Is poverty a factor in the way parents speak to their children? How long does it take for farm-raised fish to adjust to predators? What kind of Research goes into producing a play? These were among of the projects that students presented at Thinking Matters, the third annual presentation of student research and scholarship.
Formerly known as “Poster Day,” the conference has evolved from simple poster presentations to include lectures and roundtables. The presentations used to be mostly science studies, but this year the conference expanded into the humanities.
“Next year we want the conference to span a week, with musical events in Gorham,” said Sharon Lock, coordinator of Undergraduate Research Initiatives, “we’re taking it in steps.”
Building a culture of student research is another goal. Lock believes that research and teaching are complementary and students may learn better from doing hands on work than sitting in a classroom.
“They are basically mimicking what a scientist does,” said biology professor Chris Maher, who helped 12 of her students design and research their projects. She said that often students choose to do the poster presentation because they think it will be easy, but learn quickly that it’s not. A lot of planning and work is involved and students must be more succinct because there’s less room to stretch a topic on a poster than a paper.
“It’s made me realize how hard it is to put something like this together,” said David Watts, a biology major. Watts presented his study on farm-raised fish as a requirement in Chris Mahers Vertebrate Zoology class.
There were also many students who weren’t required to present. Deanna Williams said that her professors encouraged her to present her findings on language use among high and low income families. “I wanted to get experience presenting research,” said Williams.
Over 250 students presented 77 posters. When asked where the funding came from, Assistant Professor of History Adam Tuchinsky explained that it came from many places including the Student Senate, History students Association, Honors, the Presidents Office, the Provost’s office, the Dean of Students, and the Office of Research Initiatives. Tuchinsky Co-coordinated Thinking Matters with Scot Goodwin.
The conference concluded on Friday at the Luther Bonney Auditorium with a lecture by Alex Wilson, a member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in Canada. Wilson spoke about ethics in research, specifically within aboriginal cultures. OCAP (Ownership, Control, Accessibility, and Possession) is a type of research that respects and empowers those being studied, which in turn enhances the relationship of the researcher with the subjects.
Iris Burke can be contacted at [email protected]