ASR Overview

GOAL

ASR is a student-centered, three-year research program that encourages individual and group scientific inquiry beginning sophomore year. ASR is one of the most exciting curriculum initiatives that a secondary school can offer. ASR provides high school students with the structure and support they need to explore original research at a very high level in a topic of their own interest. This serious pursuit of new knowledge provides students with a deep experience of independence, industry and collaboration. ASR offers students the chance to complete original research projects on a topic of their choice in the areas of physical science (chemistry, physics, engineering, earth and space sciences), life science (biology, medicine and health, environmental science), mathematics and computers, or social science (psychology, anthropology, sociology). This is a challenging course designed to inculcate a strong foundation in personal responsibility, self-reliance, creative problem solving and advanced interpersonal communication skills.

PHILOSOPHY

ASR is aimed at students who wish to pursue excellence and progress into advanced areas of original research regardless of their prior academic successes or involvement with science. The course will develop and foster students' commitment to long-term focused research that demonstrates initiative, perseverance, and creativity.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Students taking the course accomplish the following:

They choose and explore a topic of interest. It may come from any area of basic or applied science, mathematics, medicine, or engineering. They develop researching skills using professional databases and other research tools.
They find and study numerous journal articles, using textbooks and other articles to fill in their gaps in understanding so that they are able to explain every detail of each article and its significance.
Once they have read a critical mass of literature on their narrowly-defined topic, they use it to write a review article that outlines the background of the topic, the cutting edge of our understanding of it, and the outstanding problems.
Students contact a scientist who has completed research in the field they wish to study and ask the scientist to serve as a mentor to assist them in carrying out a research project in their area of interest. Students will learn how to do this themselves.
Students then engage in an original piece of research under the supervision of their external mentor and their ASR teacher. This may be the student’s own project, or the student may assist the mentor in some meaningful manner. If the student works on the mentor’s research, it is the student's responsibility to acquire sufficient knowledge and skills to become a genuine asset to their mentor. Many students eventually know more about their highly focused topic than their teachers.
Students will be taught fundamental inferential statistics which they will competently use in their research. Most students complete their own data analyses or actively assist the mentor with theirs.

THREE-YEAR ASR CURRICULUM OVERVIEW

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