Course Description

Science Research Program – Grades 9, 10, 11, 12


Full Year – Level H: Incoming freshman and sophomore students must apply for admission to this program in January of the prior academic year. Acceptance into the program will be based on a science teacher recommendation, a written essay, and excellent academic grades.


This is an ongoing program that is taken in conjunction with the student’s regular science course. There are several tiers to the program. During Year 1 students learn the components of scientific research including the scientific method and apply these concepts in various settings including designing and conducting an authentic science research project and communicating results by participation in at least one local science fair. Students also explore various applications of science topics through field trips, guest speakers and class projects. Advanced students (Years 2-4) select their science research topic, locate an out-of-school mentor (either in industry or at a local university) and compete in a variety of science fairs including the CT State Science Fair, Southern CT Invitational Science and Engineering Fair (SCSEF) and the CT Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (CT JSHS). Advanced students pursue their selected research in depth, perform statistical analysis and compete at a number of local and/or national science fairs and competitions. In Years 2, 3, and 4 students are grouped together in a non-traditional classroom setting and are required to meet individually outside of class with their Science Research Instructor biweekly to review individual goals and assess progress. All students participate in the culminating annual activity, Amity’s Science Symposium.


Sunday, May 17, 2015

2015 Science Symposium

Our 9th Annual Science Symposium was surely a success! Reflect on what your personal experience was preparing for and participating in the symposium:
1. How did this symposium compare to others in the past? If this was your first Amity Science Symposium, was it what you expected? Explain.
2. What contribution did YOU make towards helping the symposium run smoothly (set up, planning, organizing, tributes, break down, program, certificates, food etc...).
3. How many guests (that you invited) were able to come and what was their impression?
4. If you did NOT attend the symposium, what did you do instead? Explain.
5. Prof. David Bernstein discussed "The Importance of the Scientific Process in Forensic Psychology". What was your overall impression of the Keynote presentation? Did you enjoy the topic? Was it delivered at, above or below your understanding/ability or comfort level? Why or why not? Would you be interested in pursuing research in this area?
6. What did you think about the quality and diversity of student presentations and topics? Be specific.
7. List one thing you liked BEST about the symposium and one IMPROVEMENT that you would like to see for next year.
8. On a scale of 0 (low) to 5 (high), rate this year's symposium.
 Your BLOG post is due by the end of the first post-symposium class period.

57 comments:

  1. 1. This symposium was very enjoyable. The guest presenter had a very interesting presentation and the senior tributes were all awesome!
    2. My contribution this year towards the symposium was food and certificates. I also made a senior tribute for Jacob.
    3. None of my guests were able to attend, unfortunately.
    4. I attended the symposium!
    5. I thought Prof. David Bernstein's presentation of "The Importance of the Scientific Process in Forensic Psychology" was very interesting. At times, I did not really enjoy the topic, but it was interesting to hear about. It was delivered at a perfect level for my understanding. Again, at times the presentation was a bit awkward. I would not be interested in pursuing research in this area because I would probably have nightmares.
    6. I thought the student presentation this year were great. All the presentations featured different areas of study, from gene transfer to friendships.
    7. The best thing about the symposium were the senior tributes. They were all fun and enjoyable to watch. One improvement that I would like to make next year would be to make the symposium some how shorter.
    8. 4.87

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  2. 1.This symposium was the same for me as the symposium last year. It did not seem any better or worse.
    2. For the symposium this year I was on the decorations committee and the awards committee. I helped with decorations planning and writing the awards list spreadsheet.
    3. I invited my parents and my mentor but they were not able to come.
    5. I enjoyed the topic of the keynote presentation and I understood it. I would be interested in pursuing research in this topic because I think that it is really interesting to investigate crimes.
    6. I liked the different topics of presentations this year, especially because we go to hear the Real World Design Challenge presentation, which was very good.
    7. I liked the student presentations the best and my one improvement is to change the order of the presenters so the freshman goes first and the senior goes last.
    8. I would rate this years symposium an 8.

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  3. 1. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the symposium, but I heard that it was incredible this year.
    2. In order to help the symposium run smoothly, I helped out in a couple of ways. I went to go film Mr. Dumais give his opening statement one day and then helped set up decorations during eighth period the day of the symposium.
    3. I invited three guests and I know that two of them did not go. I am not sure if the third guest went or not because I was unable to attend.
    4. I did not go to the symposium and instead I was resting in bed and sleeping because I did not feel well.
    5. I did not see this particular presentation, but I’m sure I would have really enjoyed it because I thoroughly enjoyed a presentation Prof. David Bernstein gave at the CT Psychological Association earlier this school year.
    6. I did not see the student presentations, but I am positive that the quality of their presentations was high.
    7. I enjoyed watching the Debbielicious video afterwards. One improvement could include preventing the event from running too late.
    8. From what I’ve heard about the symposium, I would rate it a 9 this year.

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  4. 1. (didn't attend)

    2. To contribute to the success of the Symposium and the preparation process, I was part of the mentor bio committee, and checked to make sure the science research students maintained the correct format for the mentor bios throughout. Also, I created two senior tributes and two senior slides for two members of the graduating class of 2015. Lastly, I brought in two bottles of orange juice to add to the refreshments at the Science Symposium.

    3. I had invited five total guests, but none were able to attend the Symposium as three of them had prior plans, and my parents were with me in Missouri for my brother's graduation.

    4. Since I was not able to attend the Science symposium due to a conflict with my brother's graduation in Missouri, I personally can not blog about the symposium, but from what I have heard, it was a very enjoyable experience for all. Flying out to St. Louis, Missouri on Wednesday, May 13th, I was very excited to attend one of the biggest events of my brother's and my family's life. Graduating from college is no easy achievement, and it can only lead to greater and better things heading forward. We stayed there a total of three busy days. On the first day, we went to dinner with my mom's old boss, which was a very nostalgic experience for my family. On the second day, we attended the Arts and Science graduation, where they read off everyone's name. Unfortunately, the morning was ruined from the downpour, so a majority of families(including us) snuck inside to enjoy the dry heat. On the third and last day, we attended his full graduation, with a guest speaker, Mr. Ken Burns, a prominent documentarian in the film industry. His speech was very eloquent and inspiring, and served as a great way for the seniors to end their undergraduate studies. Though I had to miss the Symposium to attend the graduation festivities, I was very glad to celebrate a momentous accomplishment of my brother's for the bulk of the three day's stay.

    5. Though I wasn't able to attend Professor David Bernstein's forensics presentation, I had heard him present at the CT Psychological Convention in the fall of 2014. He was very engaging, and captured interest not only to him. but to the field of forensics science. Compared to the other presentations that I had heard that day, his was the only one that captured my attention throughout, and it really brought to life the eccentricities of the forensics department. In the future, I will definitely consider forensics as a potential career field, or just a hobby.

    6. (didn't attend)

    7. (didn't attend)

    8. (didn't attend)

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  5. 1. This symposium was rather similar to past symposiums. Last year, the senior tributes were not all given time limits, and only allowed to be videos, so the tribute section was slightly different. I thought that this worked well to make sure we finished closer to the "right" time. The symposium was what I expected it to be, although I wasn't that impressed with the food (good job katie).
    2. I helped out with the abstracts and mentor bios, and also was a member of the food and decorations committee. I came down during period 8 on friday to help set up. I actually went to the blood drive to pick up the tables for the food (on my way i slammed my pinky...it still really hurts), and then emily and i delivered the tables. But no one gave us credit and I felt like a peasant.
    3. I invited my parents and my mentor, however my mentor was unable to come. My parents felt that the symposium was very nice and well put together, but it was a bit long.
    4. I went to the symposium. this question is for you SARAH SAXE
    5. To be honest, I did not enjoy the keynote presentation very much. I thought that it was quite unclear what he was actually talking about and how it applied to the scope of research, and it seemed like more of an advertisement for his company "FORENSIC CONSULTANTS" than an actual presentation for a research symposium. However, I now know that if I am ever looking for a forensic consultant, I know exactly where to go. Although hopefully I never need a forensic consultant.
    6. I thought that the symposium presentations covered a wide variety of topics, and gave a nice overview of the different types of research done here. I thought that my presentation was awful, I spoke super fast and didn't know how to use a remote control, oh well (its all for the memoir).
    7. My favorite thing about the symposium was the food, however I also feel that for next year we can be more innovative with our food choices. (let's cater the symposium like seriously, plus when food is sitting out for a while it gets kind of gross)
    8. I would give this years symposium a 5, because there is nothing better than celebrating science research. Also, emily and I got a picture with Rohan and Mr. Laliberte, so there really is nothing better #dreams #lifecomplete

