"Real Life Solutions to Real Life Problems:" Collaborating with a Non-Profit Foundation to Engage Honors Students in Applied Research

Colleges and universities have long emphasized undergraduate research experiences as valuable activities for students. The National Science Foundation (NSF) echoed this focus in 2003, recommending that all students get involved in undergraduate research as early as possible in their college careers (NSF). Collegiate honors programs in particular have embraced the role of student research as an integral experience for high-ability students, leading the way in developing the thesis-based model of undergraduate research that is increasingly common in institutions of higher learning. However, one difficulty in getting honors students involved in research, particularly early in their years at college, is that they misunderstand what research entails or see it only as the province of laboratory-based science majors. Even in social science programs such as psychology or sociology or in applied programs such as nursing or communication studies, where empirical research is central to the discipline, students may not understand the value of research in these contexts or may think that they do not have the skills or ideas to participate in the research process. When asked to define "research," many students think only of laboratories, test tubes, and technical equipment, or they think of the ubiquitous research papers that they have already encountered in their classes and that they often see as summarizing the ideas of other people rather than contributing new knowledge. Since the spring of 2012, the Minnesota State University, Mankato Honors Program has partnered with the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) to implement two separate approaches to developing honors students' research skills and broadening their understanding of the research process. We incorporated applied research opportunities for honors students in two different settings: a course on research methods and an independent study research experience. Each approach was successful at building students' confidence in their research skills, giving them experience with applied research practices, and broadening their understanding of what constitutes research. Each approach had various pros and cons that might be useful to other programs with plans to develop similar opportunities, and I include recommendations for how to form connections with community groups. The reflections completed by students who participated in these opportunities provide important perspectives that supplement my own as the instructor and faculty mentor for these experiences. Finally, in Appendix A I provide a letter from the president of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation presenting his perception of their partnership with our Honors program. INTRODUCING HONORS STUDENTS TO THE RESEARCH PROCESS The first thing that came to my mind when someone talked about research was a picture of a mad scientist wearing a white coat with goggles over their glasses in an isolated room mixing colorful chemicals. --First-year honors student in the pre-nursing program, reflecting on research This comment sums up the thoughts and impressions of many students entering honors programs with the knowledge that they are required to complete an original research project. The honors program at Minnesota State University, Mankato is similar to most other college and university honors programs in that students are required to engage in an independent, original research project and to disseminate their results, generally through presenting their research at a conference. Most first-year students in our program and probably others seem to hold this narrow, mad-scientist definition of research and fail to see how non-science majors can get involved. Even science majors are often nervous about finding the time or having the skills to engage in complex experimentation outside of their class work. Many students believe that they will have to think of ideas to research all on their own without support or mentorship, and they view the research requirement as the most formidable obstacle in their path to graduating with honors. …