LAS 450 - Foundations of Academic Research and Creative Activity
Semesters offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026
Course developer: Kelvin Droegemeier, Professor and Special Advisor to the Chancellor for Science & Policy; Climate, Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences; teaching in LAS for 2.5 years
1. How would you describe the course to someone unfamiliar with the subject?
The course provides students with knowledge needed to be successful as a researcher or practitioner in any discipline (from arts and humanities to engineering and medicine) and all grade levels (freshman to senior graduate student), but which is not available in an integrated manner as part of the formal academic preparation.
2. What made you want to create this course?
It took me 40 years to learn about the topics taught in this course and I realized I could have done a lot more in my career, a lot earlier, had I had the knowledge available in the course at the front end of my career. Thus, in developing the course and associated book, I hoped to provide students with an advantage I and others did not have.
3. Were there any challenges you faced while designing or teaching the course? How did you overcome it?
Not really. I had access to a lot of material and experts, the latter of whom I bring in as guest speakers. This includes experts from Federal agencies, congressional staff, and scholars from all types and sizes of academic institutions. They represent about 15% of the presentations in the class.
4. Now that you've offered the course at least once, what do you hope students took away from it the most?
Student testimonials have been extremely positive. Some have changed career directions because of the course. Here are two testimonials: "Not only will you learn something every day in this course, but you will learn things that are not taught anywhere else." "Taking the course was an eye-opening experience. In my opinion, this course is a must for students from all disciplines!"
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