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[35.03] The Undergraduate Astronomy Research Program at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh – A Faculty Perspective

M. M. Briley (Univ. Wisc. Oshkosh)

Over the past few years, a research program in astronomy for undergraduate students has been in place at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. Funded in part through an NSF RUI grant, undergraduates focus on photometric and spectroscopic studies of stars in clusters. Students have written observing proposals, obtained and reduced their own data, modeled atmospheres and spectra, and even published. The impact of their activities extends beyond the obvious outputs of papers and the training of future astronomers to a positive environment throughout the Physics/Astronomy program, further faculty development, and improved recruitment. But when it comes to undergraduate research, what works and what does not? Can one really expect a freshman to learn IRAF? To model a carbon star? Insights and strategies for undergraduate research will be discussed, including the role the NSF RUI program can play in supporting these activities at a primarily undergraduate institution.

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #4
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.