Course Purpose

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the basic methodology of scientific research with the aim of creating an independent research project.

Course Description

How can you decide if you would like a career in scientific research?  Wouldn’t it help if you could gain experience in research earlier in your education?  In this class, you will have that chance!  You will learn the basics of scientific research in order to help you decide if you would like to further investigate a career in the field.  You will be introduced to the basic methods that scientists use to  transform every day questions into testable predictions and experiments, and the processes they undergo to accurately test these ideas and predictions.  Students will also be introduced to the statistical methods scientists use to analyze their data after it is collected.  Course discussions will focus particularly on, but will not be limited to psychological research.  Most notably, you will have the chance to develop, conduct, analyze, and present your own original research project under the supervision of a mentor who has a knowledge base in your area of interest.  The culmination of your project may be entrance into any one of a number of citywide competitions.

This course is intended for students interested in the sciences who are contemplating pursuing a career particularly in research.  It is intended to be a year-long course (but could be extended further depending on the depth of student research), with the ultimate goal of students developing their own research project.

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