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Implementation of an Undergraduate Research Course

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Conference

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

San Antonio, Texas

Publication Date

June 10, 2012

Start Date

June 10, 2012

End Date

June 13, 2012

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching and Research in Physics or Engineering Physics III

Tagged Division

Engineering Physics & Physics

Page Count

11

Page Numbers

25.729.1 - 25.729.11

DOI

10.18260/1-2--21486

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/21486

Download Count

340

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Paper Authors

biography

Adrian Ieta Oswego State University College

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Adrian Ieta received a B.Sc. degree in physics from the University of Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania, in 1984, a B.E.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the Politehnica University of Timisoara, Timisoara, in 1992, and a M.E.Sc. degree and a Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of the Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada, in 1999 and 2004, respectively. He was with the Applied Electrostatics Research Centre and the Digital Electronics Research Group, the University of Western Ontario, where he worked on industrial projects and taught. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics, State University of New York at Oswego. Ieta is a member of Professional Engineers of Ontario.

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Abstract

IMPLEMENTATION OF AN UNDERGADUATE RESEARCH COURSEA capstone course comes as the peak experience for students in a higher education programs.The challenge may sometime extend to their advisors as well as. We report our experience withteaching a senior research project course to Physics students at a teaching university using arecently set up Applied Electrostatics Laboratory. The design of the course allowed for greatflexibility in choosing independent research topics and performing the actual research. Studentswere introduced to the laboratory facilities, and to different topics related to electrosprays andnanotechnology. Each student was given time to choose an independent topic in accordance withhis/her interests. Although working in relatively different directions, joint sessions greatlyenhanced their perspective on the research and topics approached. Various challenges andsolutions are discussed. Modest funds were available for independent projects and helped inshaping the research. Students designed experiments, collaborated, collected and analyzed data,participated in local and international conferences. Details of their unique experience,impressions, and enthusiasm are presented. The course was refreshing in terms of researchperformed at undergraduate level. We hope that our experience can be useful to others teachingsimilar courses.

Ieta, A. (2012, June), Implementation of an Undergraduate Research Course Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21486

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