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  6. Jimmy Bi

    1. I felt that this symposium more organized than last year’s with the more designated times for things like the senior tributes, so it didn’t take as long. The powerpoint was not too well done with all the missing students.
    2. My contribution was screwing up the powerpoint. I didn’t mess with the order and just pulled names from the large spreadsheet, so that’s where the problems may have originated from.
    3. 3 of the guests I invited were able to come, including my parents and my mentor. My mentor ended up leaving early, so I think she found it slightly boring, but she seemed interested in the school environment of the event. My parents didn’t really have much of an impression.
    5. My overall impression of the keynote presentation was good. I enjoyed the topic, and it was delivered in an easy way to understand since he went a bit slow. Although I enjoyed the presentation of the case, I would not like to conduct research in this field as it seems very tedious.
    6. I didn’t enjoy the student presentations as much as I did last year, as most of them I had already listened to throughout the year, however I liked how they were shortened. The quality was good and there was a lot of project diversity.
    7. I liked the senior tributes the most at the symposium. One improvement I would like to see would be better organization for the certificate handouts.
    8. 4/5

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  7. 1. This symposium was similar to those in the past. I thought that most of it seemed very similar, except for the order of things. I liked the order of things better at this symposium. I thought it was better to get through the presentations done first and then do fun things like the senior tributes.
    2. I helped set up the decorations for the symposium and before. I also helped decorate invitations for incoming students, figure out how many guests people were bringing, and baked a pie.
    3. All of the guests I invited (my parents and my sister) came. They all really liked it, especially being able to look around at all of the student projects.
    5. I liked the keynote presentation. I thought it was an interesting topic and that he delivered it very well. I don’t think I would be interested in pursuing research in this area, but I think that it is a very interesting field that I like to learn about.
    6. I thought that there was very much diversity of student projects. There was a huge range of topics covered, especially in the presentations. It is always interesting to see projects in so many fields that you usually wouldn't know much about.
    7. I think my favorite thing about the symposium was the food. There is always so much good food at the symposium, especially at the pie table. One improvement that I would make would be to reverse the order of the student presentations. I think that it would be best to have the freshmen start and end with the seniors so that they don't feel like they have to follow a presentation that may be better than theirs, especially if the senior does something like Eeman did last year that was an overview of all of their projects.
    8. 4

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  8. 1. I thought this symposium was very fun and a lot more entertaining than last year’s. The MC’s did a really great job at progressing the symposium in a fun way and without taking up too much time. However, the organization of the symposium was a little worse than previous years in terms of how smooth the symposium ran. Some slides were out of order or were skipped due to the bad clicker. Overall though the symposium was a very fun time and an enjoyable experience.
    2. I mainly worked on multiple senior tributes and eventually compiled the senior tribute videos into one large video so it could be easily viewed during the symposium.
    3. Unfortunately none of the guests I invited had time to come to the symposium
    4. N/A
    5. Dr. David Bernstein’s presentation was very good. The information he presented was easy to understand and he presented his work in an interesting way. However, I don’t think I would want to do research in this area.
    6. I thought the student presentations were very diverse ranging in topics from engineering to biology to behavioral studies which made the presentations interesting. The student presenters did very well in delivering their information at an understandable and comprehensible rate.
    7. I definitely liked the senior tributes the best during the symposium. Many of them were very funny and it was a great way to end the whole event. Overall I think this year’s symposium went very well and there isn’t much to improve. Maybe just a couple of small things could be fixed, such as malfunctions with the clicker and the overall length of the symposium could be shortened a bit.
    8. I rate this year’s symposium at a 5/5

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  9. 1. I think this symposium aligned pretty closely to what previous symposiums have been. This symposium was probably more fun than what I remember past ones have been. Also, it seemed like the student and adult presenters/speakers were more relaxed, which made the time in the auditorium more enjoyable.
    2. I was on the PowerPoint committee, so I edited many slides to make sure they were all the same. Also, I was on the food committee. I brought napkins to the symposium. George and I made Sri's senior tribute.
    3. Three guests that I invited were able to attend the symposium. They said that they enjoyed it and thought science research consisted of a good group of students. They enjoyed the time in the cafeteria, looking at the projects. They thought it went a little long in the auditorium though; they said they didn't understand the senior tributes, but they were still engaging and funny for them.
    4. N/A
    5. I thought David Bernstein's presentation on "The Importance of the Scientific Process in Forensic Psychology" was quite interesting to hear about. Although I don't think I'm going to go into forensics, the presentation was enjoyable and I feel like I learned a lot about the field and what he does. I thought David Bernstein did a good job of presenting at an understandable level, as I felt like I understood everything that he talked about.
    6. I thought the student presentations were great. I thought Arpita's topic focusing in on cell populations and gene transferring was very interesting. Even though I've heard her present several times in class, I was still interested and engaged. I thought WRDC also gave a good presentation. They offered a good overview of what they have done which I thought was a nice contrast to the previous presentation because it was more specific. I thought Julia gave a good presentation as well, and I like how it was much different from the previous too. Also, she handled the technical difficulties well. I thought the Hannah's presentation was also very interesting and delivered well. I feel like all of the student presenters delivered their projects at an understandable level.
    7. I liked the senior tributes best this year. Even though it was getting late, I was still very engaged and happy to watch them. I enjoyed my time in the auditorium most when watching these senior tributes. One improvement that I could see for next year would be more real food in the cafeteria. I came from track practice and would have gone for some salad or more dinner food. However, I don't think this is that important or needs to be changed for next year. I thought the food there was quite yummy.
    8. 4.9999999999999999999999999/5

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  10. To contribute to the symposium I worked on abstracts, printing and editing for several days. After finishing that, Haya and I organized and clipped together all the mentor and student certificates. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the Symposium because I was ill. From what I heard everyone had a great time and it was a success.

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  11. Vinnie Silverman
    1. I enjoyed this symposium as much as the other years. However, I enjoyed the guest speaker for this year more than previous years.
    2. I helped make the senior tribute for Joseph Neumann and printed & organized the student certificates.
    3. Two of my invited guests were able to come, and they both enjoyed it. They liked the overall atmosphere and the guest presentation.
    4. I attended the symposium.
    5. I enjoyed Dr. Bernstein’s presentation. He presented the topic in an interesting and simple format, and made it easy for everyone to understand. It was very well balanced between being informative and interesting. However, I don’t have much of an interest in his specific field.
    6. I enjoyed the student presentations overall, but I think they should be chosen in part based on length so the symposium doesn’t run over schedule as much.
    7. The best part of this year’s symposium was the senior tributes. One improvement for next year would be to make sure the PowerPoint of student certificates went in order.
    8. 4.5

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  12. 1. How did this symposium compare to others in the past? If this was your first Amity Science Symposium, was it what you expected? Explain.

    I thought that this year’s symposium was by far the best I’ve ever been to. The ceremony/presentation went a lot quicker compared to previous years. The guest presenter also had an interesting and SIMPLE presentation with a very clear message.

    2. What contribution did YOU make towards helping the symposium run smoothly (set up, planning, organizing, tributes, break down, program, certificates, food etc...).

    I worked on Mentor Certificates (Writing them out, printing, putting them in folders, labeling the folders). I also assisted with putting together the student programs and mentor programs.

    3. How many guests (that you invited) were able to come and what was their impression?

    Two guests that I invited were able to attend. They have been to symposiums in the past and they liked this one the most because it moved (or seem to have moved) a lot faster than others in the past.

    4. Prof. David Bernstein discussed "The Importance of the Scientific Process in Forensic Psychology". What was your overall impression of the Keynote presentation? Did you enjoy the topic? Was it delivered at, above or below your understanding/ability or comfort level? Why or why not? Would you be interested in pursuing research in this area?

    I thought the guest presentation was really cool. It was sort of hands on and covered an actual crime scene. It was fun to puzzle everything together and to actually think like a Forensic Scientist and Psychologist. The presentation was delivered in simple terms, which made it very easy for everyone to understand. I can see myself pursuing research in Forensics.

    5. What did you think about the quality and diversity of student presentations and topics? Be specific.

    I thought the student presentations were really good. They covered a diversity of topics and most importantly were short, which kept people’s attentions. I liked the RWDC presentation especially because they were brief but they used their time well.

