NoyceSCIENCE Student Selected for REU Program
University of Nebraska at Omaha student, Kristen Rodenhausen, has been selected into an REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) program for summer, 2022. Rodenhausen will be spending 10 weeks at North Dakota State University, working with faculty and nine other student researchers, focused on discipline-based education research.
“The specific project I’ll be working on looks at how students understand vectors and where the misconceptions are. This will help us make better pedagogical decisions.” Rodenhausen said.
The REU program is funded by the National Science Foundation, which gives undergraduates the opportunity to work in a variety of areas in research. Faculty at each REU site develop a unique experience to allow students to actively participate in ongoing research programs or in research projects specifically designed for the program.
Rodenhausen is a junior, majoring in physics with a concentration in education. She aims to be a high school physics teacher and knows this program will help her gain more pedagogical knowledge. “I’m excited but nervous at the same time! I can’t wait to be a better educator, which makes it all worth it.” Rodenhausen said.
When asked how she became interested in physics, Rodenhausen described how it wasn’t until she got to college that suddenly science became fun for her, and she was excited to do her homework. She became a NoyceSCIENCE (NSF#1659058) intern in her freshman year and a scholar with the same program last fall.
For more information about the REU program, visit https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/research-experiences-undergraduates-reu.