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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN — What used to be the domain of faculty or graduate students is now being tackled by undergraduates. Next week several Milligan College students will present undergraduate research findings at conferences throughout the Southeast.
“The goal is to involve the students in the process of acquiring knowledge, not just teaching them a body of information,” said Dr. Joy Drinnon, assistant professor of psychology, who encourages her undergraduate students to do research as part of their class studies.
The undergraduate research trend started gaining widespread popularity in 1998 when the Boyer Commission, an 11-member team of academic and educational professionals, issued a report urging research universities to include undergraduates in research.
The trend spread quickly throughout the academic community. In 1987, 216 students attended the first National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Last year more than 2,000 students presented research projects at the conference. Similar regional conferences have sprung up throughout the U.S.
“Undergraduate research strengthens the students’ academic experience and enables them to contribute to society and academia in various ways,” said Drinnon. Research has also landed undergraduates in scientific journals and strengthened their job and graduate school choices.
Nine Milligan students — in psychology, history, and English — will present research papers at the ninth annual Blue Ridge Undergraduate Research Conference on Saturday, April 12, at Maryville College.
Senior Kathy Dowda, an adult student from Kingsport, Tenn., will present a paper on the local perceptions of the homeless. Junior Jacqueline Hartick of Meadville, Pa., and sophomore Ann Panganiban of Kingwood, Texas, both students of Drinnon, have collaborated on research on the effects of temperature on college student’s cognitive ability.
History professors Dr. Ted Thomas, Dr. Tim Dillon, and Dr. Craig Farmer, and theology professor Dr. Phil Kenneson, also have students participating at the Blue Ridge Conference.
“In addition to having the experience of presenting papers and fielding questions in an academic conference of their peers, students also receive a printout of all the abstracts. Having the abstract printed in the conference proceedings looks good on a transcript,” said Thomas, who has taken students to the conference for the past three years.
The history students, including senior Ginger Dillon of Lake Worth, Fla., junior Amy Ewing of Noblesville, Ind., senior Rebecca Gootee of Louisville, Ky., and senior Regina Holtman of Fayetteville, Ga., will present papers on historical figures such as Max Beckmann and George Hatcher, and on topics such as child labor in the Gilded Age and oath swearing in the Middle Ages. Junior Adam Samaritoni of Avon, Ind., will present an English paper, with guidance from Rosemarie Shields, assistant professor of English and humanities.
The Blue Ridge Undergraduate Conference is “devoted to highlighting undergraduate research from institutions throughout the Southern Appalachian Region in various disciplines,” said Dr. Susan Shneibel, chair of humanities and professor of comparative literature at Maryville College, the conference’s host school.
Milligan will host the conference in 2003 and 2004, chaired by Drinnon. “This is a great opportunity for students to present and even publish their individual and group research projects,” said Drinnon. “My desire is to involve the whole college.”
Monica Norman, a 2001 Milligan graduate, presented at Blue Ridge last year and said the conference was an invaluable experience in helping her focus on her career choices.
“Presenting research at the conference helped me realize that I am very interested in social problems and the effect they have on individuals and society,” said Norman, who is currently working in the field of children services, where she deals with social problems on a daily basis. Norman is applying to the applied behavioral science program at Wright State University in Ohio, to begin this fall. Her undergraduate research will play a large factor in her graduate school acceptance.
In addition to the Blue Ridge Undergraduate Conference, two other Milligan psychology students will present research on April 13 at other conferences in the Southeast.
Senior Mary Moore of Unicoi, Tenn., will present at the Carolina Conference, cosponsored by Meredith College and North Carolina State University. Junior Adam Kneisley of Perry, Ohio, will present a group research project at the first Georgia Undergraduate Research in Psychology conference at Kennesaw State University.
For more information about the Blue Ridge Undergraduate Research Conference, visit www.maryville.edu or call Dr. Joy Drinnon at 423-461-8661