    6. List one thing you liked BEST about the symposium and one IMPROVEMENT that you would like to see for next year.

    Time management is definitely something that needs to be improved. We always run over the time slots every year, though this year it was better, things were closer to their allotted times. I liked the senior tributes best. These were formatted very well and moved very quickly. They kept the “show” running.

    7. On a scale of 0 (low) to 5 (high), rate this year's symposium.

    I would say a 4. This year’s symposium was really good, but there are still improvements here and there that need more attention.

    Matt Whitehill

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  13. Anna Ryack
    1. How did this symposium compare to others in the past? If this was your first Amity Science Symposium, was it what you expected? Explain.
    I really liked this year’s symposium. Not only did I love the decorations, but I think the setup of the symposium ran a lot smoother. I liked how we had the keynote speaker present first this year, I think that was a lot better than what we did last year. I also really liked the video tributes; it helped us run much more on time than we would have otherwise!
    2. What contribution did YOU make towards helping the symposium run smoothly (set up, planning, organizing, tributes, break down, program, certificates, food etc...).
    This year I was a member of the mentor certificate committee and mentor bio committee. However I also helped make a senior tribute, and had a lot of fun making it (even though it took a lot of time recording it all)!
    3. How many guests (that you invited) were able to come and what was their impression?
    I invited 3 guests, but only two of them came (thank you parents). They enjoyed the symposium very much, even more than they did last year. They especially enjoyed looking at all of our projects in the cafeteria.
    5. Prof. David Bernstein discussed "The Importance of the Scientific Process in Forensic Psychology". What was your overall impression of the Keynote presentation? Did you enjoy the topic? Was it delivered at, above or below your understanding/ability or comfort level? Why or why not? Would you be interested in pursuing research in this area?
    I very much enjoyed Dr. Bernstein’s presentation. I think it was conducted at an appropriate level for the whole audience, especially considering that all of us were probably exhausted! I found the topic very interesting, and his presentation to be engaging. However, as interesting as I found the presentation, I don’t think I’ll be pursuing this field of research any time soon.
    6. What did you think about the quality and diversity of student presentations and topics? Be specific.
    I think there was a nice diversity of presentations. I like that we had engineering, biology, as well as behavioral project. However, I noticed that many of the presenters seemed really pressed for time. I know that that’s because we had to try and keep their presentations shorter to keep the symposium on time. But next year we might need to practice the shorter times more.
    7. List one thing you liked BEST about the symposium and one IMPROVEMENT that you would like to see for next year.
    The best thing about this year was the photo booth. 10/10. I took some quality photos.
    It’s hard to come up with improvements for the symposium, as it was so great this year! But I would recommend trying to cut down on opening remarks, or maybe the intermission (just to save time).
    8. On a scale of 0 (low) to 5 (high), rate this year's symposium.
    5

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  14. Matthew McKenna

    1. Even though I'm a junior, this is just my second symposium because I missed the symposium last year because I was sick. But this symposium was actually very similar to the one my freshman year. Owais and Arvene did a good job as emcees just like Peter and Andrew, and the symposium went well past its scheduled ending time because science know no bounds. The senior tributes were just as good as the ones my freshman year, and the symposiums in general are so similar to each other it would be impossible to pick a winner.

    2. Well, to help contribute to the symposium I signed up for the decorations committee. In this committee, I signed up to bring spoons and plates to the symposium. Both of these things were actually taken care of by Ms. Day, so instead I brought AAA batteries to the symposium. Also, to help prepare for the symposium I made sure the abstracts were all in the student drive and saved potential filler pictures for the program in case there was extra room. Finally, I helped prepare the RWDC presentation for the junior presentation at the symposium.

    3. I invited both of my parents and a few friends to the symposium and they were all able to make it. Also, they all had great impressions of the event. My parents loved it, and thought that the presentations and the guest speaker were all very interesting. My friends also loved the event, and said that the symposium made them jealous that they're not actually in science research.

    4. I attended the symposium

    5. My overall impression of the keynote presentation was a good one. He tried to keep his presentation as interesting as possible and I enjoyed the topic he presented of the case that he worked on. While I did not understand some of the forensics terms that he used, he did a great job explaining what they meant so I feel like the presentation was delivered right at my understanding level. While the topic was incredibly interesting, I am not interested in pursuing a career in this area. I would much rather stick to engineering and continue doing the Real World Design Challenge.

    6.Well, I'm pretty bias as to the quality of the student presentations (GO RWDC!!!!!) but I really thought that we all did a pretty good job. Arpita's presentation was interesting, and it was more medical based which would appeal to an audience other then the RWDC project, which was engineering based. I though that we did a decent job presenting the project but the presentation was hardly rehearsed, which led me especially to mess up what I meant to say. Julia and Hannah both had very interesting projects, and I would say that all the student presenters did a good job of showing the audience what we do in science research. The only bad thing though would be that there really was not enough time for the presentations, and the presentations were really the reason why the symposium ended so late.

    7. The one thing that I liked best about the symposium this year would be the senior tributes and Ms. Day's tribute. These videos are always hilarious, and give the seniors a nice goodbye from the whole program. One improvement which could be made would once again be the time. It went well over the limit, and by the end was was nearly asleep.

    8.5

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  15. Barak Davidi

    1. This symposium was quite similar to the past three I have attended. The timing was like always, a bit behind schedule, and the senior tributes were once more the highlight of the night. The food was a bit less impressive than last year, but still satisfactory.

    2. I was in the decorations committee and had signed up for various utensils, but due to change of plans I did not have to bring them in. I participated in the cover competition and flyer contest, but did not win. There was a bit of a misunderstanding regarding the cover of the mentor packet, but I designed one that was not used.

    3. I invited one guest, my mentor, but he was unable to make it to the event.

    4. I attended the symposium.

    5. The Keynote presentation was fantastic. The topic was incredibly interesting, forensic psychology is a subject that is often shown in movies and TV shows. It was delivered at an incredibly appropriate level of understanding. The presenter used appropriate vocabulary. And his level of explanation was appropriate for everyone from the senior class to the younger audience members.

    6. The student presentations were quite pleasant. The choice of appointing one presenter from each grade was great, and the shorter time limit made it much quicker.

    7. I like the senior tributes best, obviously, and I thought that the video format was a good way to ensure proper time management. An improvement would be considering a wider array of foods rather than various snacks.

    8. I rate this years symposium a 4.5 out of 5.

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  16. 1. This symposium was much better than others in the past, especially the keynote speaker. In previous years, many students fell asleep from boredom…it was very rare to have a keynote speaker that was interesting and engaging. This year, Dr. Bernstein created a presentation that was visually appealing and had interesting content.
    2. I made one tribute with two other students and provided pictures for another senior’s slide. I also helped format the keynote speaker and teacher bios.
    3. I invited four guests. Three were unable to attend, but the one invitee that could come enjoyed the experience, namely the variety of foods.
    4. I attended symposium!!!
    5. I really enjoyed the Keynote presentation. The topic was interesting and exciting, and gave me a different perspective of science compared to “hard science.” Prof. Bernstein delivered the presentation so that students of nearly all ages could comprehend the information without being disturbed or confused. His information was to-the-point, and his graphics effectively enhanced the content. Though the information was very interesting, it would not be a topic of research for me.

    6. I think the student presentations showed the breadth Amity’s science research program. For example, there were medical, psychology, and engineering projects.

    7. I liked the keynote speaker the best! However, I think, if possible, the senior tributes could have gone smoother!
    8. 4

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  17. 1. Compared to others, I thought the symposium was great. The speaker was one of the best that I have experienced, the photo shoot area was a great success, and guests seemed to be actually interested in many of the projects. The guest speaker was fascinating and did not take too long presenting, which benefitted everyone.
    2. I helped with organizing mentor and student certificates, putting together the mentor booklets, and organizing the candy count.
    3. Two of my guests were able to come and they loved it. They thought the entire event was put together very well and the senior tributes were great.
    4. I attended and loved the symposium.
    5. I thought the overall presentation was great. I have always thought the topic of forensic was interesting, so I was excited for our guest to show his presentation. I wish the presentation went into slightly more detail than what was given, but I understand that there were children and potentially uncomfortable people in the guest if this occurred. If I was going to be in the program next year, I would have loved to have done a forensic psychology study; however I might try to take a similar course next year.
    6. I thought that the quality and diversity of the student presentations were great. Not only did we have RWDC but then we had biological and psychological components with Julia and Arpita.
    7. I loved the senior tributes and one improvement would be trying to stay on schedule and little more or changing the event time an hour longer.
    8. I would rate this year’s symposium as 4 out of 5

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  18. 1) I went to the symposium last year, and this year was definitely much better than last year. I liked the addition of the music, and the emcees were very entertaining. I especially enjoyed the senior tributes.
    2) I contributed to the symposium by revising each person’s abstracts and editing them as needed. I also provided the bat needed for the piñata.
    3) No one I invited was able to come. They were busy with work.
    4) I attended.
    5) Dr. Bernstein’s presentation was one that I was actually interested in this year. I felt like the discussion and presentation of a case study really draws attention from the audience, and he also explained it at the understanding that is needed for high school students.
    6) The student presentations were very diverse this year. None of them were exactly the same to each other and they ranged from specific studies in medicine, to behavioral studies on friendships.
    7) I liked the senior tributes the most this year, and one improvement would be to find a way to make the symposium just a little shorter.
    8) Rate: 4.

