A course in undergraduate research at a two-year college: Challenges and benefits

SOCED 3

Kaveh Zarrabi, kaveh.zarrabi@csn.edu and Onofrio Gaglione, oggag@aol.com. Department of Physical Sciences, College of Southern Nevada, 6375 West Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89146-1164
The challenges of initiating and maintaining an effective undergraduate research program could be met by a systematic approach. Undergraduate research at the College of Southern Nevada has been offered as a “two consecutive courses” since mid 90s. Each course is offered with variable credits (1-3) per semester, and could be offered by different faculty members in the department. Initiation of undergraduate research at the two- year college setting has its own challenges and benefits. Following is some of the issues that should be considered:

• introduction of undergraduate research course(s) into curriculum

• choosing topics based on department resources and community issues

• team building options within and with other departments

• strategies to be used for student recruitment

• sources of funding available to two-year colleges for instrumentation and research

The challenges as well as the benefits of research in chemistry program at Community College of Southern Nevada will be discussed as a successful model over the last decade.

 

Undergraduate Research at Two-year Colleges
8:25 AM-12:00 PM, Sunday, April 6, 2008 Hilton New Orleans Riverside -- Grand Blrm C, Oral

Society Committee on Education

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008