For five years, the Arkansas Summer Research Institute has provided undergraduate students from colleges and universities across Arkansas the opportunity to prepare to conduct advanced, independent research leading to advanced STEM degrees.
The goals for year six are the same, but are being met in a different fashion. During the previous five years, participants would attend in person at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts. One group would spend a week on campus with a different cohort coming in for the second week.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, holding face-to-face sessions on campus wasn’t feasible. For year six, the program switched to a two-week virtual learning experience that allowed participants to meet through Zoom sessions with the instructors and guest presenters.
Dr. Whitney Holden and Dr. Patrycja Krkowiak, both life sciences specialists at ASMSA, direct the progam. Holden said previous sessions were revamped to include highly interactive components such as Zoom breakout rooms and polls, PearDeck questions during slide presentations, Labster simulations, MCAT and GRE prep through Magoosh and more.
In addition to expanding the program to a full two weeks, moving the Institute to a virtual form allowed more students to participate in the Institute. Almost 70 students logged onto some portion of the program during the Institute’s first week with about 50 attending the majority of sessions, Holden said.
“This is our largest Institute ever in terms of number of students served and number of presenters and panelists involved in sessions across two weeks,” Holden said. “Holding the Institute remotely means that we have had to substitute Labster simulations for hands-on kills training, but the remote delivery has also allowed us to work with students who would not have been able to come to an in-person event because of work, summer classes and other commitments.”
Regardless of the method of instruction, the main purpose of the Institute is the same, Krakowiak said. The ultimate goal of the program is to enable students to join laboratories as undergraduates so that they can experience all of the benefits such access entails, she said.
Those benefits include a “greater chance of getting into postgraduate programs, more competitive jobs and the plethora of other characteristics that students are able to develop from improved confidence to better critical thinking skills and work ethic,” Krakowiak said.
The Institute also allows participants to build connections with each other and the professors and professionals involved in the program, Krakowiak said. That is an important aspect of the Institute, said Jennifer Fowler, who serves as director of education, outreach and diversity at the Arkansas National Science Foundation Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR), which funds ASRI.
“One of the main goals of the ASRI from the NSF EPSCoR perspective is to create a peer network of STEM students across the state or region and provide the support the students need to complete their undergrad degrees and pursue graduate school,” Fowler said.
“Studies have shown that intensive summer informal learning and networking can increase retention in STEM and provide encouragement for students to seek advanced STEM degrees.”
One way the Institute works toward those goals is to focus on underrepresented students who often have had less preparation in this area, Krakowiak said. Holden said that while all Arkansas undergraduate students are welcome to attend the Institute that an extra effort is placed into recruiting students from underrepresented groups.
“We have a large number of students who are from underserved backgrounds and/or first generation college students,” Holden said. “A program like this helps them make connections, identify opportunities and—perhaps most importantly—build confidence. We already have examples from this cohort of students where individuals have received interviews to join labs, identified specific fellowships to apply for and learned skills that they admit previously intimidated them, like using R studio, designing objects for 3D printing with OnShape and more.”
Sadagicous Owens is a senior at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. This is the second time she has participated in the Institute. One of her personal goals for participating again was to overcome her fear of public speaking. While that may be accomplished in group discussions, each participant also gives a research presentation on a previous project on the final day. She also participated in hopes to be able to make a future decision about postgraduate work.
“I decided to participate in the ASRI because I was torn between medical school and graduate studies,” Owens said. “I knew that once I joined, by the time the program ended my heart would have led me to the directed career path I was set to have.”
The opportunity to participate in an extended program compared to her first time two years ago was also appealing, she said.
“I also wanted to get a broader experience of the program with more time to adapt to the useful information, resources, skills and techniques I need to apply to the real world for my future career. Last time I participated in the ASRI, it was in-person and only four intense days. This summer, the two-week experience is like an extension of the four days but more self-paced. To be honest, either setup is OK for me because the ASRI is still an intense challenge that keeps students on their ‘A-game,’” Owens said.
A standard feature of the ASRI, whether it be in-person or virtually, are panel discussions that include professionals and graduate students that offer participants insight to various aspects of postgraduate life. Those discussions have ranged from entrepreneurship in scientific research, gaining admittance into postgraduate programs, panel discussions with graduate and medical students, research reviews highlighting specific research by professors around the state and several other topics.
That is the one of the top reasons to participate in the Institute for Kevin Ramirez Chavez, a senior at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.
“My favorite part of the ASRI was being able to discuss relevant topics with professionals,” he said. “Being able to interact with young people like me, providing different insight, participating actively in the presentations and contributing to each other’s learning experience was incredible. This was an inspirational experience that left me a sense of desire for more.”
Ramirez Chavez said the professionals and guest speakers were friendly. They provided their contact information and were enthusiastic to hear back from the participants, he said.
“I was surprised about this matter since I always thought that researchers were busy enough that they might not even respond, but this program has shown me otherwise. There are many people out there who are willing to help you to succeed,” he said.
Fowler of the Arkansas NSF EPSCoR praised the work that Holden and Krakowiak have performed in the program as well as the organization’s partnership with ASMSA.
“ASMSA has been a wonderful partner for the ASRI, and I don’t think we would be able to do the program with the same success at any other venue,” Fowler said. “As an ASMSA alumna, I am proud to show students from around the state what ASMSA can offer.
“Dr. Krakowiak and Dr. Holden have been incredible co-directors of the program and work tirelessly each year to make sure the students have the best possible experience.”
Fowler said the program recently was awarded funding for an additional five years.
Ramirez Chavez recommended the other undergraduates take advantage of the program in the future.
“For me it has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Not always do you have the opportunity to interact with people as professionals like the people from this program. Observing how your other classmates get involved and approach the different activities was a fresh breath of air for me. I was impressed by the people that I met in this program, and my journey as a researcher has just begun,” he said.
Students interested in applying to next year’s Arkansas Summer Research Institute can contact Dr. Whitney Holden at holdenw@asmsa.org or Dr. Patrycja Krakowiak at krakowiakp@asmsa.org.