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  19. It was much better than last years. Video senior tributes are the way to go as they are much more refined and quick. The food was the same but the decorations were much cooler. Emcees were best I’ve seen and perhaps best in sci res history. Overall it was very nice.
    I spent my birthday filming tributes for ungrateful seniors who threatened to disavow me if I disappointed with me. I also made that cool X with caution tape in the café.
    None. I’m sure they would have enjoyed it though it was funny and didn’t drag on like last year.
    Not applicable
    I really don’t care for forensics but that was very interesting. The guy had a lot of swag especially with that picture of the rubix cube bra. His topic was interesting and his presentation kept you engaged which was a refreshing change of pace from last yar.
    They were all cool. First year was very insightful considering most of them are just behavioral sciences. Senior was obviously better but it also hit a different subject matter. They all did.
    Well the tributes and emcees were great. Unfortunately, you can’t keep the emcees. Next year there must be more decorations!
    Rate 5.

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  20. 1. This year’s science symposium was fun yet stressful. It didn’t really stand out beyond other symposiums but just kid of had the same flow as usual not saying that’s a bad thing though.
    2. This year, to help, I was on the invitation committee. I also brought 2 apple pies, a bunch of friends, and was one of the PowerPoint presenters during the symposium itself.
    3. 4 of the 5 guests I asked to attend showed up. They said they loved the environment and jokes that were spun throughout. Overall, they said they loved the symposium and can’t wait to come next year.
    4. I attended symposium
    5. I think the area of research he is involved in is very interesting. However, that being said, his type of research is hard to properly capture in a PG environment which I feel like took away from the quality of his presentation, which was not up to my standards. I enjoy people who weave more humor into their presentations and really engage the audience more so than what professor Bernstein did.
    6. As a presenter myself, I definitely thought they were good. To be honest, more rehearsal would’ve done wonders to the outcome of it, but I still enjoyed it. As far as the other project, I felt that they were good as well. However, the topics all seemed fairly similar to me so more diversity, I feel, would go a long way towards improving the student presentations.
    7. I liked the food, as always. More food would be something that should be considered next year though. Also, maybe cut the keynote presenter down a little. It’s a gamble, because you don’t want to cut down on a good presenter, but it does save the audience from a bad presentation. Just something to consider.
    8. I give this years symposium a 4 out of 5.



    -Levi Santos

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  21. 1. This symposium this year seemed much more organized than last year. Although it still ran over time, it seemed much more organized and the order was more logical. The decorations and activities in the cafeteria during the poster session and intermission ran smoothly and guaranteed that there was always something to do.
    2. In terms of preparing for this symposium, I was head of the food/decorations committee as well as in charge of compiling everything for the final powerpoint. I made sure people signed up for food, I helped decide what decorations to get, what piñata, etc. For the powerpoint I assembled the sophomore student recognitions, as well as put together the freshman, junior, and senior slides. I designed the templates for all of the slides and made the transitions between sections of the presentation (keynote, student recognition, intermission, student presentations, senior tributes, etc.)
    3. I had six guests that I invited attend the symposium (my parents, my mentor, her husband and parents). They were all thoroughly impressed with the program and the symposium itself. My mentor said it helped her grasp a larger understanding of what the Science Research Program really is.
    4. I attended the symposium.
    5. Honestly, I was not impressed with the keynote speaker. He started off well with engaging and fun animations embedded in his powerpoint, however, it seemed to go downhill from there. I went into the presentation thinking that it would be really cool to listen to a real forensic scientist and hear his experiences in comparison to all of the forensic murder-mystery television shows that are all the rage right now. However, while presenting his case study, he kept missing key points in the situation that made it awkward when he kept having to go back and saying, “oh and also this…”. It was easy to understand, however, I think it could have been presented better to be more engaging and suspenseful—It is murder mystery afterall! And although I didn’t really enjoy the presentation, I think Prof. David Bernstein had several important mentions about the scientific method; one of them being that it is important and hard to separate the “heart from the brain” when investigating a problem. However, we have to be good at distinguishing what we want to be true and what is really true.
    6. I think the student presentations were really good, however, they were accustomed to presenting around 8 minutes and were only allotted 5 minutes. This meant that they still included a lot of detail but scrambled at the end to remain as close as possible to the five minute time limit.
    7. The thing I liked best about this symposium were the tributes to the seniors and Ms. Day. They were a nice send-off for the seniors as most (if not all) were going on their internship the following Monday and it added character to the overall night. One improvement I would recommend for next year is change the order of the student presenters so that we start with the freshman and build up to the senior.
    8. On a scale of 1-5, I would rate this years symposium as a 4.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Kevin Dardik
    1. I think this symposium was better than previous ones.
    2. I helped create and print student certificates, student certificates, and mentor bios. I also helped create the schedule, finish the programs, and made a senior tribute.
    3. Three guests were able come. Two only came for the first half hour, but enjoyed it. The third guest came after the guest presenter, and thought the student presenters could have done better. Furthermore, she did not enjoy most of the senior tributes, as they were clearly meant for the members of science research.
    4. I did attend the symposium.
    5. Overall, I enjoyed the presentation. It was understandable, and though I would not research forensics, the psychology aspect was interesting.
    6. The four projects were very diverse. However, I thought the underclassmen needed more practice at presenting.
    7. Our timing could be improved. I enjoyed that we could celebrate the end of the year the most.
    8. 4.44/5.

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  23. 1)This symposium stacked up well against the previous symposiums. It was very enjoyable and entertaining. The food wasn’t as great, though. It was mostly sweets and nothing else. The decorations, however, were better than previous years. The emcees were pretty awesome, too. Overall, I enjoyed this symposium more than last year.
    2)I helped David on some of the senior tributes. Also, I made Daniel Giebisch’s senior tribute. I also worked on preparing some of the mentor packets.
    3)All of the guests that I invited were able to make it. They really enjoyed the senior tributes but did not like the keynote presentation.
    4)I attended the symposium
    5)I enjoyed the presentation. It was fairy interesting with good analogies. Also, Dr. Bernstein’s presentation expressed the concept of deduction well. Although I enjoyed the topic, it was delivered a bit below my comprehension level. The way he explained it seemed dumbed-down. Personally, I have no interest in pursuing a career in Forensics Science
    6)I think that some of the presentations were very well done. However, many were too drawn out and specific. Each presentation was only supposed to be around 5 minutes. However, most of them were around 10. A more general overview of their project/results, like Real World Design did, would have been better compared to a science fair-esque presentation.
    7)The best thing that I liked in the symposium was the senior tributes. They were really diverse and very well done. Some of them were extremely hilarious and memorable. The timing of the symposium was, like always, pretty bad (although better than other years). The symposium went over only about 35 minutes this year (this is impressive considering there were 18 senior tributes to go through). It could probably be cut if the student presentations were limited to around 5-6 minutes and the handing of the student certificates was more organized/streamlined (that part took way longer than it should have)
    8)I would rate this symposium as a 4.5

    ReplyDelete
  24. Jasmine Moon

    1. This symposium was better than before. There were much more people outside of the Science Research Program. The keynote speaker and the presentations were very interesting.
    2. I helped decorate for the symposium and I brought food. ☺ I also helped Katie make the powerpoint for the symposium.
    3. I invited my mentor, however he was not able to come due to another appointment that he had.
    4. I did attend the symposium, and I stayed for the whole time.
    5. I really liked Prof. Bernstein’s presentation. The case study in his presentation got the audience involved and it led us to want the answer to the mystery. I really enjoyed the topic because I like forensics in general (and my favorite genre of books is mystery). I would potentially be interested in this field for research, however I would have to research more about it.
    6. The diversity of student presentations was great. I enjoyed all of the presentations. Even though the student presenters skipped over some information, it still flowed well, and it helped keep the symposium from running much later than planned.
    7. One thing that I liked best about the symposium were the senior tributes. They were a nice transition from the science projects and presentations that were shown before. Also, the tributes this year were really good and funny, so it served as a very nice ending to the symposium.
    8. 4

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  25. 1. This symposium was pretty normal, compared to others in the past. However, it seemed as though we got a larger turnout, which is always amazing and shows that our symposium is growing.

