CURRICULUM DESIGN WITH SUCCESSFUL UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROJECTS AS A GOAL
After several years of working with students in the program we discovered that though we provide them with the “tools in their toolbox” to do research, we failed to give all of them the guidance in how to use those tools in a logical way to complete an undergraduate research project during their senior year. Thus in 2010 we redesigned the program and added Field Methods and Data Analysis into the required courses. It previously was an elective.
The new course is designed to guide students through research design while looking at applying statistical methods to data sets. This takes students through the process of asking how many samples they need to collect to have a statistically sound result. They work through each others ideas for projects and make suggestions. As a group, they discover the challenges of designing a meaningful research project that also piques their individual interests.
During the course, the student learn how to apply field methods for different studies and how to work up data sets, all the while thinking about designing their own research study. They discover that data collection is a time consuming task and without a lot of planning can be an exercise in frustration.
To date, thirty-one students have graduated from the program. Fifteen of those completed this course. Eight are in graduate school. The rest are working in the field. We found that by showing the students how to use all of the tools such as statistics, sample collection and data analysis that this helped students design a meaningful but not overwhelming research project.