MTSUs Undergraduate Research Center URC

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MTSUs Undergraduate Research Center (URC)

• Robert F. Carlton
• ChairPhysics Astronomy

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The URC Vision

• A university-wide culture of undergraduate
  scholarly inquiry and creative activity, where
• learning is tightly woven together with inquiry
  and creative activity
• the curriculum integrates learning and research
• infrastructure, policies, and funding practices
  support and reward scholarly accomplishment by
  faculty and students.

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Student-oriented Scholarship

• Engaged in all aspects
• COllaborator
• Variable ownership

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Defining Undergraduate Research/Creativity

• Student-faculty collaborations to examine, create
  and share new knowledge or works in ways
  commensurate with practices in the discipline,
  where
• Collaborations student-research mentor
  relationship
• New a work that is totally or partially novel
• Share results or product will be disseminated

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Benefits of Student-Oriented Scholarship

• Develop communication skills
• Critical thinking/problem-solving skills
• An affective, personal-discovery experience
• Professional socialization/discipline
  understanding
• Confidence, responsibility, independence,
  collegiality

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Student Support

• Undergraduate travel
• Academic year stipends
• Summer stipends
• Research assistantships
• Work scholarships
• Course and thesis credit
• Recognition reward of outstanding student
  research

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Student Benefits

• Excitement about learning and discovery/creation
• Understandings of the discipline that cannot be
  learned through coursework
• Sharpened problem-solving and communication
  skills
• Develop lasting intellectual habits of the mind
• Develop strong work ethic

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An UR-oriented Curriculum

• Rich in creativity of content
• Has coherence and variety
• Rich in teaching methodology
• Meets demands/practices of discipline
• Brings faculty/students together across
  boundaries
• Fosters student learning and faculty development

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The URC Umbrella?

• URSCP
• McNair
• STEPMT
• TLSAMP
• CBAS
• ? ? ? ?