The Obvious and Subtle Benefits of Undergraduate Scholarship

1. The Obvious and Subtle Benefits of Undergraduate Scholarship Gina MacDonald James Madison University

2. WHY ? Educate the next generation Generate new knowledge

3. For the Students • Jobs • Graduate and professional schools • Problem solving and creative thinking • Unique skills • Investigation to publication • Student success = Institutional success

4. One on one mentoring & Excitement • Ask current faculty what made the difference in their careers ? • Works for everyone • New assessment on undergraduate research in the sciences overwhelmingly supports benefits for ALL students

5. Debate and Exchange of Ideas • Students present their ideas • Publications • Presentations at regional, national & international meetings • Interactions with experts interested in their projects • Students can go back and test new ideas or discuss alternative ideas – • THINKING

6. Unique benefits from Undergraduate Research • UG research projects increase student learning • Do not have the same pressures • Allows unique flexibility in research and outreach efforts! • Investigate questions a little outside the box • FUN! less rigid = rapid movement to new field • Interdisciplinary - REALLY

7. Students and Interpreters

8. Scholarship Helps to… • Familiarize the next generation of interpreters and educators with the laboratory • Scientists are really not that unusual - collaboration • Encourage ALL students to continue learning • Important experiences for all students • Continuing education opportunities for teachers • opportunity to update and share their skills with high school students and undergraduates

9. Return on Educational Investments • Not always obvious • We need to educate politicians and voters • How science works • Educate students and society

10. How Science Works • Testable Hypotheses • Refine hypotheses based on recent results • Peer reviewed and reproducibility • Basic Research = Applied Research

11. Return on Educational Investments • Similar to science and research funding “There does not exist a category of science to which one can give the name applied science. There are science and the applications of science, bound together as the fruit to the tree which bears it.” …….. Louis Pasteur

12. Why are Education and Research Dollars money well spent ? Our future is dependent on current investments in research and education. We need to have investments in our intellectual capital.

13. How did they know ? • The basic research that made MRI and fMRI possible began in physics laboratories in the early decades of the last century. Those decades included crucial discoveries by physicists and chemists interested in studying the magnetic properties of atoms and molecules, in seeing how they interact, and in elucidating their basic structures. As George Pake, Purcell's second graduate student, put it in 1993, "Without the basic research, magnetic resonance imaging was unimaginable." • http://www.beyonddiscovery.org/content/view.article.asp?a=129 • The National Academies Website

14. Nobel Prize The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2003

15. How do we know ? • Number theory has for centuries been widely regarded as the purest of the pure sciences, but in recent years it has found many applications in computer security. • Studying Insect mating habits and pheromones helps farmers • Who is the next American Nobel Prize winner ? • How do we explain to politicians and the public that we cannot easily predict what research and educational investments will ultimately yield ?

16. HOW ? Its not all about the money

17. Short Answers to Implementation(in addition to or in the absence of extra $$) • Faculty • Passion for scholarship • Integrating research and education • Department • Scheduling and strategic planning • Culture & mission to integrate scholarship & education • Institution • $$, culture, support, services, planning

18. Faculty • The Individual Champion(s) • most likely started research culture • gradually became department culture • energizer bunny who made life easier for us! • Research Active Faculty • year long efforts • externally funded • publish papers • scholarship = education

19. Answers • Scholarship is a PRIORITY • Time to think and read the literature • Collaborations • Conferences • especially smaller conferences • Sabbaticals

20. Cultural Support • Reward successes of students and faculty • Share ideas • Scholar-Teacher model expected and supported • Students expect and value the opportunity to contribute to research projects

21. Integration = RESULTS • Students  • Faculty •  • Increased Infrastructure • undergraduate research & education  • Increased number of educated students

22. What can Faculty Control • Hiring & Tenure • Most important decision • dictate culture of department • Scholarship & publications with undergraduates is expected • Integrate scholarship and coursework • Support Faculty and Student Success – • Celebrate and expect it • Remember: Research IS Education • Time spent on research with undergraduates is time spent educating students

23. Products of research • Added instrumentation and infrastructure for undergraduate projects and laboratories • New curriculum that integrates scholarship • Students better prepared for employment, graduate, professional school and life

24. Evaluating Success • Change in department culture • research is a priority, research is education • Change in university culture • influence other departments • NCUR all disciplines • Increased institutional support • Students can achieve their goals • Educated Americans

25. Summary • Passion for integrating scholarship & education • Benefits students, faculty, institutions and society • More of the public excited about learning and dynamic exchange of ideas facilitates democracy and equality.