We’re finally seeing big changes in the world of education.
Gone are the days when our impression of a student was someone who sat at the desk all day long, listening to lectures and not paying attention to them. Such a traditional system of lecturing doesn’t work. It doesn’t engage the students, so it doesn’t take them long to forget about everything they heard that day. The biggest problem is that such an approach forces them to memorize, since they will have to answer specific questions later on.
We’re slowly, but surely moving towards a more effective system of teaching: project-based education.
The students are encouraged to conduct research on the topics of their interest. Research papers are no longer seen as obligatory assignments that no one likes. They are seen as an opportunity for the student to discover something new and present it to the world.
The role of universities and colleges changed. It’s not about forcing students to memorize facts. It’s about inspiring them to discover new facts.
Let’s talk about real examples that prove how this educational approach is working. Students from all around the world have made impressive discoveries. We’ll list the most important ones from 2019.
Impressive Discoveries that Students Made in 2019
- A Canadian PhD Student Discovered a Dinosaur We Didn’t Know Of
Jared Voris, a PhD student at the University of Calgary, discovered a new species of dinosaur. He wasn’t on an archeological field trip; he discovered the unique bonesin the storage room of the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller.
The interesting thing is that these bones have been there for over a decade. They were stored with tyrannosaur bones, and no one ever assumed that it was a totally different species. We now know this species under the name Thanatotheristes. It’s a Greek word, which in translation means “The Reaper of Death.” Yup; the name had to be as cool as the discovery itself.
- A U.S. Student Discovered How to Grow a Cancer-Fighting Crop
Ilse Renner, a doctoral student in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, realized how crops can produce more glucobrassicin – a nutrient that’s potent enough to fight cancer cells.
When glucobrassicin breaks down into our body, it has beneficial properties against cells of cancers dependent on estrogen. Renner discovered a way to grow crops with greater concentration of this nutrient.
Steve Evans, a researcher at EduBirdie, emphasizes the importance of this finding. “Plants can give us more than we assume,” – he says. “The solutions are in our diet; we just need more research in that sector.”
- A Student from Vanderbilt University Found a Way to Make Education More Effective
Carson Crocker is not your usual college sophomore. He finally did what we always knew was possible in theory: he used the power of alumni network to start building a career while he was still in college.
He worked for a Dallas digital marketing agency, and got to build a demo of an augmented reality program.
This is not a groundbreaking discovery that might cure cancer, but it teaches us a valuable lesson: education is more powerful than we realize.
- A Junior College Student Discovered Three Black Holes Colliding
Jenna Harvey, a junior physics major, wasn’t sure what she was onto. She was researching active galactic nuclei, and it took her some time to realize that she was about to discover something: three grandiose black holes colliding.
This became a collaborative research project, joining students and professors from several institutions. The goal is to get better insights into how galaxies work.
- A PhD Student Contributes towards Research on Multiple Sclerosis
Carol Chase is one of the most committed students you’ll ever see. She became passionate about immunology while she was volunteering in a lab focused on autoimmune diseases.
As a PhD candidate in cell and molecular biology at the University of Texas at San Antonio, she is looking for biomarkers that would help scientists understand multiple sclerosis relapses.
- A Student from the University of Hawaii Found a New Oil Separation Method
An undergraduate student at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa College of Engineering participated in an important project. The team discovered a new, more cost-effective technique to separate suspended particles and droplets, with the use of CO2.
Trevor Shimokusu was the lead author of the project. He described a technique that works with solid particles, but is also effective in separating nanoscale droplets of oil.
- A Canadian Student Discovered Something about Diamonds that We Didn’t Know
A PhD student at the university of Alberta, had an interesting focus: diamonds. Nicole Meyer discovered a completely new mineral inside a diamond that was mined in South Africa. We now know the mineral under the name goldschmidtite.
This newly discovered mineral contains a lot of niobium and potassium, as well as cerium and lanthanum, which are known as rare elements in the earth.
- A Graduate Student Discovered a Distinct Species of Guitarfish
We’ve been exploring the ocean for centuries and we still don’t know much about it. Museums are full of preserved specimens that researchers study. Apparently, the specimens in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County haven’t been studied carefully enough.
Kelsi Rutledge, a graduate student at the University of California Los Angeles, examined the preserved specimens at the museum. Guitarfish were her focus. She wasn’t sure that she identified a new species at first, since the species from the group are difficult to distinguish. When she got enough data to prove her discovery, she published her research paper.
Kelsi Rutledge made an important discovery, but also raised awareness about the problems in her fields. By her own words, the field has been dominated by white, old and rich men. She certainly made a difference there.
- New Microorganism Discovered by an Undergraduate Student
Amanda Blocker, a 21-year-old student at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, made an incredible discovery. She named it SIUC-1. No researcher has seen this microorganism before. The research continues, but so far she and her team know thatthe microorganism cannot survive in oxygen, and it needs high temperatures to thrive.
Our world is full of microorganisms that we haven’t identified yet. Any discovery in this field is important, since it can contribute towards the progress of science in various sectors.
- A High School Student Discovered a New Planet… For Real!
Wolf Cukier, a 17-year-old high-school student, always wanted to be part of NASA. He applied for an internship at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Do you know what he did? Something that many astronomers still dream of: he discovered a new planet!
He explored images from TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite). He focused on parts that were marked as an eclipsing binary. He noticed an unusual signal that looked like a stellar eclipse at first, but he realized that its timing wasn’t right. He immediately realized that he was looking at a planet that no one had noticed before.
Isn’t That Jaw-Dropping?
The educational systems have been under a lot of criticism lately. There’s no country in the world that hasn’t been criticized about it. The systems are either too challenging or too flexible.
But these bright examples of students prove that those who want to learn can do it in any setting. The inspiration comes from within.
The thing we should focus on is research and development. Instead of investing in experimental methods of education, governments should provide more funding for research to colleges and universities.
I’m not trying to say that the educational system is already good. Of course we should focus on making it better. However, the focus must be on research-intensive programs. Students can learn a lot when you allow them to focus on a point of their interest, and you provide them with all resources that enable them to learn by doing.
Some of the most advanced universities have already established such systems, where all students are welcome to become part of research projects. That’s the model that works, and we should figure out a way to make it available across all levels of education.
For now, we have these bright stars to admire. Aren’t these students amazing?
BIO: Michael Turner has always been inspired to learn about our world. His interest in education inspired him to start working as a freelance writer. With his articles, Michael tries to inspire students to invest more time and effort into learning.