    2. I was on the abstract committee, sent out invitations to the incoming freshmen, and completed two tributes, one for Dana and one for Gabbie.

    3. None of my guests were able to come :(, but the impression I got from those around me was very positive, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

    4. I missed the first hour for my volleyball game, which I lost. :( I then drove home to get ready and then came back to Amity for the symposium.

    5. II enjoyed the keynote very much! I loved the topic, although I was expecting a bit more of what I had seen at the CPA presentation. It was very much at my comfort level and level of understanding. I’m very interested in this topic, and I think I would be interested in pursuing research in this area.

    6. I think that they were very good in terms of quality and diversity. For example, we talked about cell reproduction with Arpita and then heard Julia talk about trends. However, it did seem to be either one of those two things. I would have liked to see something more like Danny and Noah’s project being presented, which would have brought something different to the table.

    7. I really enjoyed the senior tributes! I thought the videos would make them a bit worse, but they were actually very good! However, I would modify the layout of the powerpoint (@Katie). It didn’t seem streamlined enough, but rather very segmented and choppy. We should make one large powerpoint with EVERYTHING in it, not most things.

    8. 4

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  26. 1. This symposium was better than last year. We were more organized (yay for preparation) and the emcees did a great job controlling the flow of the symposium.
    2. I was in charge of compiling the mentor bios, and in charge of my period’s mentor certificates and student certificates. I brought cookies and helped make two senior tributes.
    3. My mom was able to come and she said it was so fun and laughed a lot.
    5. I enjoyed Prof. Bernstein’s "The Importance of the Scientific Process in Forensic Psychology" keynote presentation. The case was interesting, I love Forensics (Forensics Files Fan). The presentation was at my understanding/ability which made it more applicable. As a researcher, the scientific method is heavily taught and discussed so I could fully comprehend his talk. The only thing that disappointed me was that Dr. Bernstein was not a bear.
    6. I really liked how diverse the presentations were. We had biological, engineering, and behavioral projects, not just all being strictly medical.
    7. Like the majority of science research, I enjoyed the senior tributes and Ms. Day’s tribute most. This segment is always entertaining and it’s a super sweet send-off for the sneiors and fun for everyone to watch. Though we greatly improved on it this year, we still need to work on time management. For one, student presenters could practice their presentations more. Maybe time in the beginning could be cut down?
    8. 4.5/5

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  27. Victoria Li

    1.This symposium was different in terms of the senior tributes. It took much less time to go through, and the symposium itself went much quicker than in previous ears.
    2. I helped organize the powerpoint as well as check the project slides for formatting.
    3. I was able to bring my mother, and she enjoyed it immensely.
    4. I attended
    5. Prof. Bernstein’s presentation was very interesting and I found a better understanding of the scientific method through his presentation. His presentation also made me interested in pursuing a field in forensic psychology.
    6. I think that the student presentations were very diverse and covered a wide range of topics from Arpita’s presentation bacterial transfer of genes to Hannah’s psychological perception.
    7. I liked the keynote speaker’s presentation the best. One thing I would like to see improved is the senior tributes. I actually liked it better when we just had each senior’s tribute individually, and were able to personalize it more.
    8. I would give this year’s symposium a 5.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Joseph Antaya

    1.) The Symposium was a huge success and a large step forward from last year. The Keynote Speaker was extremely interesting and the way he maintained a captive audience with the case was very entertaining. The food, as always, was fantastic. The Emcees this year were entertaining and they contributed largely to the immense vibrancy that was present throughout the Symposium.
    2.) My individual role in ensuring that the Symposium ran smoothly was many small (and some large) tasks. First, I created Harsha’s Senior Tribute Slide and produced Harsha’s Senior Tribute video with Josh Crow. Furthermore, I brought multiple dozens of Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and potato chips. I also helped in stapling and folding the Mentor Pamphlets for the event during class.
    3.) All three of the guests I invited came to the event, and all of them enjoyed the event tremendously. As I previously stated, there was never a dull moment during the Symposium and the structure of the event was on point.
    4.) N/A
    5.) The Keynote Speaker was extremely interesting and the way he maintained a captive audience with the case was very entertaining. I was personally not disturbed by the case and actually thought that it was not enough specific evidence, but I understand the dynamic audience would mind. This was very interesting for me and I may possibly wish to pursue a career in this field, however it would be an alternate choice.
    6.) The diverse projects presented by the students were very interesting, from Arpita’s gene project to Hannah’s project on portion size. While both were on opposite ends of the spectrum, both are important in the betterment of our society.
    7.) The best aspect was the vibrant Senior Tribute Videos in combination with the Keynote Speaker. One improvement would be to ensure that technical difficulties would be avoided, especially during the opening portion of the Symposium.
    8.) Atomic Mass of He

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This symposium was just as good as the others, if not better! The organization was far superior, even if it went a little over-time.
      2. Along with Arpita, I made some of the mentor certificates and placed mentor and student certificates in envelopes. I also brought in lots of sugar cookies.
      3. I was fortunate enough to have six guests attend. The overall consensus among them was that the senior tributes were the best part of the night.
      5. To be honest, the scientific method piece of it was repetitive for the science research students who already had known it, and for those who were unfamiliar, it wasn't interesting. It was delivered at an easily understandable level. The case study portion was much more entertaining, even if my sister's habit of watching too much crime drama ensured I knew the culprit pretty quickly. Research in this area would interest me.
      6. Be specific. It was a nice spread of ideas. Many different areas of science were spoken of, making sure that there was something interesting for everyone.
      7. The food was best, obviously a lot of people put effort into their offerings. We had a nice spread this year! I almost wish that the tribute sections didn't have to be condensed so much, though. Unfortunately, I don't know how much that could change.
      8. 4.6
      Dana Perry

      Delete
  29. 1. It being my second year in science research, I found the experience to be more comfortable and familiar than last year. There was more of a theme to the cafeteria this year, which was very nice. Also the program was well planned as usual. Owais and Arvene did a great job introducing everyone.
    2. I was on the Mentor Bio and Abstract committee for my class. I also worked on the student certificates, hung up flyers and was on the decorating committee.
    3. I invited 4 but only two came ☹ they thought it was amazing. The student projects really blew them away. They also enjoyed the tributes a lot.
    4. I attended.
    5. The presentation was awesome. The keynote speaker is obviously well spoken and knew exactly how to appeal to our age group. I found the case study process really intriguing. Also, he made it very clear how the scientific method applies to forensics so it was interesting to compare it to the way I used the scientific method for my project. All this having been said, I would not ever look into a career in this field. Something about all of the dead bodies is mildly unappealing. But thats just me.
    6. The student presenters were highly diversified. There was something in biology that also incorporated programming. Then there was the real world design, which was highly unique in and of itself. That was followed by a study on social networks, then a study on eating habits. There was a little bit of something from every field.
    7. I liked the tributes (lol) but I heard from multiple guests that they wished students were at their boards to explain their projects. But all of us where socializing so maybe have a set time before the symposium for us to just talk and relax? Im not sure how to fix it, but there were multiple parents who made this point.

    ReplyDelete
  30. 1. Unfortunately I was not able to attend the symposium because I was ill.
    2. My contributions to the symposium were working on abstracts as well as clipping together and organizing all the mentor and student certificates.
    3. I invited four guests and because I was unable to attend none of them attended either.
    4. Instead of going to the symposium I was home resting due to being ill.
    5. Due to my lack of attendance to the symposium I did not watch the presentation given by Prof. David Bernstein.
    6. Once again, due to my lack of attendance I did not see the presentations but I’m sure they were all fabulous.
    7. One improvement I have for the symposium is maybe more direction given to the first years regarding the symposium prep. A lot of extra time was spent fixing all their abstracts.
    8. I wasn’t there but I bet it was 5/5!
    - Olivia Castro

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  31. 1. The symposium was great! I thought it was better than last year’s symposium because of some minor improvements. The music when people were introduced was a nice touch.

    2. I helped to organize the abstracts into alphabetical order as well as being in charge of the music for the symposium. I also helped by bringing whipped cream for the pie table.

