Undergraduate Students Creating
New Knowledge and Works
The Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities program has been established to enable undergraduate students to experience the excitement of creating new knowledge or works. Learn more with the Fall 2011 Newsletter. Like us on Facebook®.
January 2012
Congratulations to the students who were accepted to present at NCUR (http://www.ncur.org). Juan Canales, Melissa Douville, and Deborah Schram were selected in the Linguistics & World Languages category; Maxwell Kenney in History; Raneen Rahhal in Biology; and Carrie Sauer and Elena Brondolo in Psychology.
Congratuations also to the 19 students selected for AYURE awards. Details can be found at the AYURE site.
There are many opportunities for students to present research results and creative activity products this coming spring.
Deadlines for RSCA activities:
- Posters at the Capitol/ "Discovery: An Undergraduate Showcase" (Feb. 29th): January 24, 2012. See the link on the Opportunites for Presentation site for instructions.
-SUNY New Paltz Foundation Board Student Research Showcase (March 15th): February 8, 2012. Click here for instructions.
- Student Research and Creative Activity Showcase/ Presidential Inauguration Event (April 12th): March 3, 2012. Click here for instructions.
-Faculty Mentor Award: April 12, 2012. Click here for the instructions for nominating a mentor.
-SURE 2012: March 28, 2012
-Student Research Symposium (May 4th): April 4, 2012. See Dec. 2011 news (below) for links.
-Fall 2012 AYURE: April 18, 2012
December 2011
Opportunities for student research/ creative activities presentations, spring 2012
STUDENT RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM
The deadline for abstract submissions is April 4, 2012. SRS will be held on May 6th.
CELEBRATION OF WRITING
The deadline for submissions is April 18th, 2012
ACADEMIC YEAR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
The deadlines for these proposals are typically in the 12-13th week of the semester. A second call for fall semester proposals is typically offered early in September.
September 2011
Fourteen SURE students were hard at work all summer. These students are majoring in Anthropology, Art, Art History, Biology, Chemistry, Elementary Education, Geology, Philosophy, Physics, Psychology, and, Theater Arts.
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| Back row: Denee Francese-Smith, Nicholas DiPaolo, Ryan Mitten, Thomas Donovan, Timothy LaSalle Middle row: Shaun Ben-Ari, Sheena Henry , Rebecca Shaw, Eli Mann Front row: Abigail Duckor, Kathleen Hanson, Laura Johnsen, Lauren Piven Not shown: Nathaniel Rigolino Photo credit: Morgan Gwenwald |
The titles of the SURE projects can be found at the SURE web site. The SURE presentations were held September 15th and 24th. You may download the 2011 SURE Abstract Book here.
March 2011
Nominations are being accepted for the Undergraduate Faculty Mentor Award. This award seeks to recognize faculty mentors who have made extraordinary efforts to enable undergraduate(s) in the process of intellectual growth through research, scholarship, and/ or creative experiences outside of the classroom setting. Details of the nomination process can be downloaded here. Letters of nominations are due by April 20, 2011.
May 2011Minds at Work is the student achievement celebration across disciplines. Students of all majors participate in curricular and extra curricular endeavors that result in the production of new knowledge and works. Minds at Work is an opportunity for these students to share their results with the community. Last year, approximately 200 students participated in Minds at Work.Various opportunities are available for students to engage in contemporary activities that are potentially publishable or otherwise communicated in a discipline appropriate fashion. Students participating in these programs should expect to work with a faculty mentor and be actively engaged in a project while gaining hands-on experience. Students may present the results of their work at the campus Student Research Symposium and/or at regional and national meetings.
Click here for the 2011 SRS Abstract Book
Submission deadline: April 1, 2011. Students are asked to submit an abstract describing their project and will present the results of the work in a poster format. During this event, students will be available at the posters to answer questions. All students who have participated with faculty or under faculty supervision in original, independent research, critical reviews, laboratory projects or field studies eligible to present their work. Abstracts are to be submitted at the abstract submission page. New users will need to create a user name. We are offering an abstract writing workshop on March 24th, 12:30- 2p. The abstract writing workshop is interdisciplinary and will include both group and individual exercises designed to help the students write their own abstracts. Students will prepare a draft abstract. Students who are interested in attending this workshop should RSVP to rsca@newpaltz.edu with the subject heading: workshop by March 22, 2011. The location and other details will be provided to the interested students.
Celebration of Writing Submission deadline: April 7, 2011. Students are asked to submit writing samples and read an excerpt of their writing at the event. Awards are given for the best writing in each category. We encourage submissions from students in all disciplines, including science, technology, social science, art, history, education, or other disciplines where writing provides a necessary analysis tool. We welcome critical reviews of arts and cultural activity, social and political analyses, news stories, book reviews, and science reports. Of course, we welcome creative fiction, drama and verse. Additional information and the 2011 COW application can be found at the Writing Board events page.
The RSCA program
New Paltz students have the opportunity to work on projects associated with all majors. To get a sense of the great variety of discoveries and creations that are credited to our students, see the projects that have been funded through the SURE program and the AYURE program. Participate in our celebration of student achievement by visiting the Student Research Symposium page where you can read about recent projects.
The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) describes a faculty mentored undergraduate research experience as a ‘high impact’ learning experience that promotes ‘deep learning’.
Studies have demonstrated that undergraduate researchers:
- show measurable gains in sophistication of epistemological reflection
- experience personal gains in independence and self-confidence
- show gains in career clarification and career preparation
- persist in their pursuit of an undergraduate degree at a higher rate than comparison groups
- pursue graduate education at a higher rate than comparison groups
- experience gains in specific skills such as making use of primary literature, formulating research hypotheses, interpreting data, and communicating the results of research
- as alumni they retrospectively report higher gains than comparison groups in skills such as carrying out research, acquiring information, and speaking effectively
