Penn State hosts Spring Learning Fair
Students got their chance to shine Monday during the semiannual Spring Learning Fair at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus. The fair, held in the Community Center auxiliary gym, gave students a chance to “show off” research projects they conducted over the semester, said Penn State associate professor Gib Prettyman, organizer of the event.
Prettyman said the undergraduate research projects focus on everything from junkyard pollution and child development to tourism and differential equations.
Close to 200 students participated this semester, he said, noting that 61 projects were on display. “The students really seem to enjoy showing off their projects,” Prettyman said.
A panel of judges rates each of the research projects and ranks his or her top five. The project that garnishes the most votes wins the award for having the best project – a stuffed Penn State bear referred to as the “Learning Fair Bear.”
The bear is awarded to the professor whose class the student was enrolled in and he or she keeps the bear in his or her office until the next fair is held and a new winner is selected.
“It sounds a little crazy, but some professors really want that bear, which makes it a little competitive,” Prettyman said. “The faculty takes it pretty seriously, and the students want to win.”
Jean Thompson, a senior liberal arts major, spent the last three months researching her project, which focuses on heritage tourism in Fayette County.
After conducting several interviews and contacting local places such as the Fayette County Courthouse and library, Thompson was able to put together a brochure that teaches people how to research their ancestry.
She also wrote a six-page report that she presented to the Fayette Chamber of Commerce, which printed and distributed Thompson’s brochure, telling chamber members why such a brochure was needed and giving them information on how much it would cost to print them.
Thompson said she always has been interested in her ancestors and has conducted extensive research in the past. Though researching ancestors is not extremely hard, she said it can be time-consuming and intimidating for people who don’t know where to start.
“People can gather a lot of information at the courthouse and the library, but a lot of times the people who work there are too busy to help you a lot,” she said. “This brochure instructs them on what they should do.”
The brochure is available at the chamber of commerce.
Like Thompson, Megan Vennum also has spent the last several months gathering and reporting on information she obtained while conducting a research project for biology professor Dr. Joseph Shostell.
Vennum, a sophomore with a dual major, studied the link between stream pollution and junkyards in Fayette County, focusing on Redstone and Dunbar creeks.
Concerned that metal from auto salvage junkyards was being washing into nearby streams and harming fish, Vennum began collecting data last summer, gathering water samples and taking samples from fish.
She found that the water in the creeks was not “that bad” but that the fish did have high levels of copper in their systems. Vennum said she’ll continue studying the situation even though the class is over.
“I’m too far into it now to stop,” she said.
Shostell said his students were required to participate in the fair and said he thinks the fair is extremely beneficial for students, giving them a chance to learn more about their topics and other topics through discussion.
Prettyman said he hopes to increase community involvement with the fair next semester and said he hopes to invite high school students enrolled in advanced placement classes. “I’d like to get more people from the community to come and participate,” he said. “Our campus is in the center of the community, and since all that information is on display, we might as well make good use of it.”