Introducing Engineering Students To Research Through A First Year Advising Program

Abstract

Over the last 20 years, recycling programs have developed throughout the United States and internationally. However, once the "recycled" material is placed at the curbside or brought to the recycling center, what happens next? Developing and implementing research efforts on the reuse of waste materials was the aim of a first-year engineering students advising option called "Window on Research and Scholarship". In this program, students are tasked to perform research and present their results in a poster presentation. Thus, the advising program not only allowed students to get advised (weekly) by a faculty member, but to also participate in research efforts of the faculty.This paper describes the Windows on Research and Scholarship advising program used at Tufts University and, specifically, what influence this advising program ultimately had in defining the academic path taken by them. The cohort being examined entered the institution in Fall 2004. The paper presents the various research efforts of this cohort and if these efforts lead to further progress of a particular research effort and/or initiated continued student involvement in the research. In addition, the paper assesses whether this advising option, for this particular cohort, enhanced, inspired, or dampened the prospect of them doing future research, either in extending their first-year effort or exploring new research avenues. This assessment indicates that many students did not continue to pursue research efforts beyond this initial effort, mostly because of more traditional academic restraints; e.g., course work and other extracurricular activities. However, those students who did continue to pursue research have found their academic lives enriched by the experiences.