This is not a new argument for a research university. When
universities worldwide continue to evolve into vital, cutting-edge centers for
discovery and new technology, one of the institutions' most valuable assets has
been more or less left out of the action. While graduate students are intimately
involved in Faculty research, undergraduates are basically left out of the
loop.
But
at SSPE, with a small size of Faculty and students (both undergraduate and
graduates), that is not the case, thanks to the effort of Faculty and the
students, and SSPE innovative elective requirement of independent research
experience for undergraduates (SPE4900 Independent Project) was conceived
several years back. The course requires undergraduates to participate in Faculty
research projects on a voluntary basis or a self-initiated topic for 3 units of
work load. Students stay with a professor for a semester, learning research
design, data collection and analyses, and
reporting.
Here is an example. In the spring semester of 2009-10, Chan Wing Tsang, a 4th year SSPE major, is doing his independent project with Prof. Yan Jin Hong. Chan successfully completed a project entitled "Comparison of the effect of cognitive-specific mental imagery and instructional self talk on free throw performance in basketball". "Via the independent project, Prof. Yan taught me a valuable lesson of putting the theories and knowledge learnt from sport psychology into practice. Although it was hard and challenging, I will keep on my postgraduate study in this field. Finally, I hope every SPE undergraduate will take this real challenge to make contribution to sport science," says Chan. We at SSPE believe that undergraduates at a research university ought to take advantage of what a research university has to offer. As we will move to a new learning structure of 334 in a near future, learning research is often the most important part of a student's undergraduate career. By doing research, students learn how to learn, rather than how to memorize. Students have to think and try to solve problems. Many concepts they learned in an introductory course can be applied to real situations like teaching practice or research. We want to support students who are interested in research careers. The motivated student can gain a context for the information he or she learns in the classroom applies it in its various dimensions. Besides involving students in hands-on research, students find that doing research with professors also helps to break down teacher-student barriers in a less formal setting. Many students think of professors as untouchables. But by getting to work more closely with a professor, students can receive a lot of good advice not only on how to do research but also decision-making in career choices.
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