Research Assessment #5 

 
Date: ​Nov, 14, 2017 
 
Subject: ​Neurology 
 
MLA Citation:  
 
Orzel, Chad. “Why Research By Undergraduates Is Important For Science And 
Students.”​Forbes​, Forbes Magazine, 12 July 2017, 
www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2017/07/12/why-research-by-undergraduates
-is-important-for-science-and-students/#2e2d73cc29a0. 
 
Analysis:  
 
Having acquired a strong foundational base in the field of Neurology from my 
past four Research Assessments, I decided that I would focus on how to prepare 
myself effectively for the strenuous demands of the medical field. One extremely 
significant aspect of the medical field is research programs and the discoveries 
made within these programs. Due to the fact that I am largely unfamiliar with 
research programs, I looked into the value of these programs to undergraduate 
students in college. In the article “Why Research By Undergraduates is Important 
for Science and Students” by Chad Orzel, the long-lasting benefits of research 
programs are clearly delineated. Ortez outlines an argument in favor of 
undergraduate research and looking to the future, it will be crucial for me to 
explore novel opportunities that serve to stimulate my mind in a multitude of ways 
as I continue along my path to become a neurologist. 
  
  To begin, Ortez immediately addresses the opposing viewpoint when he cites 
Rovynak’s and Shields’ (two chemists) article in favor of Ortez’s own argument 
against the fact that research with undergraduates isn’t genuine research. 
However, Ortez asserts that there are “great examples” of work completed by 
undergraduate students. For example, Ernest Marsden, an undergraduate student 
collaborating with Ernest Rutherford, was able to lay the groundwork for the rise of 
Quantum Mechanics – all in an undergraduate project. Thus, I learned that age is 
not the primary factor that is considered when deciding if a research study should 
receive funding or not; rather, the work one actually completes is what matters 
most. This principle can even be applied to my experiences in ISM because 
although I am still a high school student, I am making discoveries in Neurology that 
other students pursuing Neurology will be making much later in their careers. I was 
therefore properly reminded of the value of ISM to my progress in the future.  
  
  In addition, I learned about the educational aspects that research programs 
contain. As Ortez describes it, these programs are “life-changing experiences.” 
Although it may be important to learn about the informational aspect of Neurology, 
it will also be extremely significant for me to be able to apply what I learn, for 
example, through research. I also realized the difference between research 
programs and typical research labs completed in class: research programs tend to 
be more open-ended and result in a much deeper experience due to the greater 
time and resources available to the student. Furthermore, research programs also 
involve a presentational component, in the form of seminars, where students give 
talks about the research they have completed. Thus, the presentation I am giving in 
ISM now will allow me to develop strong public speaking skills that I will be able to 
utilize in the future. 
  
  In continuation, due to the fact that research programs are more dependent 
on what the student is able to accomplish on his/her own, research programs 
involve complex problem-solving scenarios. In some cases, the procedure may not 
even be correct, and failure will be prominent. However, as I learned, it is this 
experience that one obtains from making mistakes that is able to stimulate a sense 
of creativity and persistence within the student. In addition, research programs 
serve to encourage taking new approaches that allow the student to go beyond the 
confinement of traditional methods of approaching a certain conundrum. Thus, 
because of the “fundamentally different” nature of research projects, as compared 
to class work, I now know of the engaging effect research programs can have upon 
students.  
 
Lastly, Ortez boldly states that, without his experience in a research program 
while he was an undergraduate student, “I [He] wouldn’t be where I am today.” 
Ortez establishes his credibility on the subject of research programs effectively as 
he describes his own experiences participating in a physics lab outside of his 
regular class hours. Just as Ortez took action in his freshman and sophomore years 
in college, I should also be looking to take action by searching for novel 
opportunities that will challenge me. Furthermore, while published articles and 
grants are certainly beneficial, I learned that what matters most is how the student 
is transformed and how this transformation will impact the student’s career in the 
future. Thus, the educational value of research programs could extend beyond the 
classroom and have a direct effect upon my advancement in my chosen field of 
Neurology. 
 
In conclusion, I can now see the true value of research programs to aspiring 
students who would like to enter the medical field. Research programs offer a 
multitude of benefits, from freedom of thought to funds for research, and have the 
potential to contribute in significant ways to the life sciences. While this article by 
Ortez is centered around the high value of research projects to undergraduate 
students in college, I hope to apply for a research program in the very near future 
due to the reasons set forth by Ortez as to why research projects are so invaluable 
to the development of a student. Participating in a research program will allow me 
to thus obtain a better idea of the lab-related functionings of Neurology.  
  
