MOTIVATING UNDERGRADUATES ENGAGING IN REAL WORLD RESEARCH

Quality education and engagement of students in scholarly learning and real world research are the keys for students’ success in their four year college education and their future service to society. The traditional style of higher education, what is so called “feed-and-take”, has proven ineffective at engaging students in learning due to the lack of hands-on participation and immediate real world application. Process oriented teaching and learning in geosciences has attracted great attention and enhanced students’ critical thinking skills, but there is still a great need to motivate students on their practice of scientific inquiry by engaging them in real world research that is directly linked to their broader community and society.

A real world research project, investigating the transport and retention of arsenic in groundwater in Southwestern Taiwan where Blackfoot disease was found half a century ago, was conducted. Seventeen students (from two different classes Applied Hydrogeology and Aqueous and Contaminant Geochemistry) analyzed 15 sediment samples in order to relate the physical and chemical properties of the sediments to the presence and state of arsenic in the sediments using hydrogeological and geochemical techniques and methods. Through the group research students gained practical skills related to investigation of contaminant in subsurface soils and groundwater, developed teamwork and communication skills related to shared duties and responsibilities, and increased their critical thinking skills linking the higher arsenic level in groundwater with the community for better science education. The assessment of this work includes individual project reports, a post-survey of students after graduation, and a peer-reviewed scientific publication (Manuscript under review).