Science Research in the High School

The UHS Program offers four Science Research in the High School courses for juniors and seniors:

CAS 109 - Intermediate Science Research (2 credits, Summer) - Juniors

CAS 110 - Intermediate Methods of Research (4 credits, Full Year) - Juniors

CAS 209 - Advanced Science Research (2 credits, Summer) - Seniors

CAS 210 - Advanced Methods of Research (4 credits, Full Year) - Seniors

The Summer courses run from June through September and are the only UHS courses offered during the summer. The Full Year courses run from September through June.

Students should seek registration instructions from their participating high school. Registration instructions are sent to Science Research in the High School instructors at the beginning of each session. Science Research in the High School students are able to register for the summer and full year sessions, but they must have a mentor secured before registering for college credit.

The following guidelines for SRHS courses represent the minimum quality standards that are used by university staff in evaluating research courses. These guidelines outline the requirements for status in the Science Research in the High School program and the UAlbany in the High School program, in order to be eligible for students to obtain college credit. 

The full guidelines are available for students, teachers, and school districts.

• Attend all scheduled SRHS classes.
• Commit to 250 or more hours per school year (September to June) for their research work. 
  -Class time = 90 hours
  -Assessment meetings = 20 hours, one every two weeks
  -Out of class time spent on research = 3.5 hours/week = 140 hours
• Maintain a laboratory notebook of all research work starting from your entry into the research course.
  -This must be a bound notebook with numbered, pressure sensitive duplicate pages which can be removed.
• Maintain a portfolio of all research associated work. The portfolio must contain at least all of the following sections:
  -Interleaf sheets from the Laboratory Notebook (after teacher initials it).
  -Records of all communications: telephone, face-to-face, e-mail, letters, faxes, etc.
  -Bi-weekly goal sheets.
  -All journal articles that are read.
  -One-on-one assessment sessions including bi-weekly assessment sheet.
  -*See full guidelines for sections strongly suggested to be included. 
• Create a poster presentation of their annual research work.
  -Sophomores should create a poster based on a peer reviewed paper they have presented in class. In any case they should NOT present what they want to do or plan to do unless they are already working with a mentor who has approved their plans.
  -Juniors should create a poster based on their own review of literature and their work so far.
  -Seniors must create a poster based solely on their own research findings.
  -All research students, including speakers, must present posters at the local school symposium.
• Enter available venues for presenting their research at all stages of the work. 
  -All students must take part in the class end-of-year evening symposium, at the appropriate level for their year in the course.
• Maintain regular, demonstrable contact with a mentor once one is obtained.

• Keep a demonstrable log of where their time on research is spent.
• Advance to the level of reading peer reviewed journal articles by mid-winter of the Sophomore year.
• Present an appropriate, peer reviewed research paper to their classmates and teacher at least once during the school year.
• Conduct thorough and exhaustive literature searches on their chosen topic.
• Find a mentor to work with.
  -The best mentors are current research professionals.
  -Mentors must hold either a PhD, MD, LPE or similar doctoral level credentials.
  -In-house mentoring is not advised within the school.
  -SRHS teachers are not permitted to serve as students' mentors.
• Collaborate with the mentor (once there is one) on a hypothesis and begin writing a research plan.
• *It is strongly suggested that Sophomores continue their research work during the Sophomore/Junior summer. This can be in an internship or other organized program, or individually as long as the mentor approves the work. Summer work between Sophomore and Junior year could qualify for ACAS 109, resulting in 2 credits.

• Carry out the bulk of their experimentation and data gathering.
• Enter venues for competition as deemed appropriate by the instructor.
• *It is strongly suggested that Juniors continue their research work during the Junior/Senior summer. This can be in an internship or other organized program, or individually as long as the mentor approves the work. Summer work between Junior and Senior year could qualify for ACAS 209, resulting in 2 credits.

• Present their research findings at their local school symposium and at least one other non-competitive venue (school board meeting, PTO, faculty meeting, civic organization, etc.).
• Write a scientific  paper of their finished research.
• Enter available competitions as determined by the course instructor.
• Create a PowerPoint (or similar) presentation of their research findings.
• Present their full research findings at the school's local symposium in poster format and PowerPoint (or similar) format.
• *It is strongly suggested that they make a serious attempt to publish their work.

• Work with, or under the direct guidance of, the mentor for a minimum of 90 hours.
• Document all hours in thorough narrative detail, in your laboratory notebook.
• Confer or meet with your teacher, once or more during the summer, about your progress.
• Meet with your teacher at or near the end of the summer for an assessment session to determine a summer grade.
• *It is strongly suggested that all students work with their mentors during their sophomore/junior summer and junior/senior summer.

Teachers wishing to teach a Science Research in the High School course for University at Albany credit must meet the UAlbany in the High School credential requirements and attend a one-week training session over the summer. Upon training completion, they can apply for approval as a University at Albany voluntary adjunct instructor. Teachers must hold a masters degree in a science related field to teach this course.

The following guidelines for SRHS courses represent the minimum quality standards that are used by university staff in evaluating research courses. These guidelines outline the requirements for status in the Science Research in the High School program and the UAlbany in the High School program, in order to be eligible for students to obtain college credit. 

The full guidelines are available for students, teachers, and school districts.

