undergraduate research proposal sample

undergraduate research proposal sample

The Importance of Undergraduate Research

1. Introduction

Recently, there has been a growing interest in the benefit of undergraduate research. There are many additional learning opportunities available to college students that often go unadvertised and overlooked. The experiences that these programs involve can provide students with countless rewards that go far beyond the benefits of any part-time job or volunteer activity. In the research article “The Importance of Undergraduate Research” by Hunter M., Schmidt, and Rich H., the authors make a strong case for encouraging student participation in research. According to the authors, students who engage in research are provided with an educational experience that cannot be met in the classroom and are motivated to think critically. This early involvement can potentially shape the way students view the world in the future. In agreement, I feel that research experience is a valuable opportunity for students in the science field. The research article, “Training in Scientific Inquiry Through Research in the Community College: Students’ Perceptions and the Relation to Intention to Transfer to a 4-Year Institution,” delves further into the advantages of research programs as well as the impact it has on students. John E. Gray provides evidence that students are more likely to grasp abstract concepts, develop intrinsic interest in a subject, and actively participate in class and laboratory activities. I know in my own experience doing research, I was more motivated and eager to learn because I felt like a more active participant in my studies and that I was privy to information that wasn’t available to regular students. This enthusiasm is likely to produce more successful students and increase the likelihood of continuing education beyond an undergraduate degree.

2. Benefits of Undergraduate Research

Your first priority is to find a research project that interests you and to secure a position on the research team, preferably one that is paid! The best way to get involved in research is to approach a faculty member whose course you have enjoyed or who is doing work that you find intriguing. Express your interest and ask if there are any opportunities available. If the answer is no, don’t be discouraged – it may be that the faculty member is unaware of the demand for research positions or doesn’t know students well enough to handpick a research assistant. Offer to provide the professor with a resume and a copy of your transcript. If the professor is still not willing to take you on, ask if he or she can recommend other faculty members who might have suitable opportunities. You can also inquire with department counselors, student advisors, or the UROP Office to find out about research openings in various fields. A general application and a little persistence can go a long way. Be sure not to pass up any deadlines – faculty often seek research assistance just before, or at the beginning of, a semester.

Engaging in research as an undergraduate is an important step toward your future. The intense learning, thinking, and working that you do on a research project will produce great personal and academic rewards – and the experience can take you a long way! It will influence your career choices and direction, providing you with a better understanding of what graduate study and the professoriate entail. It will build skills that are useful in any future career: how to read and digest complex material, how to think critically and solve problems, how to manage time and priorities, and how to write and speak about your work. This experience will also help you to build relationships with faculty members – the mentor relationship is one of the most important elements of undergraduate research. Finally, having a research experience under your belt can be an impressive accomplishment when applying to graduate school or employment.

3. Proposed Research Project

In the proposed research project, you will develop a knowledge of and familiarity with the way in which biometric technology has emerged and developed in recent times, its application, and current influence in today’s society. The focus of your project will be to assess the effectiveness of biometric technology and its applicability in today’s society. You will endeavor to do this by focusing on two current examples of biometric technology: access control using fingerprint verification and surveillance using face recognition. By choosing this project, you will develop a sound understanding of biometric technology. This will be advantageous for you as biometric technology is becoming increasingly popular and is finding many new applications. Your research will allow you to appraise these applications and assess the technology’s effectiveness. This may result in the refusal of certain deployments as the technology may be found to be ineffective or may lead to a change in the way a system is implemented. An example of this is with the Sydney 2000 Olympics where a face recognition system was to be used to identify known troublemakers in crowd situations. This system was never deployed because it was found that the technology was not effective at the time. Your enhanced understanding of biometric technology will be useful in your future IT career as it is likely that at some stage you will be working with biometric systems. These systems are becoming quite complex, and it is often difficult to specify what is the most suitable type of biometric technology to use for a particular implementation. By understanding the capabilities of each technology, you will be able to make a more informed decision.

4. Research Methodology

Preferably representative in character, in great depth, and low in cost. The foremost method for gathering information will be through survey-based research. These surveys will be conducted through face-to-face interaction as well as the conventional distribution of a kick and online questionnaire. With these methods, we hope to form a comprehensive understanding of the effect of research on student learning at different levels. An observational-based study will also be carried out involving a subset of students to examine their learning habits, research techniques, and general academic motivation before and after being exposed to the research seminars. Data will be collected from this via a simple Likert scale survey as well as a more ethnographic approach involving field notes and interviews of the students. Analysis of the effectiveness of the seminars will be boosted greatly by the use of a control group. Although random samples would be ideal, this method will likely involve intact group random assignment for classes, or more likely, professors volunteering classes for the seminars in exchange for a different presentation on academic success. Data from the experimental group will be put in contrast with that of a random sample of students from the university as a whole, particularly those with freshmen and sophomores who will be the target population for future studies of this nature. An interview will also be conducted with the faculty members who participated as well as the administration to assess the practicality and sustainability of the program before taking on the endeavors of a similar study with the effects of research on students at other levels.

5. Conclusion

In physiology education, undergraduate research has gained popularity and is recognized as a high-impact educational practice. The human anatomy and physiology course is a requirement in many health science undergraduate educational programs. This course reaches a large number of students who are potential biology majors; however, it typically is not the typical target course for undergraduate research activities on most university campuses. With these thoughts in mind, it is important to initiate and/or support current trends to connect undergraduate research experiences with the human anatomy and physiology course. When considering the high-impact nature of undergraduate research, it is our duty to provide students with opportunities for application of their learning in undergraduate research endeavors likely because they need more learning and practice in the process of scientific inquiry.