Alycia Holwerda

              Throughout my academic career I always thought research was a very scientific process which included test tubes, measurements, papers upon papers, and lab coats. However, my opinion has greatly changed and become more accurate throughout college. The Honors program has allowed me to gain a better understanding of how to complete research.

 

              My journey to an accurate research knowledge began when I took my Honors First Year Experience class. I began to understand the roles of information literacy and information synthesis. At first I struggled with finding resources for my papers. When completing my research essay for the class, I improved my methodology of effectively, efficiently, and critically accessing information as well as organizing others’ ideas. I accessed various academic databases online to search for resources. In this class I learned that research is proposing a question and the process of seeking the answer to that question.

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              The following semester I continued to grow my information literacy and synthesis skills in my English composition class. Since I already had a foundation started from my Honors First Year Seminar, writing my papers was much easier since I already knew how to access information. Through writing my proposal I not only demonstrated how to ethically use information but also to incorporate selected information into my knowledge base. Through my response I was able to synthesize diverse perspectives to the topic.

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              As a student majoring in statistics, research had a strong presence in my upper-level courses. Most of the courses taught various methods on how to ethically research data specifically though the use of datasets. I learned how to create predictive models such as regression models in STAT450: Regression Analysis and linear regression in STAT458: Categorical Analysis. My STAT492: Capstone class tied all my knowledge from previous classes together through a final project where I analyzed a dataset on pet adoption at Petfinder.my. I was able to exemplify various statistical methods as well as complete original research. The skill of incorporating selected information was essential to synthesizing my research to key information and then relating that to advise how to use this knowledge to improve methods.

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              After gaining some experience in my statistic courses, I was able to apply my research knowledge through hackathons. A hackathon is a data analytic competition where a dataset is given by a data sponsor and teams analyze the data to give business solutions to the sponsor through a presentation and paper. I completed in a total of five hackathons. At these I worked with others to complete original research and disseminate our results. These competitions helped me understand that research in my field is analyzing given data for meaningful answers to business-oriented questions. We won honorable mention at the datathon at Advanced IT 2017, 2nd place Data Visualization Award at MUDAC in 2019, 1st Place in the Advance category at Data Derby 2019, 1st place in the advance category Datagon at Data Derby 2019. Through these hackathons, I was able to fully develop my research abilities through information synthesis, information literacy, original research, and dissemination of results.

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              Upon graduation in the winter, I will start my career as a data analyst. As a data analyst I will be researching constantly for businesses. I am very thankful for my undergraduate classes as well as the Honors program for allowing me to not only learn what it means to complete research but also giving me opportunities to apply my research skills. Throughout my career I hope to continue to grow and master research by continuing to learn every day.