a. Orientation (O) (Students and Teachers)–
Students: Students should arrive at TU on Sunday June 19, 2005. You should pan to meet with a Faculty mentor in the lobby of Millennium Hall. The Faculty member will assist you with room reservations and help to get you settled in. After checking into your room, you will have the rest of the day to explore the campus and the local area. Faculty mentors will be available to answer questions, describe eating accommodations, and suggest possible sites to explore.

Teachers: Since teachers will be recruited from the local area, it is not expected that you will require on site housing. If you require housing, please contact Dr. Schaefer to discuss arrangements.

Students and Teachers: On the first day of the program, Monday, June 20, 2005, all students, in-service teachers, and research mentors will meet together for a formal orientation in Room 326 of Smith Hall at 9:00 am. This meeting will begin with student and research mentor introductions. Dr. Schaefer, chairs from various CSM departments, and other university officials will welcome the participants and discuss the role of undergraduate research in general and at TU in particular. Dr. Schaefer will then discuss the structure of the program and answer any questions from the participants. Everyone will then be given a tour of the campus, the library, and the CSM departments. At the library, the everyone will be given email accounts and receive tutorials on performing literature searches. After lunch, the students and teachers will be directed to their individual research mentor’s laboratory for the remainder of the day. The day will conclude with a picnic, held at one of the several open picnic areas located directly behind the Smith Hall science building.

b. Mid-Program Presentations (MSP) (Students and Teachers) – It is important for the participants to take ownership in the research project and not just become passive robots, performing the tasks described to them by their research mentor. The participants must understand the science and the goals of the project and realize that the project is their responsibility. Therefore, in the fourth week of the program, Friday July 15, 2005, all participants will be required to make an oral presentation describing their research project. This will include a description of background information, a description of the larger scope and importance of the project, current progress on the project, and the future work planned during the summer. The undergraduate student and teacher will divide the presentation equally.

c. Final Presentations (FP) – The summer will culminate with presentations on the final day of the program, Friday August 19, 2005. In the morning a formal poster session will provide a means for all undergraduate students to showcase their work. The session will last approximately two hours, followed by a catered lunch for all attendees. After lunch, oral presentations will be made by the K-12 teachers participating in the program.

The proposed program will focus on the participant’s research projects, with the participants meeting with their mentors every day. Several ancillary activities are planned to compliment the research experience. These ancillary activities will be held later in the day or evening and at the end of the week in order to provide as much continuous research time as possible. Non – research activities include:

a. Presentation Preparation Workshops- Students and teachers will participate in two workshops designed to improve their oral and written communication skills.
1. Oral Presentation Workshop (Students and Teachers) (OW) - An oral workshop will be given in the second week of the program in order to prepare participants for their mid-summer presentations in week four. Each student will be asked to give a short oral presentation (10-15 minutes) which will be video taped. The audience will be composed of research mentors and the K-12 teachers.
2. Poster Presentation Workshop (Students and Teachers) (PW) - The poster preparation workshop will be held in the eighth week of the semester for all students and teachers. This will aid in the preparation of the final presentations in week nine. A discussion of the philosophy of poster presentations and how to construct an effective poster will be discussed

b. Teacher’s Workshop (TW) (Teachers only) – A major goal of this program is for in-service teachers to transfer the information and experiences learned in the REU back into the classroom. To expedite this, outreach activities workshops will be held for the teachers. These workshops are designed to provide teachers with opportunities to discuss their experiences and develop ways to transfer some aspect of the experience (content, technology, concept, procedure, etc) back to the classroom for use as a teaching tool..

c. Scientific Ethics Workshop (EW) (Students and Teachers) – An important constituent in this REU program is an integrated ethics component. Workshops on research integrity will be held on the second and third weeks of the program. Dr. Larry Wimmers, an associate professor in the TU Biology department will run the seminars. Dr. Wimmers has taught similar workshops as part of the Biology REU program for the past several years.

d. Field Trips (FT) (Students and Teachers) – In order to expose the participants to a variety of research environments, participants in the program will visit different institutions and witness the different roles served by the scientists employed there. Towson University is located within two hours of many academic, industrial and government laboratories including NIST, the newly established Nanotechnology Center at the Naval Research Laboratory, Northrup Grumman, the University of Maryland, College Park and Johns Hopkins. Field trips will take place on Friday afternoons and consist of a tour of the facilities, discussion of institutional goals, formal presentations of one or more projects underway and informal discussions centered on the interdisciplinary nature of research. One trip will be performed each summer.

e. Social Events (SE) (Students and Teachers)- It is important that the participants are given some time to interact socially with each other and their research mentors for a variety of reasons. Social activities allow a casual environment for all the participants and research mentors to interact and provides some time away from the research laboratory. These interactions allow the participants to bond, promoting a sense of community. This can lead to the sharing of ideas and establishment of collaborations. One formal social activity will be held every other week. These can take the form of a cook out, pool parties at the TU pool, or a movie night. Informal, impromptu activities arranged by the participants will be encouraged.

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