The University of Memphis gave undergraduate students a chance to polish their research skills before they can test their findings on a national level.
The honors program at The U of M sponsored the 2005 Works In Progress Symposium yesterday at the University Center. The forum was open to all undergraduate students interested in research studies, regardless of whether or not they are a member of the honors program.
"We are representing students from many disciplines," said Melinda Jones, director of the honors program. "It's a wonderful opportunity for our undergraduates to showcase their research."
Each presentation, which is either given by an individual or a group, is expected to be 20 minutes long - 15 minutes for the presentation itself and five minutes for a question and answer session from the audience. All University students were invited to participate as an audience member.
All of the students that presented have the chance to enter for a spot at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research. Even though none of the students have a guaranteed spot at the national conference, if they are accepted then the honors program will pay for their travel expenses.
Melvin Beck, a biology professor at The U of M who was one of the faculty evaluators this year, shared some of the criteria he used to evaluate the students' work.
"What we are looking for is experimental design, how well their data supports the presentation, the organization, how it is presented and how they handle questions from the audience," he said.
Not only do students gain presentation experience, but they also gain first-hand experience of working in such an environment.
"This is their chance to put into practice the concepts and theories they learn in class," Beck said.
Laura Hillard, a senior dietetics major, said that the presentation was extremely useful to her area of study. Her research project was on food bars with added antioxidants to replace antioxidants lost during strenuous activity, such as exercise.
"This is my first actual research project that involves my major," she said. "I've done a lot of research, which has helped me gain more knowledge."
Molly Seward, a junior dietetics major who was in the same group as Hillard, said that the critiques from faculty members are extremely important to their research.
"Since it's a proposal, their opinions on what we should keep or what we should change are very important," Seward said.
