Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Connections
Undergraduate Research—Scientific Reasoning
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (A&E) are applied sciences building on the natural sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry) and for agribusiness, also the social sciences. Therefore, our students have historically been exposed to the scientific method and critical reasoning throughout their academic experience at ACU. Yet, to more fully engage our students in this process in the future, three key steps are being taken. They are:
1) All A&E students take AENV 110- Introduction to Agricultural and Environmental Systems at initial enrollment. A part of the course curriculum concentrates on the scientific method and critical thinking, and how applied scientists use the scientific method.
2) A&E has set an initial goal that 5% of our students will engage in faculty mentored research as undergraduates. Subsequently, research findings will be developed into oral or poster presentations for delivery at disciplinary professional conferences. A&E is currently meeting this goal. In fact, many of our students have won honors at these conferences. Students are also expected to present their research at the ACU Undergraduate Research Festival. For the first time in 2011, ACU students will also present their research at the inaugural Research Symposium sponsored by the Agriculture Consortium of Texas. Our next step is to increase this number to 10% of our undergraduates as funding allows.
3) A&E students engage in senior-level capstone courses in their respective disciplines (i.e., agribusiness, animal science, environmental science). Products vary, but senior-level students are expected to produce artifacts ranging from scientifically supported position papers to pieces built upon primary data. All artifacts are evaluated by A&E faculty and several of them are assessed by evaluators outside of the department (e.g., writing samples for Writing Across the Curriculum, professional conferences).