   
Why Research By Undergraduates Is Important For Science And
Students
Chad Orzel ​, CONTRIBUTOR 
 
Over at ​Inside Higher Ed​, two chemists, David S. Rovnyak and George C. Shields, have
an article titled "​How Undergraduate Research Drives Science Forward​" about the many
contributions made by undergraduate student researchers. This is highly relevant to my
interests, as one of the many hats I wear is Director of the ​Undergraduate Research
program at Union College​. I've spent quite a bit of my time as a small college faculty
member working with undergraduate students on a wide range of research projects, so
this is obviously something I value highly.
Rovnyak and Shields direct their piece mostly at the misconception that research with
undergraduates isn't "real" research, a particularly grating variant of the idea that only
top research institutions matter when it comes to science. This leads some scientists to
downgrade and disparage work by faculty at undergraduate institutions, including
giving poor reviews to their grant proposals and jeopardizing their funding.
The idea that undergraduate institutions are inherently lesser is a pernicious myth, as
the examples of high-impact publications from undergraduates provided in that piece
amply demonstrate. Rovnyak and Shields are chemists, so their examples are drawn
primarily from that field (and their negative examples are exacerbated by the generally
ruthless atmosphere in life-science research), but I can confirm that the same is true in
physics.
Just within my own immediate area of physics, there are great examples of important
work done by undergraduates. My colleague ​Tiku Majumder at Williams College​ (my
alma mater, though we didn't overlap there; he was hired after I graduated, because I'm
old) has published a steady stream of papers on spectroscopy of transition metals,
providing crucial experimental tests of atomic theory and inputs for exotic physics
searches. More spectacularly, ​Dave Hall at Amherst​ has recent papers in ​Science​ and
Nature​on cutting-edge experiments to make analogues of magnetic monopoles in
ultra-cold rubidium.
Going a little farther afield, I've written here about ​astronomers at Calvin College​ who
made a splash with their prediction of an upcoming nova. And going back in history, one
of the most important experiments in physics was partly an undergraduate project:
Ernest Marsden was an undergraduate student working with Ernest Rutherford at
 Manchester in 1909, given the task of looking for large-angle deflections of alpha
particles. This shouldn't have been possible, but the ​Geiger-Marsden experiment​ ended
up completely transforming our picture of the atom, and laying important groundwork
for the rise of quantum mechanics.
So, I absolutely agree with Rovnyak and Shields that research with undergraduate
students at undergraduate institutions is just as important as research conducted at
larger, more prestigious research universities. Undergraduates have made critical
contributions to science, and will continue to do so in the future.
At the same time, though, I think it's important not to under-play the educational
aspects of research projects for undergraduate students. The availability of research
opportunities is a big part of why I ​highly recommend small colleges for science
students​, and as I can personally attest, these projects can often be life-changing
experiences.
From a purely educational standpoint, there's no better way to learn science than by
doing​ science, which is why even huge introductory courses often have a laboratory
component. Time and resource constraints often limit what can be explored in lab
classes, though, while more open-ended research projects give students a much deeper
experience, and develop hands-on lab skills in a way that's difficult to do in a fixed class
period. Research projects also often involve a presentation component -- our summer
research program features a seminar series in which students give talks, and every year
Union holds the ​Steinmetz Symposium​, an all-day showcase for undergraduate
research. These presentations help students develop writing and public-speaking skills
that will be essential no matter what future career they pursue.
More than that, though, research experiences can transform students' conception of
what science is, and their whole career trajectory. Research projects are fundamentally
different than class work, and the experience of doing research can engage students in
wholly different ways.
I'm fond of quoting a comment made by the aforementioned Tiku Majumder, who said
that the hardest thing to teach a new research student is that "This is not a three-hour
lab." Real research projects are very different than lab exercises, and you usually don't
know going in that a particular procedure will work right away. Sometimes, you don't
even know that what you're trying to do will ​ever​ work. When your first attempt fails, it's
not time to call in the professor and complain that the apparatus is broken, it's time to
figure out ​why​ it's failing, and find another way to get the result you're after.
Research work demands a kind of tenacity and creativity that often isn't fully engaged in
classes and labs. Where many labs follow a procedure that's either clearly laid out or
relatively obvious, success in research often demands trying new approaches and clever
work-arounds. It's not unusual to find that students whose classroom performance is
unexceptional really blossom when turned loose on a research project. In fact, a
colleague in computer science once told me that he targets "B" students when recruiting
for his research lab, because all too often, students who get A's do so because they
immediately see the right path to an answer, and thus are used to getting things right
the first time. Students with good-but-not-great grades, on the other hand, are more
accustomed to needing multiple attempts, false starts and blind alleys, and thus adapt
more readily to the world of research.
And these experiences can transform students whole conception of their career tracks.
As I said when I applied for my current directorship, I wouldn't be where I am today
without the experience of doing research as an undergrad. I did all right in my physics
classes, but it was a pair of summer research jobs, after my freshman and sophomore
years, that showed me that I really loved working in a physics lab. Based on that, I
decided that my professors had a pretty awesome gig, and went off to grad school with
the explicit goal of someday becoming a professor at a small liberal arts college.
(I told this to some students once, and after a pause, one said skeptically, "So, you're...
livin' the dream?" One of the great things about working with undergrads is that you can
count on them to provide maybe a bit more perspective than you really wanted...)
So, while I absolutely agree that undergraduate research is real science, and we should
celebrate its accomplishments, I also think it's important to remember that it has
educational value even beyond the formal teaching of research and presentation skills.
In the same way that ​many of the benefits of going to college come from outside the
classroom​, the benefits of research extend beyond articles published and grants won.
The most important part of research as an undergraduate student is often the
transformation of the ​student​, and the things they'll go on to do in the future.
Chad Orzel is a physics professor, pop-science author, and blogger. His latest book is
Eureka: Discovering Your Inner Scientist​ (Basic Books, 2014).