Unleashing Curiosity's Potential: A Journey to Understand Academic Research Communication

Instructor(s): Dayra Fallad-Mendoza

Course Description

Have you ever wondered how some of the world’s most pressing and intriguing questions are answered? How are we able to understand human behavior, print 3D organs that are saving lives today and successfully send a rover to Mars? It is all possible because someone somewhere was curious enough to seek an answer to their question. In this seminar, we will look at how scholars in your field of interest answer research questions. Perhaps you are interested in the effects of global warming in New Mexico, nanotechnologies, or how music lyrics give us an insight into culture and human communication patterns. You will learn to find and dissect the research literature in your area of interest and engage with its writing process. In addition, you will have the opportunity to connect with faculty in your field and learn about UNM and national, undergraduate research opportunities you can engage with. The skills you acquire in this class will be transferable to any academic major and future career. For more information please contact: Dayra Fallad-Mendoza dfallad@unm.edu.

Texts

Readings will be provided by instructor from (Students do not need to purchase any book materials.):

  • Clark, Vicki L. Plano. Understanding Research: A Consumer's Guide. Pearson Education. Second Edition
  • Salsa Dancing into the Social Sciences: Research in an Age of Info-glut by Kristin Luker (available online through the UNM Library)
  • A selection of scholarly articles relevant to a student’s interest.

About the Instructor(s): Dayra Fallad-Mendoza

Dayra Fallad-Mendoza, has worked in higher education for over 12 years and currently works at Los Alamos National Laboratory. She is enthusiastic about undergraduate research due to its positive impact on students’ academic journeys. As a first-generation college student, she enjoys connecting students to opportunities in their field. Dayra enjoys doing research that involves data mining and artificial intelligence. She has published research in the areas of online learning, machine learning and undergraduate research programs.