REU Site: Summer Undergraduate Research for Students who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing in Applying Mathematical and Statistical Methods to Problems from the Sciences

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This award supports a summer undergraduate research experience program that is geared toward the needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing scholars. The site will be based at National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at Rochester Institute of Technology. Faculty mentors -- all NTID faculty whose research interests lie in science, mathematics, or science education -- are proficient in American Sign Language and accustomed to interacting with deaf and hard-of-hearing students who use a variety of communication methods. This program is funded by the Division of Mathematical Sciences along with co-funding from the Division of Undergraduate Education.Students will choose between research projects in astrophysics, biochemistry, chemistry, mathematics, science education, and survey analysis, and will receive training in statistical and mathematical tools that apply directly to their chosen projects. The specific statistical and mathematical tools that students will learn depend on the specific research project, and may include t-tests, error analysis, factor analysis, correlation, statistical inference, use of statistical or mathematical programming software such as SPSS or Python, or proof writing. The experience will include professional development sessions. Tailored to the needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing students, these sessions will include topics such as ethics, communication strategies in a laboratory, applying to graduate school, and communication strategies at conferences. In addition, the program will include training on scientific writing related to conference presentations and posters. Students will present their research progress regularly to the REU group, as well as publicly -- at an undergraduate research symposium and a research conference -- at the end of the program. In preparation, students will meet regularly with a writing coach who will support the students' efforts in creating presentations and posters and provide students with techniques to improve their scientific writing.