The senior research project at Stetson University

Abstract

Stetson University is Florida’s first private university, classified as a Masters Comprehensive School with a School of Business Administration, College of Law, School of Music, and College of Arts and Sciences. The College of Arts and Sciences requires every to student complete an in-depth piece of individual scholarship in their last year, the senior project. Learning outcomes and format are determined at the departmental level, so projects in the humanities typically differ from those in the natural sciences. Because it is a multidisciplinary program, Environmental Science projects represent the range of diversity encountered in the College of Arts and Sciences with its Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Sciences degrees. Environmental Science senior research projects unfold through two courses over the academic year. The sequence includes a research proposal, data collection and analysis, a report of findings, and public presentations, all of which are subject to peer review by classmates and evaluation by the instructor. Output from the course has led to several collaborative, peer-reviewed publications. Challenges of this pedagogy are motivating students to create knowledge of their own and timing research to coincide with the academic calendar.