    3. Two of the four people I invited were able to come to the symposium. Overall my guests really enjoyed the symposium.

    4. N/A

    5. I did not enjoy the keynote speaker. I felt it was too long and on a pretty boring topic. I felt like most of the things that he said were self-explanatory. Although he emphasized using the scientific method, I thought it was a semi-pointless presentation.

    6. I enjoyed most of the student presentations. I thought most of them were pretty enjoyable, however, some were a little to dry and boring for me, or in areas I have no interest in.

    7. One improvement I would offer is to cut down the length of time for the keynote speaker as well as the student presentations. The presentations just seem to drag on for too long. I like learning about others projects, however, I don't think that 8 minute presentations are the best way to do it.

    8. I would give the symposium a 4/5. It was definitely better than last years, however, it is too long. I feel it should be more of a fun celebration of our years work instead of a long lecture.

    ReplyDelete
  32. 1. This symposium ran relatively smoothly, compared to others in the past. Though there were some hiccups on the final presentation, the event was successful overall.
    2. I provided assistance to many aspects of the symposium, including serving on the powerpoint committee (I designed the original template slide and checked my class’s contributions) and helping to set up decorations during the last period of the day.
    3. Unfortunately, only one of the guests that I invited was able to come to the symposium, and they enjoyed the symposium overall, commenting that it went well.
    4. I attended the symposium.
    5. Prof Bernstein’s presentation seemed to lack focus overall (it was a little rambling) and did not seem fit for the audience. His style of presenting did not appeal to me, but the subject matter (a case study utilizing logic and parts of the scientific method) was interesting. The presentation was relatively accessible (I could understand it easily), however I am not too interested in pursuing research in the area.
    6. I thought that the student presentations were quite varied in topic and were well presented. Most of them were interesting and kept my attention throughout.
    7. I enjoyed the senior tributes during the end of the symposium the best (especially due to the fact that I am a senior and had one of my own - thanks George and Eli). However, I would like to see some improvement in the candy raffle - there should be some innovation to prevent fraudulent submissions from being entered into the jar.

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  33. George Zhang

    1. This symposium was roughly the same as previous years' symposiums. The organization of the presentations changed a little but the content did not change very much.
    2. I was on the committee for creating the powerpoint. I also created a senior tribute and brought 3 bags of chips.
    3. My parents were able to come and they thought it was interesting. My mentors, however, were out of town.
    4. I attended the symposium.
    5. I thought the keynote presentation was certainly easy to understand and very interesting. The case study seemed to be right out of a TV show. However, I am not sure if the presentation fit with the atmosphere of the symposium as it was rather grim and dealt with harsh subjects. I would not be interested in pursuing a career in this field because it seems rather gruesome.
    6. I thought the student presentations were done very well and they covered a very wide range of topics, from engineering to behavioral projects.
    7. My favorite part about the symposium was the senior tributes, as they were very fun to watch. I think the food at the symposium could be improved to include less deserts and snacks, and more food that can actually be eaten as a meal.
    8. 4.5/5

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  34. Friedman

    1) I did not attend because io my brothers graduation from college.

    2) I made a big contribution but it was mostly in helping others. I did the mentor and student certificates. Also, I helped alphabetically order the abstracts. The, i did A LOT of stapling and assembling both the mentor and regular packets. Then, i helped decorate and set up.

    3) 0, I was unable to attend and my guests had other commitments.

    4) I attended my brothers graduation from Brandeis University. We had to rent the rooms for three days minimum so I had to go up on Friday. When we went up we got there at about 5 and went to the presidents reception. They had some food and we met up with some family friends from the school. We then went back to the hotel. The following day was rather dry since nothing was really planned. We went to the art museum and drove out to do some shopping. Then, we took David out to dinner at a fancy french restaurant. After that we went back to the hotel for the night. The next day we had to wake up early for the actual graduation. We got to the college at around 8:45 and sat by 9:00. We had average seats, but we had to wait until 10:30 for it to start. They had roughly 6 or 7 people make speeches about their life stories. This lasted till about 3:00. After that we went to the business part of the graduation. This is where David actually got his certificate. This lasted till about 4:30. Then we went to a graduation party and ipI got home around 9:00 on Sunday.

    5) I did not attend because of my brothers graduation from college.

    6) I did not attend because of my brothers graduation from college.

    7) I did not attend because of my brothers graduation from college.

    8) I did not attend because of my brothers graduation from college.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Emily Criscuolo
    1) My experience at this symposium was a lot better than the last one mostly because the people I invited actually came this year. Although I did not get to eat all of the food I also thought the decorations were a lot better this year-especially the detective ducks. I also knew what to expect for tributes and the course of events in general.
    2) I was on the decorations committee, so I helped organize, order, and set up for the actual symposium. I also helped put together all of the programs and mentor pamphlets.
    3) My coach came to see what my project was that I talk about so much, and he had to leave but he said he was impressed by the whole event! Also my mentor made an appearance! She was impressed as well and we talked about future work for this summer.
    5) Personally, I did not particularly enjoy the speaker; his presentation was pretty boring until he got to
    the story which made me kind of uncomfortable.
    6) I loved how all of the presentations were about a lot of different topics. I really liked the freshman presentation because it was creative and different than a lot of first year projects. And I also learned about the other group project besides Sikorsky.
    7) I liked the senior tributes a lot this year; something I would improve would be the length of time the guest speaker took up. I would just get rid of a keynote speaker in general so we can focus on OUR projects.
    8) 4.5 (It was a lot shorter than last year)

    ReplyDelete
  36. 1. How did this symposium compare to others in the past? If this was your first Amity Science Symposium, was it what you expected? Explain.
    The symposium was better than last year because I wasn’t a freshman anymore, so I knew more people and understood what was happening. It was really well organized, and, although a little long, was overall a really good time. I was also so happy my mentor and her husband came, as they are so nice, and it was nice to see her outside of her office.


    2. What contribution did YOU make towards helping the symposium run smoothly (set up, planning, organizing, tributes, break down, program, certificates, food etc...).
    I helped with making the program, first I made teacher and keynote biographies by emailing them and organizing them. I also helped make Dr. Britton’s tribute. I was also part of the food and decorations comittee, so I emailed people to sign up to bring stuff, and helped decide what decorations were necessary, who was getting them, etc. Emily and I also went to Ms. Day’s car and got the supplies and helped open them. :)
    3. How many guests (that you invited) were able to come and what was their impression?
    I invited my parents and my mentor, and my dad was in Washington D.C., but my mom and mentor were able to come. Also, my younger sister is going to be part of this lovely program next year, so she was invited and came. My mentor and her husband attended; they came a little late (which was fine) and stayed until intermission. I think they really enjoyed it; my mentor was a little skeptical of the keynote speaker at first because he started introducing scientific method, but as he continued, I think she was fine with it. My mentor and her husband were especially interested in seeing the other projects in the cafetaria, and seeing the school because they’re planning to move and were considering moving to Woodbridge. My mentor also said she was going to come next year :)
    4. If you did NOT attend the symposium, what did you do instead? Explain.
    I attended the symposium.
    5. Prof. David Bernstein discussed "The Importance of the Scientific Process in Forensic Psychology". What was your overall impression of the Keynote presentation? Did you enjoy the topic? Was it delivered at, above or below your understanding/ability or comfort level? Why or why not? Would you be interested in pursuing research in this area?
    I thought the case study was interesting; however, I don’t think he presented the work well. It was very watered down, but I think that he could’ve added more details into his story to make it more engaging. It was probably lower than my understanding ability due to his graphics and the way he explained the study. I would be interested in pursuing something like forensic science because I think criminal psychology and stuff of that nature is really interesting.
    6. What did you think about the quality and diversity of student presentations and topics? Be specific.
    I think that the students, especially, since they presented after the intermission, should’ve made their topics easy to understand (even if their projects were complicated) and added some humor.The short amount of time with a lot of information was not a good combo. There was a good diversity of topics, which was good, so that everyone could be interested.
    7. List one thing you liked BEST about the symposium and one IMPROVEMENT that you would like to see for next year.
    I think that the tributes are always hilarious and light, so that was probably my favorite part. An improvement would definitely have to be making the student presentations lighter and funnier.
    8. On a scale of 0 (low) to 5 (high), rate this year's symposium.
    4.75

