On April 18, Salt Lake Community College presented its second annual Undergraduate Projects and Research Conference (UPRC) at the Taylorsville Redwood Campus, in which students showcased their semester-long research on various topics.
The conference – organized by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, as well as the School of Science, Mathematics and Engineering – included oral and poster presentations. Students were either invited by their professors to present work they’d already begun in a class, or else went through an application process to participate.
“[The research] definitely represents many student interests across a few fields and different disciplines,” said Mike Nguyen, assistant director for research and surveys in the department of data science and analytics.
Value of research
One poster presenter, atmospheric sciences student Tanner Rima, completed his research with the help of faculty advisor Dr. Maura Hahnenberger. While researching air quality in Utah, Rima recognized that Uintah County has higher winter ozone levels than one might expect based on the level of sunlight available during the cold months.
“What originally got me interested was the fact that ozone is a photolysis reaction, which means that sunlight triggers ozone reactions,” Rima said. “But sunlight isn’t as harsh in the wintertime. So, the fact that Uintah County gets so much winter ozone was interesting.”
Another poster presenter, McKinna Jardine, said the conference provided not only experience but also future inspiration.
“I’ve never had to do a somewhat professional-based project like this, so I think it was a really nice introduction to future possibilities to do experiments like this,” said Jardine. “It’s a really good way to put your foot in the water.”
Her group investigated a similar topic to Rima’s: The effects of poor air quality on the lungs. A separate group, just a few steps away from Jardine’s, explored the impact of smartphone screentime on mental health.
Larning how to write an abstract or speak publicly about findings to strangers is an invaluable experience, said Tom Hanson, assistant professor of psychology and chair of this year’s URPC.
“We [often] read about research, studies and so on, but when you actually engage in it, there’s a lot of evidence of socio-emotional motivation for inquiry,” Hanson said. “And [it’s] not just quantitative research, but also looking at case studies and individual’s lived experiences, in some cases.”
Psychology student Gabriel Holm’s research was one such qualitative case. He used a standardized questionnaire to analyze how meaningful SLCC students feel their lives are compared to non-SLCC mental health patients and students from other colleges.
Holm found that SLCC students have a lower mean when it comes to their “presence of meaning and search for meaning.” His qualitative questionnaire responses were quantified using a research tool called the GRIT scale, demonstrating the marriage of hard data and personal experience in research.
“I was originally interested in the cognitive side of meaning,” said Holm, who earned his SLCC cap and gown this month. “But with this presentation I had to take a social sciences approach.”
A bright future for undergrad researchers
During a break from presentations, keynote speaker Dr. Annie Isabel Fukushima, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research at the U., told students that “we all started somewhere.”
Despite the many roles she now holds in academia, Fukushima said others originally told her that her career should be in the field of bus driving. She went on to define equity and highlighted the positive impact of high-impact research on undergrad students, especially those from minority backgrounds.
“Undergraduate research matters,” she said. “When students participate in research opportunities, we know that it helps you retain. It means that you build community, a sense of belonging, and you’re more likely to complete [your degree].
“We also know that it builds skills and that there’s actually positive outcomes for students of color,” Fukushima continued. “It also impacts your career decision. That is the impact of research.”
When undergrad students conduct research, Fukushima said they learn to think like a researcher, bolster their metacognition and “experience a sense of belonging.”
Looking to next year, Hanson hopes even more students will be interested in presenting for SLCC’s third undergrad research conference.
