Guidelines



One requirement for the completion of the Science and Technology Program is the successful completion of the course Research Practicum. Students will learn and apply the basic skills of research. They will design an experiment to answer a research question.

The major requirements are:

(1) A research project which is either experimental or design and development;

(2) The project must be approved by the Research Practicum teacher;

(3) Conclusions must be supported by sufficient data which will be tested statistically (if statistics are inappropriate, the student must be guided by a researcher);

(4) Presentation of research by student through presentations in class, at the school science fair, and at the Research Practicum Symposium;

(5) Five Chapter Paper. If a student does not submit an acceptable final paper, he or she will not pass the course and thereby will not graduate as a member of the Science and Technology Program.

Junior year is the time to begin finding a research topic. Discuss possible ideas with an R.P. Instructor, a science or engineering teacher, or Ms. Hemelt. Some of you might have the opportunity to begin a project during the summer. You can contact Ms. Hemelt during the summer at school by email her (jhemelt@pgcps.org). It could be a waste of time and effort to collect data and think you have an acceptable project, if it has not been approved and guided.

The project must follow either an experimental design or a design and developmental design. Projects in the Biological Sciences or Physical Sciences must follow the experimental design. Projects in the Pre-Engineering/Technology areas must follow either the experimental design or the design and development design.

An experimental design must:

  • contain a dependent and independent variable, must be part of the design (observational studies are permitted only if the student is working under the guidance of a mentor and must be approved by the R.P. teacher)

  • include a hypothesis, which can be tested statistically

  • focus on changing the independent variable, and then measuring the dependent variable

  • include a statistical analysis of the data: The two major types are a significant statistical measurement or a correlation between the independent and depends variable. This means that you will determine if a graph of the independent variable vs. the dependent variable yield a linear relationship.

  • One requirement for the completion of the Science and Technology Program is the successful completion of the course Research Practicum. Students will learn and apply the basic skills of research. They will design an experiment to answer a research question.


A design and development project must:

  • involve the selection of a problem that requires an engineering solution including:

  • refinement of a current solution

  • developments of a new solution

  • analysis of possible solutions


Your project must deal with your focus area (Biological Science, Physical Science, Pre-Engineering). If your focus area is Science/Engineering Exploration, the area of research you choose must be reflective of the Advanced Science/Tech courses taken from Grades 10-12.

Possible Research Areas in Biological Sciences include:

Biochemistry

Botany

Environmental sciences

Medicine and health

Microbiology

Zoology

Possible Research Areas in Physical Sciences include:

Biochemistry

Chemistry

Computer science

Environmental science

Mathematics

Physics

Possible Research Areas in Engineering include:

Acoustical

Aeronautical

Automotive

Biological

Construction and testing

Electrical

Environmental

Heating and refrigeration

Manufacturing

Marine

Materials

Mechanical

A NUMBER OF STUDIES HAVE INCLUDED AN OVERLAPPING OF SEVERAL OF THESE TOPICS. FOR EXAMPLE, A STUDY WAS PERFORMED SEVERAL YEARS AGO IN WHICH THE STUDENT COMBINED THE FIELDS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, PHYSICS, AND ENGINEERING.