You have the opportunity to take classes where the research or creative work is a part of the class! These courses are offered at three levels: Check this website every semester - courses are added regularly. If you don't see a course in your area, talk to your professors about getting their courses listed! A freshman student in NCC's Cornerstones program takes field notes on his observations of nature during Mason's Environmental Studies on the Piedmont trip.

 

Discovery of Scholarship

These introductory courses (in your major or as a general education requirement) let you learn research both as a general concept, and as done at Mason by students and faculty. In these classes, faculty will talk about their own projects (and how they got involved, usually as an undergraduate), and you'll learn more about OSCAR and your opportunities to participate in research or creative activities. We also want you to understand how the research and creative projects done at a research university like Mason are valuable to you, and to the community in general.

Scholarly Inquiry

In these mid-level courses, you learn about the process of scholarly inquiry, either through studying previous scholarship or as preparation for your participation in an original project. You will learn content in your field and skills so that you are capable of evaluating scholarly work and are prepared to conduct your own scholarly project. Examples of Scholarly Inquiry classes are usually in your major, and may be a research methods course or a topical course that uses inquiry-guided learning.

Research & Scholarship Intensive (RS and RA)

RS courses, which comprise our highest level, are designed to give you an authentic research or creative experience. We expect that by participating in one of these classes, you will be actively involved in a project that is the central focus of the class. You will work on identifying the project, be responsible for carrying out a significant portion of the project, and will present the results to a audience beyond just your classmates and instructor. These classes will be identified on your transcript with an RS designation. RA labels pre- or co-requisite classes that are associated with RS classes (you might propose the project in one of these classes, or do the presentation on research done in an associated course).

Taking an RS course provides you with the opportunity to work closely with a faculty member and your student colleagues on real projects. With the experience (and the transcript designation), you'll be better prepared for your life beyond Mason, either in a job or in graduate school.

Students as Scholars "Other" courses

Some courses that reach a wide student audience are being revised to introduce you to specific skills and information about student scholarship without being identified at one of the levels above. These courses are being developed in collaboration with OSCAR.

In the table below, you can search for particular classes, or you can click on the "filters" button to search by course name, attribute, or other information.