Conducting research at a world class facility is no doubt a once-in-a-lifetime experience for any undergraduate student.
By combining that research experience with meaningful peer-learning opportunities and dynamic outreach activities, a memorable summer of science inevitably occurs.
Summer undergraduate research students at CLASSE have been actively influencing the sphere of science education across campus and the community. During their brief time at CLASSE, these students are shaping the research that occurs in laboratory spaces, showcasing their efforts and understanding in conference rooms, and driving the conversations and questions that occur in communal areas. In the laboratory, student devote hours of their time combing through the literature, contributing to the investigation, collecting data, and compiling their results. In their offices, meeting rooms, and communal spaces students reveal their ideas, grow their understanding, and search for connections as they interact with their peers and network of mentors. In addition, outside of the lab and throughout campus and the greater community, students interact directly the public and share their passion for science.
Through informal presentations to mentors and colleagues, summer students reveal their insights and uncertainties surrounding their assigned projects. These talks provide young scientists and engineers with the opportunity to communicate their own understanding of their work to others. This communication helps to solidify their own understanding and stretch their abilities to express this knowledge in a clear, digestible manner. Researchers must be skilled at transmitting their message so that others recognize the value and implications of their work. In order to be an effective scientist, students must practice being effective communicators and conveyors of knowledge for public consumption.
>Read more on the CHESS website
Image: Students provide others with updates on their research progress via informal chalk talks.