    ReplyDelete
  37. 1.. This year was my second symposium and I thought this year’s symposium was much better than last year. I thought last year’s symposium had a less exhilarating atmosphere. This year there were more guests from all over! I thought the symposium schedule and list of events were better than last year, especially with the senior tributes cut (or tried) to the 1:30 time frame each and that we didn’t use the stage for student recognition because that takes much more time. However I thought the time was stretched and took longer than supposed because last year we also went over the time, and I think next year we should end the time at 10pm anyways…
    2.I helped with the program schedule which I mentioned in question one should be changed to end around 9:45 to 10pm. I also helped with the decoration set up such as the photo background, and also helped with the food committee and getting people in class to sign up for an item.
    3.I invited three guests, and one of them was already invited by another student because he was that student’s mentor. I’m not sure if he actually came. However, my mom did attend for the first half and had to leave early to take care of the siblings. She thought the event was well organized and was entertaining.
    4.skipped
    5.I thought the keynote speaker was great in general as I attended the CPA and met him there. I thought his other presentation was much more interesting at the CPA than the one at our school. I thought he was organized and knew what to say however he didn’t seem to know everything and say it fluently. Instead he seemed to lag and didn’t know how to present the powerpoint clearly across to students. I thought it lacked my interest like the one at the CPA and I understood the topic well. I would love to pursue this research in science-I love mystery and finding solutions to unsolved problems but I don’t think I am “capable” 100%.
    6. I thought the quality of the research presentations by the students were great. Every single one of them was well done and interesting. I especially loved how Real Design Challenge got to go as a team because usually its just one person or a two person team presenting, and I liked the diversity this year. Also, I liked how there were two behavioral, one engineering, and one involved with bio/data, (diversity!!) projects.
    7. I liked the overall atmosphere of the symposium! Everyone seemed to be having fun and there was a lot of buzz in the cafe. Also I felt there were more guests (new students and mentors) compared to last year. (also kudos to decor and food team) And this year’s emceeing was better organized and entertaining than last year but KZac and Shanuk were great too. I think an improvement for next year would to extend the time of the symposium. It didn’t feel rushed at all which is good but ending the symposium at I think it was 9ish was super idealistic haha, so like said before maybe 10ish.
    8. I’d give this year’s symposium a 5/5! Although I didn’t have much to compare to, it was better than last year.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Overall, I thought this year’s symposium was better than last year’s. The senior tributes were much better, and transitioned very smoothly from one to the next. Another key improvement from last year to this year is that this year’s symposium ran much more on schedule, with quality emceeing and better organization. Finally, the student presentations were good overall, but I personally would’ve preferred to see a couple other projects presented simply because the topics would’ve been more intriguing for me.
    In order to help the symposium run as smoothly as possible, I spent many science research classes compiling, editing and alphabetizing the abstracts of the SRP students. Additionally, I helped perform the same tasks with the mentor bios. I also brought a case of water to the symposium.
    My mother and father attended the symposium, as well as Dana Halline, one of our mentors for Sikorsky. My parents both thought that the senior tributes this year were much more understandable and funny than last year. They liked some of the student presentations, but didn’t like others.
    I was at the symposium, but was a bit late because of the Friday traffic that the bus hit on the way home from a game in Madison.
    I thought the keynote presentation was okay. I missed part of it because of the aforementioned traffic, but the part that I saw was decent. I thought the topic was partially interesting, but he could’ve conveyed the information in a way that made it much more interesting overall. It was delivered right around my understanding level simply because I know almost nothing about forensic science. I likely wouldn’t be interested in research in this area.
    I thought all of the presentations were spectacular, but wasn’t particularly interested in some of the projects themselves. I didn’t particularly enjoy the friendship project by Julia, and would’ve preferred a project involving the physical sciences (e.g. Owais/Arvene, Dan/Noah, etc.). Overall, though, the selection was diverse and the actual presentations were great.
    Honestly, what I liked most is the fact that the symposium remained fairly guided by a schedule and didn’t pour over too much into the night. The emceeing by Owais and Arvene was also superb. One thing I’d like to see more of is a greater emphasis on physical sciences, whether it be through student presentations or the keynote speaker.
    4.5

    ReplyDelete
  39. Felicia Thomas
    1. This years symposium was very good compared to last years symposium. I personally really enjoyed this years presenter Professor David Bernstein and I thought that the forensic theme was really cool. The decorations were really fun to put together and looked great. I thought that everything went really well during the symposium and nothing really went wrong.
    2. To contribute to the symposium this year, I helped in putting together all of the programs and mentor recognition pamphlets. I also helped in organizing the decorations for the forensic investigation theme. I helped Ms. Day order some of the decorations, and then when the decorations came in I helped to put things together like the pinata and picture background. In addition, I also helped in trying to get a head count for the number of guests coming to the symposium specifically for my class.
    3. I invited 5 guests to the symposium this year which included my parents, sister, and two mentors. My sister unfortunately was not able to come to the symposium because she was out of state, and my two mentors also were not able to attend. My parents, who did attend, really enjoyed the guest presenter. They thought his presentation on one of his case studies was really interesting. They were overall happy with the symposium and had no complaints except for the fact that it did run a little late, but it was not that big of a deal to them.
    4. I did attend.
    5. My overall impression of the key note speaker was that I thought it was a really good presentation. The presentation did not drag on and I thought that it was the perfect length. His presentation was perfect in the way he presented his information by making the audience think and in keeping their attention. I personally loved the topic and I would love to be able to learn more about forensics in the future. The information was delivered at my understanding ability because he made it very easy to follow and understand.
    6. I thought that the quality and diversity of the student presentations was very good. The different types of projects was good to show a variety of the projects being conducted in the program. I thought that including the real world design challenge was a great idea and their presentation was the perfect length and very simple to follow. I thought that some of the other student presentations should have been condensed down a little more for time purposes, but other than that the student presenters did a great job.
    7. My favorite things about the symposium were the decorations and theme this year and also the guest presenter. I thought that the decorations went along perfectly with the presenters theme of his presentation. One aspect of the symposium that could be improved for next year would be staying on time. I thought that this years symposium stayed much more on time and according to schedule than the previous year. I would maybe eliminate the intermission if running late and do the pinata and candy raffle at the end to keep the symposium moving along.
    8. I would rate this years symposium a 5 out of 5. It met all of my expectations and more compared to last year. The food was good, the presenters had really good presentations, and the decorations/theme were on point!

    ReplyDelete
  40. This symposium, in my opinion, was the best by far. I thought the logistics of the event were very well thought out. I truly enjoyed the guest speaker and the student presentations. I also thought that there was a good mix of different foods. The program was also well put together.
    I worked on the abstracts for the program. I also created Ben Ewing’s tribute. I was also tasked with stapling the mentor bios packet together.
    The only guest that was able to attend was my father. The next day my family had to leave at 4 am to go to my sister’s graduation in Pennsylvania, so unfortunately my mother could not attend. I also invited my mentor and one of his graduate students who worked on the project with me, but they were not in the area and consequently could not attend.
    N/A
    Overall, I really enjoyed the presentation. I found the keynote to be very interesting. The topic was novel. I liked how Dr. Bernstein walked the audience through his thought process when he explained the case study. He delivered the presentation at my level of understanding. Although I found the topic to be quite interesting, I wouldn’t be interested in conducting research in this field.
    I thought the quality and diversity of the presentations was adequate. I thought the presentations covered a wide array of sub-STEM fields. I thought it was a good idea to include RWDC in the presentation because it showed that engineering is a key component of STEM.
    One thing that I enjoyed the most about the symposium was the program. I thought the program was the best one yet. One thing that could have been improved was the amount of time in the cafeteria. I didn't have time to enjoy any pie from the pie table.
    I would rate this year’s symposium a 4.

    -Ryan Oleynik

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  41. Katie Meehan

    1. I believe that this symposium was the best symposium that I have been to. The food was great, the Keynote speaker was great, and the senior tributes (especially Rachel’s) were great.

    2. I helped with the student certificates, mentor certificates, mentor bios, and made Rachel’s Tribute with Anna.

    3. I invited my mother, grandmother and my mentor. They all came but my mentor could only stay for the first thirty minutes. All three of them really enjoyed it and were impressed by the work done by all of the people in the program.

    5. I thought that Prof. Bernstein’s presentation was very interesting and well presented. I understood it fairly well and found it intriguing, but I am not interested in pursuing research in that area.

    6. The student presentations were very interesting this year. I thought they were all presented very well and were entertaining. My only complaint was that some of the presentations ran a little long and caused there to be no time left for questions.

    7. The thing that I liked best this year was the keynote speaker, Prof. Bernstein. One improvement that I would make for next year would be to allow a little more time for the senior tributes, because creating a video showing how much you will miss someone in only a minute and a half is quite difficult.

