Authentic Research Experience for CLASS Undergraduates

Aiming to give undergraduates intellectually stimulating research experience and opportunities to explore their areas of interest and develop their research skills, CityU’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) implemented a meaningful initiative in the academic year 2020-21: the Research Volunteer Scheme (RVS), an ongoing cross-disciplinary research apprenticeship scheme.

Dr Andus WONG, Associate Professor of psychology and RVS coordinator, shares a personal story about his research volunteering experience during his undergraduate study at the University of California at San Diego. “There was nothing like the well-structured RVS at that time, but I proactively asked my teacher if I could assist in his research project,” he reveals. He was accepted. “I learnt what conducting research is like, and this experience contributed to my decision to pursue an academic career.”

Later, his supervisor included Wong in a paper, making it his debut co-authorship in academia.

Supporting Students in Gaining Hands-on Experience
The six months spent participating in his teacher’s research study were enlightening. Now, as a teacher himself, Wong endeavours to bring similar learning opportunities to his students. That’s why he was ready to accept the role of coordinator when the College decided to make RVS available to undergraduate students across all its seven departments.

Joining RVS means students do not need to wait until their postgraduate study to gain academic research experience. They can learn research skills and methodologies from seasoned faculty members, and put knowledge into practice through participating in different research procedures. Wong refers to this as a kind of “experiential learning”, which might not be easily available in a formal classroom-based curriculum. He hopes students will enjoy learning and experiencing something unique and valuable.

The lovely part of the scheme is its flexibility. Students’ participation is entirely voluntary, and principal investigators (project owners) can determine the number of volunteers they need. Moreover, since it is non-credit bearing, students are free to explore their research interests without having to worry about grades. Some principal investigators even accept applicants outside their home departments, so students may choose a project beyond their areas of study, thus broadening their interdisciplinary perspectives.

Diverse Projects Let Students Pursue Different Aspirations
Wong has recruited students for two projects about cognitive processes underlying language production among Cantonese- English bilingual speakers. Both projects are experiment-oriented and lab-based, so the roles of the volunteers include administering and conducting language tests, running experiments with lab-based research equipment, and constructing and developing new experiments during the pilot stage.

But volunteers’ duties vary substantially for the other 20-plus projects that offer around a hundred volunteer openings in the current academic year, including conducting literature reviews, collecting data, conducting surveys and experiments, analysing data, and preparing final reports.

An Invaluable Addition to the CV – and More
Wong praises the students, saying that they are self-motivated, responsible, passionate about learning, and eager to learn outside the classroom.

Alicia FAN Yu-ying, who is in the third year of her psychology study, is assisting in Wong’s project on Cantonese-English bilingual speech production. She joined RVS as she is interested in and wants to become more competent in research work, which requires handson knowledge she may be unable to acquire in a classroom. “My experience in RVS has been well in line with my expectations. For instance, I have learnt more about the practical steps and details required to set up and conduct experiments, which I otherwise would not know or be aware of,” says Fan, who has been involved in the project for around two months. She looks forward to new experiences and learning opportunities as she continues her work in the lab.

Working on research projects under the step-by-step guidance of supervisors, students gain insightful perspectives in different areas, and the sound knowledge and research skills gained add value to their CVs.