What is research at Santa Fe College?
Classroom assignment
Within the content of the course, students engage in scientific, scholarly, and/or creative activities and thinking processes appropriate to the discipline of the course content. This may include:
- Formulation of a hypothesis, gathering evidence in a reproducible manner, drawing conclusions based on evidence and existing scientific knowledge, and communicating the results in a manner appropriate to the discipline
- Formulation of a thesis or creative work based on previous works of art, performances, literary works, or other types of creative projects in the discipline
The inquiry or investigation is done with instructor facilitation and involves critical reflection and aims to make an intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline or disciplines.
Extension of classroom assignment
The student can expand on an idea, concept, or creative endeavor covered within the content of a course. This would be done with instructor facilitation but outside of the regular classroom content and meeting times. The student could gain research experience by participating in a research symposium, may fulfill an Honor’s contract, and/or receive extra credit in a class. This type of project may involve:
- the expansion of a lab exercise to include more data and statistical analysis
- an extension of an inquiry based assignment to include more information gathering and reflection
- the development of a creative project that is more extensive than the classroom assignment
Faculty lead/Faculty apprentice
The student will conduct research or creative endeavor under the direct supervision of a faculty mentor. The faculty mentor directs the research and may:
- assign the student a small (short) project that is part of their own research
- assign the student a part of a long term project that the faculty has developed
- act as a mentor to a student apprentice in a creative endeavor