Release date: Nov. 20, 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" — are a group of new freshman seminars 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.

For Rachel Saltzman, a chemistry major from New York, the chance to learn in depth about different kinds of research "has been extremely exciting," she says. "The class has been an amazing opportunity to not only learn about specific research, but to also find out more about how it's done, how its created and what can be accomplished."

The seminar, which was taught last spring and was expanded to two sections this fall, 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 younger students just starting their academic careers, Lynn says. Graduate students have been very enthusiastic about the program, says Lynn. He received 76 applications from graduate students eager to teach in the course, including the five who taught sections of the course last spring and reapplied for the fall.

"By teaching undergraduates 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.

Lynn says the fields covered in the course include basic hard sciences as well as psychology, anthropology, environmental studies and other disciplines.

"As a whole, my hope is that the course will demonstrate to students their capability to understand these fields, and engage them into thinking about science more broadly, with the possibility that some will pursue careers in research."

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