STEM-201 Undergraduate Research Methods II

Credits 2 / 2 Contact Hours
Pre-requisite: Placement into College Level Reading, completion of ELAP-120 with a 2.0 or higher, or successful completion of ACRD-090, ACRD-091 or ACRD-092; STEM 199 . NOTE: Class is reserved for STEM Scholars program students only. 
This course is meant to be a continuation of the STEM-199 course. It is an undergraduate introduction to research that is used by professionals working in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) careers. Students will continue to work on scholarly research with faculty mentors.  They will be required to participate in an in-depth independent and collaborative inquiry into select STEM subjects and they will present their findings independently to the college community as a poster presentation.

Course Outcomes
1. Students will negotiate and facilitate their own learning about the research that is relevant to their scientific discipline.

2. Students will compose a much more extensive, in-depth literature review relevant to their research topic (Library Research).

3. Students will design and direct experiments, including appropriate controls with minimal guidance.

4. Students will collaborate and work in a team and independently on their research projects.

5. Students will communicate and present their research with weekly updates and a final poster presentation.  (The student will be encourage to submit and possibly present their research at a state or national conference).

6. Students will build an up-to-date laboratory notebook of their processes and findings.

7. Students will validate their work with proper scientific ethics and act ethically.

8. Students will test data, materials, and equipment in order to carry out their experimental design and data analysis in an appropriate manner so that any outcomes may have the possibility to be submitted for possible publishing in a scientific journal.