The annual Scholars in Action showcase is a great way for Springfield College students to feature undergraduate student work from all departments across campus. This year’s edition will take place on April 21 and 23, showcasing the wide range of subjects students at Springfield College study.
Tuesday’s portion of the series includes multimedia works and poster presentations inside of Judd Gymnasia and the Dodge room on the upper level of the campus union. The top floor was decorated with vibrant posters and informational slide presentations. Typically, students from a variety of different majors participated, and created dynamic projects based on interdisciplinary topics of their choice.
Another event on Tuesday features a more formal set of oral presentations from students in business related classes, or who had done extensive research projects. These presentations will be taking place in the Cleveland E. and Phyllis B. Dodge Room in the Campus Union. For many students and faculty alike, it was astonishing to see the projects come together.
“It’s a historic piece of Springfield College lore about how we highlight undergraduate research on campus,” said Matthew Citron, an Instructional Designer in the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship. “The idea is that faculty sponsor individuals doing their research across all three schools on campus. The hope is to get that experience of presenting at a true conference.”
Many of the projects showcased are in individual learning subjects pioneered by honors program students at Springfield College. One honors program student, Ana Hutchinson, is presenting her research about fruit flies. Hutchinson has spent multiple semesters researching leading up to a hands-on project with Dr. Chris Abdullah, an assistant professor of biology. The sophomore is just one example of an undergraduate student with research interests that has taken advantage of the opportunity to showcase to graduate and qualified faculty.
“We bring in full PhD faculty, adjunct faculty, doctoral students on campus to do the evaluations,” Citron said. “Everybody gets a metric of how they performed. There is no grade associated with Scholars in Action from our end. It’s purely about the learning experience of trying to present your work and speak intelligently about what you’ve done.”
The closing ceremony for the week celebrating student work includes dance performances, literary readings, music festivities and speeches prepared by organizers. This will take place on Thursday inside of the Fuller Arts Center, during the common hour.
“If you bring us a project, we will put it out into the presentation,” said Citron. “It’s open to anybody across campus.”
The event not only serves as a platform for students to share their work, but also encourages collaboration and conversation among undergraduate peers and faculty members. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with presenters, ask questions and gain insight into a wide array of academic disciplines. For many participants, Scholars in Action represents both a culmination of their efforts and a stepping stone toward future academic and professional pursuits, such as graduate research.
Submissions are due on April 15, in the form of a 200-300 word abstract outlining the concept of the presentation or paper that is being submitted. The form can be found in an email from the Division of Academic Affairs sent on March 11.
Photo courtesy of Springfield College/Flickr