Dolly Parton’s impact on education and COVID’s impact on student success and mental health are among the topics Pellissippi State Community College students have researched this fall.
These English and Communication students are presenting what they’ve learned during Pellissippi State’s inaugural Undergraduate Research Forum. Each student has prepared a 3- to 5-minute presentation with visual elements, and the college community and the public are invited.
The forum is the culmination of a pilot project coordinated by Professor Kelly Rivers and Assistant Professor Shaquille Marsh.
“Research takes many forms; it’s not just field studies or hands-on experiments,” Rivers said. “Any time someone looks up information to support an argument or defend a position, they are conducting research. As coordinators of this pilot, Dr. Marsh and I want students (and the community at large) to make connections between what we do in the classroom and what will be required in the workplace.”
Students in Marsh’s Interpersonal Communications class kicked off the presentations Monday, Nov. 20. English Composition I students of Rivers and Associate Professor Margaret McCrary will present Monday and Wednesday, Nov. 27 and Nov. 29, 8:30-11:20 a.m. in the West Chevrolet Auditorium on the college’s Blount County Campus.
Meanwhile, students in McCrary’s Introduction to Fiction class were asked to create visual representations of a text, concept or period in the development of fiction writing. They will share their work on Monday and Wednesday, Nov. 27 and Nov. 29, 1:30-3 p.m. in the West Chevrolet Auditorium on the Blount County Campus.
“Many students do not recognize the importance of the work they’re asked to do in the classroom; for many, a paper is just another assignment,” Rivers said. “This forum is designed to demonstrate the value of student’s ideas, research and process. We want them to recognize their own position in the academic and professional conversations around them.”
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