The Chemistry Undergraduate Honors Research Curriculum at Hunter College was created to provide students in our majors with the opportunity to demonstrate proficiency in scientific research through the design, development, and presentation of an original, independent, and substantive research question, as well as data collection and analysis. A written thesis and oral presentation have always been a requirement to fulfill the presentation component of the program. However, the Chemistry Research Honors courses did not have a uniform curriculum and a defined mission and each faculty member with undergraduate research students did not have clearly defined outcomes outlined by the department to advise their students accordingly.<br/>An Undergraduate Research Thesis Committee was organized in the department consisting of lecturers and research professors that worked on standardizing the honors thesis process. We came together to redesign our department Undergraduate Honors Research Curriculum to update the course syllabi with learning objectives and grading scale, and to create assignment rubrics for writing the thesis and for the oral presentations. Other improvements include mandatory mentoring where each student must meet with a thesis committee member three times a semester to ensure the students are accountable for their research experience and staying on track to write their theses.<br/>The new changes will ensure that future students will be able to keep the style of the theses consistent, professional, and publication ready. We hypothesize that this change will create a more enriching college experience for future generations and will standardize our Undergraduate Honors Research Curriculum.

Redesigning chemistry undergraduate honors research curriculum

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