Q&A:暑假学习的机会很多

As associate dean of the faculty from 2006 to 2008, Mark Hofmann took a special interest in growing the science 和 mathematics curriculum, including directing Skidmore’s 暑期教师/学生研究计划. 这是他第三年掌舵 program, which gives students a unique 机会 to collaborate with faculty on 原始研究. 

This summer, there are 51 students 和 34 faculty members working on 39 different 暑期教师/学生研究项目. 这是一个戏剧性的增长 in the size of the program, which had 20 students in 2005, 和 just eight in 2000. 

问:学生们如何从暑期合作研究项目中受益?

A: 的 暑期教师/学生研究计划 gives students a singular 机会 与教员一对一地学习. 学生以动手的方式学习什么研究 在他们的纪律是所有火博体育. 他们每周工作40多个小时，完全 沉浸在他们的研究努力中. 这些好处既有眼前的，也有长期的. 

What is most enjoyable to watch is the growth in student confidence 和 ability as 夏季的进展，并观察他们的高参与水平. 确实如此 remarkable to witness students share with peers—across disparate disciplines—their experiences 和 challenges, often realizing that their roadblocks 和 rewards are 非常相似的. 

Students often cite their research experiences at Skidmore as fundamental in terms 他们最终的职业规划是什么. 在冬季董事会会议上，几名学生 说这个项目是他们四年中最有意义的经历之一. 长期的, these projects help students gain admission to graduate schools 和 research careers. Returning graduates consistently tell us that their h和s-on research work at Skidmore gave them an advantage over other graduate school students who did not have the same 机会. 通常，这些其他学生毕业于大型研究型大学 大学. 

Q: This summer, there are 51 students 和 34 faculty members working on 39 different 暑期教师/学生研究项目. 这是一个戏剧性的增长 in the size of the program, which had 20 students in 2005 和 just eight in 2000. 你把这种增长归因于什么?

A: Faculty 和 student dem和 for summer research always exceeds our capacity to support 研究团队. 幸运的是，我们已经大大增加了内部和外部 资金. 2008年是Schupf学者计划的第一年，该计划支持四名学生 laboratory- 和 field-based 研究团队 in the sciences, with a particular emphasis on increasing the number of women in science in fields in which there has historically 代表性很低. 我们得到了学生的大力支持 Opportunity Funds, administered by the Office of Academic Advising, 和 we were able 调整项目的校内成本. 外部支持的例子包括 the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, which supports the Water Resources Initiative projects, 和 Mellon Foundation funds, which support the Scribner-Mellon Scholars. Scribner-Mellon Scholars are students who have just completed their first year at 作为即将升入大二的学生，他们有机会做研究. 

As 资金 has increased, faculty 和 student dem和 has increased proportionately. So, although we are now supporting a record number of teams the dem和 is there to 进一步扩大程序. 我们前进中最大的挑战不仅是 be to increase the 资金 to match the increasing level of interest in the program but to be able to find 资金 to continue to support this program at the level we 在过去的几年里做了什么. 支持水资源的外部赠款 Initiative 和 the Scribner- Mellon Programs are ending, 和 hence, in order to support the program at the same level in the future we will need to find additional resources. 

问:今年夏天大约有70%的项目与数学科学有关. 这 让你吃惊?

A:是也不是. 科学领域的全国性对话清楚地表明，师生之间 collaboration is the new paradigm for both pedagogy 和 research, particularly at 高质量本科院校. 火博体育大学的科学系 有些时候已经接受了这种模式. 因此，我们有……就不足为奇了 在科学和数学方面有大量的项目. 

Ronald Dotterer, chair of the board of governors of the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research 和 professor of 英语 at Salisbury University,  has stated that undergraduate research is “the pedagogy for the 21st century” but “humanities departments have been 最慢参与的.“所以这实际上是令人惊讶和鼓舞的 over the last several years is the large number of projects that we have in other 例如英语、法语、音乐和戏剧. 

问:看看今年的项目阵容，是什么让你感到兴奋? 

A: What strikes me is the broad range of disciplines that are involved, from biology 到管理和商业，心理学到政府和物理，到舞蹈. 被 involved, throughout the summer, in the conversations that are generated between faculty 和 students across this diverse set of disciplines is what makes this program particularly 令人兴奋的. 

At this early juncture, it is difficult to determine which projects, ultimately, I 会发现我的最爱吗. 比如去年的两个期末报告 我最喜欢的是 Determination of Optimum Growth Conditions for Seven Basidiomycete Fungal Species 农业废弃物在绿色保温中的多种组合 a project by Dawn Harfmann ’10 和 Sue Van Hook, senior teaching associate in biology, 和 Development of Interactive Tutorial Digital Audio Synthesis Modules for the World-wide-web, 这是布莱恩·尼尔森09年和音乐副教授托尼·霍兰德的一个项目. 的 biology team researched how to grow fungi on agricultural waste to create insulation 建筑. 音乐团队制作了一个应用程序，可以使用Frequency来创作音乐 调制合成.

无论如何，我的最爱不会是其他人的. 这个节目达到了高潮 夏季，8月11日举行为期两天的会议. 7-8，学生们在这里展示结果 他们的工作. 我邀请所有感兴趣的人来决定哪些项目 他们觉得最刺激. 

Q: Where does all this research lead, in terms of, for example, published articles 在同行评审或学术期刊上?

A: It is always rewarding to see a tangible outcome from the program in the form of 国家认可或公布的结果. 过去几年的一些亮点 多年来一直是学生和教师出版的书， 生活必需品的建筑师——skidmore在萨拉托加市中心的第一个家 research on the effects of a drug on the sexual motivation of rats that was featured in an article in Scientific American; 和 a project which garnered the student partner a national award for excellence in undergraduate research at the American Physiology 学会实验生物学会议. 应该指出的是，在科学领域 alone, from 2005–2008, there were 58 papers published that were co-authored by Skidmore 学生和教师. 尽管不是全部，但其中许多论文都涉及已经完成的研究 参加暑期教师/学生研究项目. 而这些具体的项目 an external validation of quality of the program, it is perhaps more important that many participating 学生和教师 cite the program as one of their most rewarding 火博体育的经历.~采访由通讯办公室的彼得·麦克唐纳进行

发布日期:6/18/2009