2008 REU Conference

Research Experiences for Undergraduates

June 11-13, 2008
American Center for Physics
One Physics Ellipse
College Park, MD 20740

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program has been funding undergraduate research site programs for over 20 years.

Workshop participants discussed how to:

  • Improve their undergraduate research programs
  • Assess the impact of their programs on the undergraduates
  • Recruit a diverse group of participants.

The workshop allowed participants to set an agenda for further study of the impact of the physics NSF-REU site program on undergraduate physics education. The broader undergraduate research community can benefit from the dissemination of presentation resources used at the workshop and resources relevant to undergraduate research programs that were identified at the workshop.  In addition, a summary of the workshop discussions will be written and made available at this website.

Gray Arrow Physics REU Resources

Workshop Participants

Workshop Grant PIs

  • Catherine Mader, Professor of Physics, Physics Department Chair, Hope College; Education Project Consultant, American Physical Society
  • Theodore Hodapp, Director of Education and Diversity, American Physical Society

Workshop Steering Committee

  • Mario Affatigato, Professor of Physics, Coe College
  • David Ernst, Professor of Physics, Vanderbilt University
  • Richard Galik, Professor of Physics, Cornell University
  • Theodore Hodapp, Director of Education and Diversity, American Physical Society
  • Catherine Mader, Professor of Physics, Physics Department Chair, Hope College; Education Project Consultant, American Physical Society
  • Steven Turley, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Associate Dean, First-Year Experience, Brigham Young University
  • Sherry Yennello, Professor of Chemistry, Associate Dean for Diversity, Texas A&M

Workshop Participants

  • John Carini, Indiana University
  • Mostafa Dokhanian, Alabama A&M University
  • Steve Turley, Brigham Young University
  • Wei Jiang Yeh, University of Idaho
  • Mario Affatigato, Coe College
  • Tony Pitucco, University of Arizona, Pima Community College
  • Rich Galik, Cornell University
  • Truell Hyde, Baylor University
  • Catherine Mader, Hope College
  • Francoise Queval, University of California, Los Angeles
  • Sherry Yennello, Texas A&M University
  • Brad Trees, Ohio Wesleyan University
  • George Tremberger, Queensborough Community College
  • Konstantinos Kalogerakis, SRI International
  • John Kelley, North Carolina State University, Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory
  • Umesh Garg, University of Notre Dame
  • Carroll Quarles, Texas Christian University
  • Michael Kaufman, San Jose State University
  • Sally Seidel, University of New Mexico
  • Sergei Savikhin, Purdue University
  • David Ernst, Vanderbilt University
  • Deborah Jin, University of Colorado
  • Kristin Corwin, Kansas State University
  • William Kossler, College of William and Mary
  • Daniel Stump, Michigan State University
  • Timothy McKay, University of Michigan
  • John Parsons, Columbia University
  • Eric Abraham, University of Oklahoma
  • Jim Kakalios, University of Minnesota
  • Paul Lett, NIST, Gaithersburg
  • Gary Gladding, University of Illinois
  • Claudia Rankins, Hampton University
  • Kathy McCloud, National Science Foundation, Physics
  • Uma Venkateswaran, National Science Foundation, DMR
  • Gary White, Society of Physics Students
  • Keivan Stassun, Vanderbilt/Fisk
  • Larry Josbeno, Corning Community College
  • Graham Peaslee, Hope College
  • Frank Snowden, University of Minnesota
  • David Lopatto, Grinnell College
  • Tim Hanks, Chemistry REU Leadership Group
  • Patrick Mulvey, American Institute of Physics
  • Lawrence Norris, National Society of Black Physicists
  • Eric Black, California Institute of Technology
  • Eileen Sheu, University of Chicago
  • Thomas Kvale, University of Toledo
  • Hari Areti, Jefferson Lab, Old Dominion University
  • Juan Burciaga, National Society of Hispanic Physicists
  • Cimberly Nickell, National Science Foundation
  • Ted Hodapp, American Physical Society
  • Warren Hein, American Association of Physics Teachers
  • Scott Moerschbacher, The George Washington University

The workshop is funded by the National Science Foundation, grant PHY-0819023.

Agenda

All meetings will be held at the American Center for Physics (ACP) unless otherwise indicated. Shuttles will run from the Holiday Inn to ACP at times listed.

Wednesday, June 11

5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Bus from hotel to ACP

5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Welcome Reception

6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Dinner and Presentation
Presenter: David Lopatto, author of Survey of Undergraduate
Research Experiences (SURE): First Findings

8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Discussion: What Defines Success For:

  • The student
  • The faculty mentor
  • The site
  • The REU program as a whole

Thursday, June 12

6:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
Breakfast at hotel

8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Bus to ACP

8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
What do the Physics REU programs look like?

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Patrick Mulvey, AIP statisical research group:
Summary of Undergraduate Research Participation by Physics and Astronomy Degree Recipients of 2006-2007
Discussion: Assessment and Evaluation: What are we measuring? What would we like to measure?

10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Break and Poster Session

10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
REU Site Directors Panel: "Effective Methods for Increasing Diversity of REU Participants"
Discussion: How can the program as a whole tap underrepresented groups?

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Lunch at ACP

1:30 p. m. – 3:00 p.m.
Panel of faculty engaged in research with two year college students
Discussion: Engaging students from two year colleges and younger students in research experiences

3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
BREAK

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Effective Practices Beyond the Lab: Gathering Ideas from Participants

5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Reporting back and beginning to think about programmatic issues we should address as a community.

5:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Bus to hotel

6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Dinner at hotel

Friday, June 13

6:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
Breakfast at the hotel

8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Bus to ACP

8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Discussion: How do we make the collective set of 50 excellent REU sites more than simply the sum of the parts?

10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Break

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Closing:

  • Report
  • Wrap up of meeting
  • Defining future action