ASMSA offers expanded research, creative opportunities

Using the recent success of two new project programs as a guide, the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts is expanding its senior capstone projects to include a broader spectrum of options to engage students in meaningful research and experiential learning earlier in their ASMSA careers.

Since ASMSA opened in 1993, students have been required to complete at least one academic capstone project by the end of their senior year. The most well-known is the Fundamentals in Research Methods, or FIRM, project.

During their first semester at the school, students are introduced to basic research methods in a special course. In the second semester of their junior year, students select a topic they find interesting on which they felt they could provide new research.

Most projects have a focus in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, leading to a final project, which students enter into the West Central Regional Science Fair held annually at ASMSA. Other students write research papers on humanities subjects for the Senior Research Symposium.

That was the only choice for students for several years, but two new options have been offered in the last three years. Beginning in 2014, a new program, Research in the Park, allowed a small group of students to simultaneously do research in Hot Springs National Park, essentially serving as National Park Service volunteers while working on their FIRM projects. Students began working on their projects at the beginning of the first semester of their junior year, often allowing the participants to develop a project to compete in the regional science fair in the spring of their junior year.

The continued growth and success of RiP led to the school recently receiving the Midwest Regional as well as the National George and Helen Hartzog Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. A group of students and Hot Springs National Park employees will accept the award in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 1.

In 2015, ASMSA introduced the option of building an art portfolio in studio arts in place of the traditional FIRM project. The portfolio option was expanded in 2016 with students creating portfolios in visual art, creative writing and music, including songwriting and performance.

The success of the Research in the Park and art portfolios led the school’s Teaching and Learning Committee to explore other options for acceleration in the research and capstone experience. Over the spring 2017 semester, the group of faculty, staff and administrators developed a new Applied Research Methods and Applied Creative Explorations sequence that mirrors the model pioneered by RiP. Yearlong courses beginning this fall will allow members of the Class of 2019 and beyond the chance to explore entrepreneurship, integrated computer science, mathematical modeling, physical sciences, creative writing or studio art.

The new program is meant to place a clearer set of expectations and framework for completion of the research and capstone experience by treating the experience as full courses within both the student and faculty load; make the most limited time faculty and the institution have across the three semesters students may do their work, allow faculty to invest more time in students who want to compete at the highest levels and achieve the greatest depth within their pursuits beyond simply meeting graduation requirements, conduct more research in the junior year to focus on college and scholarship applications as seniors with increasingly challenging coursework and encourage students to return for their seniors years with extended time to develop their projects over a longer time period.

The program can benefit students who choose an arts capstone, as well. Students interested in arts will have the opportunity focus on topics such as studio art, digital arts, modern craft and creative writing for the entire four semesters of their ASMSA careers.

ASMSA will have the ability to host separate events for celebrating student outcomes in STEM and the arts, including the development of a student exhibition or senior showcase that ties into broader community art activities, such as the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance’s “Arts & the Park.”

If the results from Research in the Park are evidence of how the new program may work, there is little to worry about, said one faculty member. Jon Ruehle, an ASMSA biology instructor, is one of the two faculty members who has worked with students in RiP. He said the program’s success speaks to the quality of students involved in the program as they are willing and ready to take on extra work early in their ASMSA careers.

“They don’t complain about it,” Ruehle said. “They ask for extra work by starting FIRM a year earlier. There are all these different ways that students can get started doing real things early. When they get to college, they’re not running; they’re flying.”