Students and staff applauded the unique opportunity to explore education’s real-world application during the annual BYU–Hawaii Undergraduate Research Conference on April 4. The conference featured presentations from more than 15 departments, from anthropology to theatre to math.
English Department Chair and Assistant Professor Stephen Hancock said, in regards to the conference, “We’re trying to give students a chance to present their work and let other students benefit from what has been done, [so they] can progress in their own research.”
Hancock added, “Students are busy. They just have so much to do, and some of them are struggling with personal issues, classes and callings. I think they do a good job of fighting through those [things] and still produce great work.”
Kate McLellan, keynote speaker at the conference, and assistant professor of exercise and sport science, opened her remarks by quoting Historian Daniel J. Boorstin. “Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know. Research is a vital tool in teaching students to think abstractly, creatively, and novelly by moving the ambiguous into concrete.”
She also emphasized the goal of the research was not the research itself. According to McLellan, it is more important who we become by reaching a goal and engaging in an cycle of learning, which is part of conducting research.
Behind the research
Students were admittedly surprised by their own capabilities to do research. Bo Liu, a senior math major from China, said, “The most impactful part of the conference was applying our theory and knowledge from class to real life.”
Liu’s teammate, Lok Him Rhine Woo, a senior math major from Hong Kong, said it was harder than he thought but his teammates made the workload less heavy.
Tetoafaiga Tofa, an freshman English major and Laie local, said that initially, her project began as an assignment for a class, then developed into a research project. She added her biggest challenge was the presentation but conducting her research was great way to develop her writing skills.
“This is something I usually wouldn’t volunteer to be a part of this panel. It’s stressful.” She laughed, “But I can breathe now that it’s over.”
Leilanie Coker, a sophomore marketing major from Hong Kong, Nathalie Trow-McDonald, senior communications major from Louisiana and Anna Franchesca Rabin Serrano, a senior communications major from the Philippines, worked together to analyze the gender gap in rap lyrics. They agreed that the most rewarding part of the experience was finding their data matching existing literature.
“Coming up with a conclusion and finding secondary sources correlated with what we did was really cool,” Coker said.
“Part of our project was a literature review,” said Trow-McDonald. “The most exciting part of our project was doing the analysis and realizing it was true.”
She reflected, “Research is a good experience for students to do once in their life. After all, you get to put it on resumes and job applications.”
BYUH leading research
Michael Weber, associate physics professor and conference attendee, encouraged students interested in research to, “Go talk to a professor and do something. Get your feet wet, the hard part is just starting. The professor can help with ideas, but the student needs to come up with their own research.”
He added how wonderful it was that for the last 30 years and despite its small size, BYUH has provided students with exceptional research opportunities long before undergraduate research was popular.
Dr. Weber explained that through research, “Students are able to find their passion and something they really want to study, which could lead them on a new career path.”
Writer: J. Eston Dunn