• Attend "Teaching Science Research in the High School Training Workshop" and retrain as necessary. (If a teacher has no students enroll for UAlbany credit for three consecutive years, retraining is mandatory to maintain adjunct status with the university. Teachers may also choose to retrain if they would like.)
• Maintain contact with other teachers in the program.
• Establish and maintain contact with students' mentors.
• Establish and maintain contact with research students' parents/guardians.
• Conduct an appropriate student assessment session, one-on-one with each student, every two weeks.
• Organize and conduct a local end-of-year evening symposium every year adhering to the SRHS symposium requirements.
  -Require all students in the class to present a poster of their work in the local symposium.
• Determine available venues for students to present their work and require reasonable participation.
• Notify the program administrator of the local symposium date as soon as it is determined, at latest by end of February each year.
• Help students identify and contact mentors when deemed appropriate.
• Recruit students from a cross section of the student body.
• Form local committees:
  -Form a local Science Research Committee (SRC) to ensure that safe and appropriate (humane) procedure is used in all student projects and that they are 'good science.'
  -Form a local Institutional Review Board (IRB) to review all research involving humans in any way.
  -Both of the above may be combined in one SCR/IRB at the teacher's discretion.
  -The guidelines for forming such committees followed by the Intel ISEF should be used as a standard.
  -Be prepared to certify that all student projects were reviewed by one or both committees before work began.
• Require that all research students attend the full local symposium.
• Require that all research students present posters at the local symposium. (Seniors must present a PowerPoint, or similar, presentation.)
• Always remember that, while it is the teacher's obligation to help students search for mentors, it is ultimately the student's responsibility to identify and secure a mentor.
• Assist with student registration as necessary. 
• Validate the Pre-Enrollment Class List on MyUAlbany after registration closes. An email will be sent with instructions and the required deadline.
• Submit students' grades on MyUAlbany within the two-week grading period. An email will be sent stating when grading opens and closes.
• *It is strongly suggested that the teacher become an adjunct instructor in the UAlbany in the High School program at the University at Albany and encourage students to take part in the UHS program.

• Meet with summer students at least once during the summer to check on their progress.
• Meet with or speak to the mentor about the students' progress during the summer.
• Meet with summer students at or near the end of summer for a summer assessment session to determine the student's grade.
• Assist with student registration as necessary. 
• Validate the Pre-Enrollment Class List on MyUAlbany after registration closes. An email will be sent with instructions and the required deadline.
• Submit summer students' grades on MyUAlbany within the two-week grading period. An email will be sent stating when grading opens and closes.

• Provide classroom space with presentation equipment, computers, and internet access as needed to successfully conduct a SRHS course.
• Provide regularly scheduled time for the SRHS class to meet within the school day. (This may be flexible but must amount to the equivalent of 90 class periods of 45 minutes or more per year.)
• Provide the necessary time for the teacher to meet with each student, one-on-one, for a full class period, once every two weeks.
• Limit enrollment to any research class or expand the number of sections such that ALL students can meet one-on-one with the instructor, for one full class period, once every two weeks.
• Provide appropriate facilities for the end-of-year evening symposium.
• Recruit students from a cross section of the student body.
• Provide funding for necessary teacher training.
• Anticipate teacher turnover, identify replacement personnel, and provide funding for training replacement whenever possible.
• Provide a place and time for SRC and/or IRB committees to meet on campus on an as needed basis.
• *It is strongly suggested that class sizes do not exceed fifteen students per one fifth full time position (.2 ftp).
• *It is strongly suggested that districts provide transportation and substitute teachers for the SRHS class to attend the nearest division of the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium and the nearest affiliated division of the International Science ad Engineering Fair.
• *It is strongly suggested that districts provide one day per year for the SRHS instructor to attend follow-up training such as that provided by UAlbany in the High School program. (This is offered to a UHS adjunct faculty only.) 

• Scheduled for a weekday evening after 5:00pm.
• A keynote speaker of fifteen to twenty minutes presenting her/his research, to set the mood/theme for the symposium.
• A poster session in which each student, at every grade level, presents a poster.
  -Sophomores' poster presentations of an article.
  -Juniors' poster presentations of their work to date.
  -Seniors present a poster of their findings and a speaker presentation.
• Speaker session/s (can be several concurrent sessions) in which all seniors present a twelve to fifteen minute talk on their findings followed by a three to five minute question and answer session.
• A paper-based symposium booklet which features a full page for each student at every grade level in the course.
• All students must have their portfolio binder at their posters for inspection during the poster session.

2024 Science Research in the High School Teacher Training

There are three Teacher Training Workshops this summer. Two will be held virtually, via Zoom, and one will be held onsite at Taconic Hills High School. All workshops will be held Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m. - Noon.

The workshop fee is $1,500 per teacher. Once a teacher has completed the training course, they may attend again in the future free of charge.

Current offerings for this summer are:

Monday, July 15 to Friday, July 19 (Zoom)
Monday, July 22 to Friday, July 26 (Zoom)
Monday, August 19 to Friday, August 23 (Taconic Hills High School)

For details contact Len Behr via email ([email protected]) or phone (518-965-4174).
View the Registration Form.

All registrants will receive acknowledgements from Leslie Hayner, UHS Events/JSHS Coordinator. Those with completed registrations will receive an email regarding details from Len Behr at least one week prior to the first day.

The Student Portfolio Forms

Copyrighted by the Research Foundation for SUNY

The sample student portfolio forms may be used as a guideline within the research class. Instructors are welcome to make adjustments to these forms or create new versions as they see fit. Only instructors who have completed the Science Research in the High School Teacher Training course may access these forms by obtaining the password from a UHS staff member.