Release date: March 28, 2003
Contact: Deb Hammacher, Associate Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-727-0644 or dhammac@emory.edu

Showcasing Scientific Discoveries Ignites Interest Among Freshmen

Some college students may see science courses as a frustrating requirement to get out of the way or simply the path to med school, but Emory University chemistry professor David Lynn is working to change that attitude by bringing the excitement of scientific discovery directly to undergraduates.

"Origins of ORDER" — which stands for "On Recent Discoveries by Emory Researchers" — is a new freshman seminar created by Lynn that allows some of Emory's top scientists and graduate students to share their recent research while introducing students to broad scientific concepts in mathematics, chemistry, physics and biology.

The seminar is Lynn's first major step toward establishing a new training program for undergraduate students since he was named one of 20 inaugural Howard Hughes Medical Institute professors last year. He will receive $1 million over the next four years to bring scientific research into undergraduate classrooms.

"Our principal, long-range goal is to build a collaborative science curriculum, characterized by integration of faculty research into education, and the linkage of content, theory and practice across disciplines," says Lynn, the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Chemistry and Biology.

The course is modeled on those goals, and is taught in five different sections focusing on a particular project, such as image processing, the physics of foam or molecular evolution. The professors and graduate students explain the origins of their discoveries, and the different elements of order that build the research in their respective disciplines.

The involvement of graduate students is vital to the course, since it helps provide a peer connection to students, Lynn says.

"By teaching them about their research, graduate students can demonstrate to younger students that research is exciting, and they enjoy what they do. Such mentoring can greatly influence the educational experience of undergraduates, and encourage bright students to pursue careers in science," says Lynn.

The course will be a regular offering starting next fall, and Lynn says the fields covered in the course will continue to expand out of the basic hard sciences and into research in psychology, anthropology, environmental studies and other sciences.

"As a whole, my hope is that the course will demonstrate to the students their capability to understand these fields and engage students into thinking about science more broadly as it relates to their academic pursuits," Lynn says.

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