REU Site: Engagement in the Basic and Applied Science of Psychology: Research Experience for Undergraduates at Baruch College, City University of New York

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This project is the continuation of a previously funded NSF-REU program at Baruch College. The previous and current REU programs have been successful at enhancing the graduate school enrollment of individuals from underrepresented groups. The program serves as a model for offering research experiences to students from underrepresented groups attending urban universities and colleges.Intellectual Merit:The REU site at Baruch College offers advanced research training to 12 undergraduate students who attend Baruch College and other educational institutions in the New York metropolitan area each academic year for a three-year period. Each REU student joins an REU faculty member's research team and conduct independent research under the supervision of that faculty member working in an area that matches the student?s expressed interests (e.g., social psychology, industrial/organizational psychology, developmental psychology, sleep psychology, conservation psychology).Each student focuses on one area of psychology, review the literature, plan and design research projects and execute studies with the intention of presenting papers at professional conferences and submitting manuscripts to quality peer-reviewed journals. Students learn the value of statistical analyses and become comfortable with the use of computer programs for describing and drawing inferences from data. Students also gain experience in the art of research dissemination and presentation. The results of each student's research are presented at the Baruch REU conference and potentially at national or regional conferences and in peer-reviewed journals. REU students complete a series of structured learning activities aimed at preparing them for all stages of psychological research and for the graduate school application process.Broader Impacts:Statistics from the NSF and the American Psychological Association indicate continued under- representation of African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans and Native Americans in the field of psychology. This program is designed to increase the representation of minority, low-income and first generation college students in scientific psychology. Specifically, the program does the following: 1) prepare students for advanced graduate training in psychology and ultimately for careers in academic and applied settings, 2) identify early promising minority and economically disadvantaged students throughout the New York metropolitan area and prepare them for careers in scientific psychology, 3) develop a pool of talented and diverse undergraduate students to become the research scientists of the future, 4) help these young scientists develop affiliations with other students and professionals in the field, and 5) increase psychological scientists' awareness of cultural and minority issues in psychological research through exposure to the backgrounds and experience of the REU students.