Thinking Matters:
A Student Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Symposium
The Thinking Matters Experience
The following provides a guideline of sorts concerning my 6 year participation in the Thinking Matters Research, Scholarship and Creativity Symposium. The research itself varies from student oriented to faculty driven, individual to team projects. In my typical approach to Thinking Matters research, subject matter is proposed, a question is asked, a hypothesis formulated, a project designed, IRB approval attained, data collected, statistical analyses completed, an interpretation made and a poster prepared and printed.
Faculty have encouraged student participation in scholarship activity or artistic creativity as opposed to actual research. As examples, a student may present a scholarly idea at an oral symposium or, create a poster that presents a scholarly or academic concept, idea or experience. Past projects have described a unique disease, an archeological dig site, an interview with an interesting person, costume design in theatrical productions and the how’s and why’s of ice carving. The list is truly endless.
Summer
June, July, August. Under ideal conditions – that I have yet to experience – an undergraduate should attain a degree of comfort
in the laboratory as soon as possible. I encourage seniors throughout the Fall and Spring semesters to “recruit” underclassmen within
their major to take part and gain experience in research within our department (underclassmen as consenting volunteer research subjects
is one example).
Fall Semester
September. Thinking Matters is 8 months away. My main emphasis at this point is getting students familiar with or mastering the
equipment in the Human Performance Laboratory. I also emphasize that students begin to explore their interests in a particular area
(e.g., exercise or nutrition or body composition, etc) or, to consider following the research agenda of a professor. Current publications
and past research projects are distributed and discussed at length. NIH certification must be completed by each student
(http://cme.nci.nih.gov/); all student NIH certificates must be filed with the IRB.
October. Thinking Matters is 7 months away. Laboratory equipment familiarization continues. Research design is discussed. Occupational safety training is completed by all students (Campus Environmental Safety & Health Office will send an “officer” to your class; 780-5406). At months end each student should have a project in mind and present this idea to the class. Regardless of whether the student decides on an independent, team oriented or professor-provided research project, they are expected to master all details of a chosen project (i.e., they may not play a single role in data collection methodology). Library and internet searches of research topics are routine.
November. Thinking Matters is 6 months away. Students submit a project to the professor in written format; corrections and revisions are made. The IRB application process is initiated (www.usm.maine.edu/orc/irb). IRB submission is completed only after approval by the professor. Pilot projects are initiated; students begin to practice data collection methods and techniques specific to their project.
December. Thinking Matters is 5 months away. Student pilot projects are completed. IRB approval should be attained at this point. In “emergency” situations, this may proceed into January. Data collection can not begin until IRB approval is received.
Spring Semester
January. Thinking Matters is 3.5 months away. After the successful completion of a pilot project, students should be able to come back from Winter vacation
and “hit the ground running” as far as data collection is concerned (my undergraduate students often collect data at any given hour on any given day, including
weekends, under direct supervision – we literally are racing both clock and calendar). At the end of the month a brief abstract in written form is required.
This abstract does not need to include results as clearly, data collected are extremely limited and conclusions have not yet been drawn. Instead, students are
asked to create a brief paragraph (several sentences) that serves as an overview of their research project (e.g., I will be examining…It is hypothesized that…”).
February. Thinking Matters is 2.5 months away. Student data collection ensues. Guidelines to the Thinking Matters publication commences; abstracts for the publication of the program are typically due the first week in February at the following website: http://research.usm.maine.edu/thinkingmatters. Abstract submission requires an IRB approval number and mentor approval (mentor’s are expected to edit all student abstracts before submission). This date is mandatory from the standpoint of the printer; the Thinking Matters published program costs become exponential after this point. Students are required to write-up an Introduction and Methods section.
March. Thinking Matters is next month. Student data collection continues. Statistical analyses and data interpretation are initiated. The write-up of the Results and Discussion sections, as part of a poster, should be completed before the end of the month. Mentors must take part in the creation and editing of the student poster, only afterward should posters be submitted. Early poster submission to the rendering lab is encouraged.
April. Thinking Matters! Posters are usually not accepted after the first few days of April. Students are requested to practice their presentation. Thinking Matters typically takes place at the end of the 2nd week – start of the 3rd week of April. Poster set-up typically takes place in Sullivan Gym on the Portland campus from 7:30-8:15 am. Students are typically asked to stand-by their posters for 2-hours in the afternoon (e.g., ~2:00-4:00 pm).
Invite Colleagues, Friends and Family. Have Fun!
Christopher Scott PhD
Exercise, Health and Sports Sciences Dept.
Thinking Matters Co-director