Hi David,
I've always been dubious of required senior research courses. At some
places they might work (those places that we all want to be at, with
relatively few, motivated students ;-) but at most places there are many
students that don't really want to put in the time and effort required.
It is hard enough building and maintaining a research program at a PUI
that the additional drain on faculty time and resources can be a serious
problem.
I definitely agree with the value of providing students with research
experiences but lots of folks seem capable of doing that in the setting
of an upper-level laboratory course - perhaps related to, but not
necessarily on the research the faculty member is conducting. The other
issue is that the most successful students start in their sophomore or
junior year and spend at least one summer working full time on the
project. Spending a semester as a senior doesn't give them much time to
develop skills or an interest in the project. If they do it's too late
for us to benefit much from our investment in them!
Jon
> "Robinson, Dr. David" wrote:
>> The Biology Department I work in (a small, private college) currently
> requires all Biology majors to take a 2-credit Senior Research course,
> where they are expected to do independent research under the guidance
> of a faculty mentor. I myself am becoming disillusioned with the
> poor-interest-level that a lot of students have about their research
> (for instance, pre-med students being assigned to me, a Botanist), and
> note the huge gap that exists between the quality of the interaction I
> have with them vs. the interaction I have with students who are
> sincerely interested in the topic. Its really a night-and-day
> difference.
>> The fact that instructors control what grades get awarded, in effect,
> encourages students to study for tests, but how can we "make" a
> student do a good job doing a protein assay, when they are pretty much
> going to get the same grade whether they are conscientious about it or
> not?? Does the faculty member have to stand with them the whole time?
> If so, its not really "independent research" is it?
>> I know that large universities can't afford to require Student
> Research, but offer it as an elective for certain students. What about
> smaller campuses, though? Is Student Research required at smaller
> institutions?...or is it just offered as an elective?
>> Thanks. Dave Robinson, Biology Dept., Bellarmine University,
> Louisville, KY.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jonathan D. Monroe Associate Professor
Department of Biology, MSC 7801 office: 540-568-6649
James Madison University fax: 540-568-3333
Harrisonburg, VA 22807 email: monroejd at jmu.eduhttp://csm.jmu.edu/biology/monroejd/jmonroe.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
---
