REAPING WHAT YOU SOW
Knowing research is just as important as understanding the steps to plowing the field.
Written by Tiffany Tubbs-Berry
Growing in the rich soil of research, undergraduate students learn to reap what they sow – the more one puts into something, the more one gets out of it. For the Texas Tech University College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, this concept rings true for undergraduate students, not only those within its own boundaries, but for students across campus who wish to learn about research.
“This course is basically formal instruction on how to plan, design and carry out research," says Don Ethridge, Ph.D., chairperson of the Department of Agricultural and Applies Economics. "Background, application and integration are the three steps in research that we are trying to teach.”
As any farmer knows the steps to plow the field, knowing the steps of learning research is just as important. Ethridge notes that the research course is broken up into two classes. The first semester undergraduates read about and discuss research, ways in which research fits in with the issues chosen for study by the student and the roles research plays in their disciplines. During the second semester, the students choose a research problem and team up with a faculty member. The students complete the study and report results during the second semester.
“Although College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources does not make the class a requirement, the information that is learned is good preparation for graduate school and the job market. This is what undergraduate education should strive for,” notes Ethridge.
The research class has been around since 1964 as part of the agricultural economics program, but two years ago, the class became a college course and was opened to all disciplines throughout the university. Approximately 10 to 15 students each year participate in the intensive research course.
Story produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing, 806-742-2136
Photo by Joey Hernandez
Illustrated
by Misty Pollard
Web layout by Gretchen Pressley
“All of us recognize a role for undergraduate students in research projects. We like this course because of what we observe in an individual's learning process. Students begin to understand research, and they can say that the subjects that they have studied can be put to work," comments Ethridge. "I have advised more than 200 undergraduate students through this process and not always do the high grade-point-average students do the best or learn the most. The students who take risks and who are willing to be wrong and make mistakes in order to learn are the students who do the best and learn the most."
Sukant Misra, Ph.D., associate dean of research and a professor of the research course for seven years, explains that the course encompasses everything a researcher does in order to conduct research and publish new knowledge.
Misra notes that research methodology is really the “how to” in research. “When people hear ‘research methodology,’ they think about ‘methods,’ but really research methodology is a broader concept, not just methods,” says Misra.
“A lot of people also think when you are talking about research you are thinking about graduate education. Anyone who goes out into the real world will have to solve problems. Solving problems is part of research. If you have to solve a problem, the first thing that you do is identify it, just like in life,” says Misra.
The research course not only has a faculty mentor during the second semester but is taught by six faculty members during the first semester.
“The way the class is taught is very beneficial. Several different teachers are involved, which gives us a variety of knowledge and experiences,” says Dane Sanders, student participant in the research course and graduate student in agricultural and applied economics "I did my research project on the value of underground water in the Texas High Plains. I learned a lot, not only about my project specifically, but about how to conduct research. This will be a tremendous help to me in graduate school.”
For students at Texas Tech, the multidisciplinary course could be the richest soil for the growth in their knowledge of research, Ethridge comments. “Reaping what you sow – learning about research not only benefits these students for graduate education, but the education and training will benefit them throughout their entire lives.”