—presenting one's results.