Dear Fellow Vipers
My college, SUNY Potsdam, is in the middle of a 5 years Title III grant which intends to implement research into a classroom setting. The rational behind the proposal is by implementing research into the classroom, students would become more actively engaged and excited by the material. Two questions have arisen time and again with the ongoing dialog. 1. What is the definition of "research" and 2. how does one implement research into the curriculum. The definition of research tends to vary within different disciplines from having students poll local residents on a subject and writing a report to the actual publication of the data in a respectable journal. Has anyone implemented this strategy into the classroom setting and would you consider the results promising or a work in progress.
Sincerely,
Cliff
Dear Cliff,
We've been having similar conversations in the sciences here given how many students want to have some kind of research opportunity before they graduate. Lately we seem to have more students wanting to do research than faculty can logistically take in their labs. I will be interested to hear what people post.
I do know a colleague in geology who has done research-type projects with classes like groundwater geology. He's done projects with local towns looking at well water and things like that. Our Engineering program has a senior "design clinic" where students work on projects with groups from outside the college. But, as you say, this kind of thing does vary between disciplines.
Betsy