Students display research projects on Multidisciplinary Research Day
For those students who completed research projects during the last academic year, Western offered an opportunity to display their hard work in the 17th semi-annual Multidisciplinary Research Day.
On April 30 in the Blum Union, students from all different studies crowded in show off their posters to faculty or students. About 45 students participated, representing most departments at Western.
Students like Mignon Wilkins, a senior majoring in psychology, said that the whole thing was worth it.
“All in all, it wasn’t as bad,” Wilkins said. “I know now that I can go somewhere else and do quality research.” It took Wilkins close to four months to get everything put together for her poster.
“This project separates the women from the girls,” Wilkins said.
This program originated in 1994, when four professors decided to develop a forum for biology and psychology students who had done research projects, which consisted of a lot of work, but their talent was left unnoticed.
Originally, they named it Interdisciplinary Research Day. The change to Multidisciplinary came about when the professors noticed other students from different majors were interested in participating in the program.
This Forum is an opportunity for students to present their work in poster form; this forum generally falls into the category of research and creative activities, both inside and outside of classes. The Forum in the past years brought together between 50 and 70 students. The forum consists of no judges or oral presentations – just students presenting their posters.
Biology professor Todd Eckdahl said that a student who participates or that has participated in the past has great opportunities ahead of them because this is the way to get started in giving presentations.
“Students will present their posters here, and once they’ve got it put together, then they may go present it at a state level meeting and then maybe next fall they’ll go present it at a national meeting, which then may lead to publishing it in a paper,” Eckdahl said.
Eckdahl also mentioned that this was the purpose of developing this program because there are opportunities waiting, and it’s not competitive and all-inclusive. If students want to present they can.
“This is a celebration of student achievement in applied learning,” Eckdahl said.
Psychology major Adrienne Pierce has participated in this program for two years now, and she said that it might be a little harder for first-time students.
“It is a lot of work, but it will definitely help students in the long run,” Pierce said.
Another point of this program is so that students can see what other students are doing in their courses.
The program is open to any students who have done a research project and is interested in forming it into a poster. The research presented on the poster does not have to be scientific research; it can be literature reviews or a timeline.
There has been discussion about oral presentations, but that would not work because it would take more time to develop and students would have only a limited amount of time to speak.
Psychology professor Brian Cronk said that they have not done oral presentation in the past for logistical reasons.
“It’s just harder to get more rooms, schedule times and find an audience to listen, so we just stuck with the poster session,” Cronk said. This program introduces applied learning in another method.
“It’s an opportunity to develop professional communication skills,” Cronk said.
Biology professor David Ashley said that he thinks this Multidisciplinary Research Day stands out because students are able to do research projects and present them in a formal way.
“When students get to the end of their time at Missouri Western and they start applying for jobs, they need something on their resume that is beyond the classroom, and that’s what this program is,” Ashley said.
Cronk has developed a Web site for Multidisciplinary Research Day for students who are interested. Ashley calls the website innovative.
“I’m very impressed with the Web site that Dr. Cronk has developed; it is very effective in helping us organize this Research Day,” Ashley said.
Any students interested for next fall can visit the Web site at www.missouriwestern.edu/psychology/mrd/.