Alicia Golston will stand judgment on Friday. Golston, a senior sociology major, will be joined by 13 individuals and one group who will present research findings to two evaluators at the 2004 Works In Progress Symposium (WIPS).
"I wasn't going to do it and then I ran into a graduate student that I knew who said that by doing the research and composing a thesis, graduate school would be so much easier for me," Golston said.
Golston will display her work, "Predictors of Marital Satisfaction," under the guidance of her mentor Dr. Gregory Donnenwerth, a sociology professor.
"I was looking at the nationwide divorce rate, which is now about 50 percent, and the number of college students getting married at such young ages, and I wanted to know how people could be more satisfied in marriage," Golston said. "Dr. Donnenwerth is my thesis teacher, so it only seemed natural for him to be my mentor."
WIPS is an event held annually that allows students to present their research effort to The University of Memphis community. It is co-sponsored by the University Honors Program (UNHP) and the Honor Student Council.
"WIPS is a rigorously conducted event and students are only given a timed 15 minute period to present their research," said Peggy Hancock, asst. director of the UNHP. "This time frame allows them to prepare for NCUR."
Students involved in the WIPS work with a mentor, usually a chosen faculty members from their department, in their major, Hancock said. Although most entries are involved in the UNHP, students do not have to be enrolled in UNHP to apply for the WIPS.
"To graduate from the University Honors Program, students have to write a thesis, which usually is about 30 pages long," Hancock said, "So they are working on that and many of them go ahead and do it for the research distinction on their transcripts."
Matthew Parris, asst. biology professor and mentor/ evaluator for WIPS, said his two participants came to be involved in WIPS for very different reasons and in different ways.
"One of my students is taking BIO 4001, earning credit for her research, and she has been researching in my lab since last spring," Parris said. "The other is participating through a grant, offered in our department, to do research and it is for students under-represented in the sciences like women and minority ethnic groups."
One reason that many students participate in WIPS is for a chance to participate in the National Conferences for Undergraduate Research (NCUR). It is a national undergraduate research conference, which will be held in April 2005, for this year's candidates.
Parris said that science students benefit from exposure to the scientific process, including development and analyzing data.
"They gain confidence from the presentation and experience better ideas of careers in research," Parris said.
The WIPS evaluators will rate the students on a written work as well as their oral presentation. The standard evaluation sheet given to all evaluators contains ratings ranking from one to 10 and areas for the evaluator to list the student's strengths and weaknesses. Questions for evaluators to consider include "Does the student have a good grasp of the appropriate research methods?" and "Does the topic lend itself to a broader understanding of the discipline or field in which the student is concentrating?"
Golston said she is not too nervous about the symposium and she just hopes to gain the experience offered.
"I am just going to hope for the best and see what happens," Golston said.
