Grace Cavanaugh ~ Staff Writer
On Wednesday, April 10, 2019 the University of Lynchburg will host a Student Scholar Showcase of multiple research presentations in “Schewel Hall and Memorial Ballroom, Hall Campus Center” from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., according to the UofL website.
An email sent on Feb.1 by Dr. Jason Crumpton, the assistant professor of chemistry, said, “This celebration of student research is part of ‘Red Letter Day,’ and classes are canceled for the day. All students, faculty and staff are invited to attend oral presentations and poster sessions of our students’ work, and groups of students complete assessment tasks as assigned by the Associate Dean’s Office.”
In an interview, Dr. Crumpton clarified that, “the Student Scholar Showcase is a yearly venue that we host at the University of Lynchburg to highlight the scholarly activities of our students.”
The UofL website said, “Student projects may include scholarly papers, creative writing projects, scientific or historical research projects, or performance arts projects, and may be presented in a variety of formats, including oral presentations and poster presentations.”
According to Dr. Crumpton, “Students can either present their research with an oral presentation or with a separate poster presentation and we usually hold the poster presentation during the lunch period. […] We have 57 posters this year and 112 oral presentations.”
Dr. Crumpton sent two more emails in the lead up to the Student Scholar Showcase with previews of a few of the presentations.
An email sent on March 21st said, “Do you ever wonder if you have what it takes to deal with the inevitable zombie apocalypse? If so, you might be interested to hear that mathematical models actually examine realistic issues such as the different outcomes of wars as well as fictional problems such as the upcoming zombie apocalypse.” According to the email, the presentation will be given in “Schewel 232 from 1:15-1:30 p.m. […] to chat with Hailey Bauer.”
Another email sent on March 27 said, “Have you ever found yourself struggling with motivation to study for an exam, write that looming term paper, or hang out with your friends? Have you always wanted to blame Facebook for your troubles? If so, it turns out that Kayla Bourne and Junior Saintphard have been studying the relationship between social media and college students.” Their presentation will be “in Schewel 215 from 9:15-9:30 [a.m.],” according to the email.
Dr. Crumpton said, “Traditionally, there is one presenter for oral presentations, but we have has an interesting thing this year with more and more people doing duo presentations.”
“There will be 50 minute talks so that students have 15 minute time periods [to go to another presentation],” said Dr. Crumpton. “And normally what happens is that students give oral presentations for ten to twelve minutes and then there is some time for Q&A sessions in the couple of extra minutes that are open.”
There will be packets available around Schewel with a list of presentation topics, room numbers, and times that will allow students and visitors to navigate the Student Scholar Showcase.
Dr. Crumpton said, “It is supposed to be a fun day where we get to see all the great work that students are doing with their faculty mentors and the research that we are putting out into the world.”
Dr. Crumpton continued, “It is really good to practice your oral presentation skills because you [are] taking something that you have been involved with, like research, and talking in front of a group of 30 or 40 people can be very anxiety inducing. So getting that kind of practice is always good practice.”
After the Showcase ends at 5:00 p.m., there is an all-campus picnic on the Dell, according to the UofL website.
“Hope to see everybody at the showcase,” finished Dr. Crumpton. “It is going to be great.”