    8. I would have to say that this symposium was a solid 4.7.

    ReplyDelete
  42. The symposium this year was just as wonderful and hilarious as the symposiums of the previous years. I think this year may have even been a little bit more special, because of the tributes and the fact that it was my last symposium.
    This year I mostly helped out with the mentor certificates, from working on and formatting the document to sorting the printed versions into individual envelopes. I also helped a little bit with the student certificate sorting and the mentor bio formatting and data input.
    Three of my guests were able to come! I invited my parents and brother, and they really liked the student, teacher, and keynote presentations. They were a little bit confused with the senior tributes and the enthusiastic emceeing, but that was to be expected. Overall, they enjoyed the symposium.
    N/A
    The keynote presentation was good for the most part. In the beginning when he was going over the scientific method and defining terms, it was a bit dull, especially because not a lot of the information was new to us as students in a science research program. But when he went over the murder case it was engaging, so that was nice! Also, it was all very easily comprehensible. It was interesting to have a forensic psychologist present to us, because the work they do is a different take on the lab work that we commonly think of in science research. But of course, I’m still planning on doing research in molecular biology.
    I think the student presentations all showcased a different topic, which made them interesting. I also think that the Real World Design Challenge presentation was good because it showed the teamwork that’s so integral in science research.
    This year I really liked the mingle time in the beginning, which was a bit surprising, because I was actually able to talk to several people about my project. (It’s amazing what can happen when you actually stand by your poster for a little bit :P) Also, Ms. Day’s tribute and the entirety of the emceeing was pretty great. I enjoyed the beginning of the keynote presentation the least, because it was boring.
    5!

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  43. This year’s symposium was just as good as the previous ones. Although, as a junior, I was much better friends with this year’s seniors which made it much more emotional. I helped with making the PowerPoint slide, brought grape juice, and three senior tributes. All of my guests were able to make the symposium. They all liked it very much. Out of all of them, my mom was very impressed and happy to come. I did attend the symposium. I did enjoy this presentation very much. I liked going through the process of finding who the killer was and how many different options there were. Also, the presentation was delivered on my comfort level. However, I would not pursue research in this area even though it is a very interesting topic. The diversity of the projects was very evident. Each project that was presented were from different categories and it was nice to hear other projects that the ones from class. Also, all the presentations were very polished and well-practiced. The best thing about the symposium was the senior tributes. One improvement would be to polish the large slideshow to make sure everything was perfect. I would rate this year’s symposium as a 4.

    Harika Lingareddy

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  44. 1. This symposium was definitely the best one yet. As a senior, it was a bittersweet experience. I will definitely miss my friends, the other students and especially Ms. Day.
    2. I helped design, create and organize the mentor certificates. I also helped design the gifts for our guest presenter and Dr. Britton.
    3. My parents and brother attended the symposium. They enjoyed watching the senior tributes and seeing all the other students’ projects
    4. I attended the symposium
    5. I thought Professor David Bernstein’s presentation was very interesting. I enjoyed learning about forensic psychology and particularly enjoyed going through the case study. I thought the presentation was delivered at my understanding/ability.
    6. I enjoyed watching the students’ presentations. The projects were all very different (by topic, execution and results). I always enjoy listening to all the students’ conclusions.
    7. The best part of the symposium was the senior tributes. It was very funny to watch mine and my classmates’. However, I would improve the length of the symposium. It was very long (6-9:30 pm).
    8. 5 (It was the best symposium yet!)

    Dana Chung

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  45. Owais Khan

    1) Clearly, this was the best symposium out of the four that I have been to. There’s honestly no comparison to be made. The emcees were fantastic, far better than any of years past. The senior tributes were superb, and I do believe that the best tribute to Ms. Day was produced this year. Furthermore, the symposium only went half an hour over the given time limit. I’m pretty sure that’s a record. Besides that, I’d like to reiterate the emcees’ contribution to making the symposium flow so well. Shout out to Ben Ewing: The man behind the music! You came in a little bit late at the beginning, but that only augmented the suspense, thus creating a more exciting mood.

    2) First of all, I spent thousands of minutes on the abstract committee with Daniel Giebisch and Teddy Hague. No matter how many times the abstracts were submitted, there just always seemed to be mistakes to be corrected… in probably 80% of the abstracts. No worries though, we pushed through. After that, I helped Arvene make the script as Emcee for the symposium. Finally, I created Ms. Day’s tribute with Victoria Liu and Arvene Golbazi. Just filming it took 5 hours, but the end product was well worth the work. Hope you enjoyed it :) It’s probably never going to be topped though.

    3) My entire family was able to come, though none of my mentors could. They all had a great time and were especially impressed with David’s and Haseeb’s tributes for Noah and Daniel.

    5) Overall, the presentation was informative and I think that his points on the importance of objectivity and deductive reasoning are excellent pieces of advice. I enjoyed the topic of forensic psychology and I believe that the presentation was delivered at a comfortable level. Professor Bernstein elaborated on his points well and his visuals were helpful. Though I find his area of expertise interesting, I probably won’t be pursuing research in this field just because of the fact that I’m more interested in STEM (ie. math & engineering).

    6) I thought that the presentations were of high quality, though I would have liked to have seen research done in physical sciences. I’m pretty sure that three of the presentations would have fallen under the life science category at the CT Science Fair. Furthermore, students should have prepared shorter versions of their presentations that were only in laymen’s terms. I don’t think it is especially important to get into technicalities at this symposium. It is more important to keep the audience engaged. Perhaps students could focus less on methods and more on implications? This way, the significance of scientific research could be addressed.

    7) There isn’t just one thing! If I had to pick the best aspect of the symposium, it’d be the Emcees of course. I’m especially delighted by the fact that I didn’t have to go around laughing like a maniac throughout the event (thanks Kristin btw). The Debbie-licious tribute comes in at a close second. Perhaps the symposium could be improved by lengthening it a bit? I’d rather not have it rushed again. No one ever got to ask questions.

    8) 5

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  46. 1. How did this symposium compare to others in the past? If this was your first Amity Science Symposium, was it what you expected? Explain.

    Positive experience, ran a lot more smoothly than previous symposiums. well done!

    2. What contribution did YOU make towards helping the symposium run smoothly (set up, planning, organizing, tributes, break down, program, certificates, food etc...).

    Abstracts and a bit with decorating

    3. How many guests (that you invited) were able to come and what was their impression?

    1, enjoyed it!

    4. If you did NOT attend the symposium, what did you do instead? Explain.

    5. Prof. David Bernstein discussed "The Importance of the Scientific Process in Forensic Psychology". What was your overall impression of the Keynote presentation? Did you enjoy the topic? Was it delivered at, above or below your understanding/ability or comfort level? Why or why not? Would you be interested in pursuing research in this area?

    Uninteresting and vaguely related to the Science Symposium.

    6. What did you think about the quality and diversity of student presentations and topics? Be specific.

    Both diverse and well done. Would hope that presentations were chosen strictly through the voting system put in place and trusted by all of those in Science Research as a fair way to chose presenters.

    7. List one thing you liked BEST about the symposium and one IMPROVEMENT that you would like to see for next year.

    Best: Tributes
    Improvement: Keynote

    8. On a scale of 0 (low) to 5 (high), rate this year's symposium.

    4
    Your BLOG post is due by the end of the first post-symposium class period.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Gabrielle Totten
    1.)This is my fourth (and last, sadly) symposium at Amity. As a senior, the symposium is a very special night to commemorate our efforts and achievements over our years in the program. After my first symposium freshman year, I was very eager to make it to my senior year so that I could have the “senior symposium experience”. I was definitely not let down. I may be biased, but I think this year’s symposium was one of the best yet. Despite going over time, the whole thing was planned extremely well and the senior tributes were great!

    2.)This year I worked on abstracts. I edited my classes abstracts and I made sure that everyone in the program had submitted one. I also helped to staple all of the programs and mentor recognition packets. Finally, I was in charge of the candy raffle. I counted the candy, provided the vase and tallied/ announced the winner.

    3.) I had three guests attend the symposium this year. They enjoyed all of the presentations and were extremely impressed at the level of work that we do in SRP. They also were enamoured by the friendly and funny we have created in the program.

    4.) N/A


    5.) I was able to attend Prof. Bernstein’s presentation at the Connecticut Psychological Association’s annual convention. In my opinion, that presentation was far more hard-hitting and enthralling. Among professionals, he was more uncensored and natural. That presentation also included more and further in depth case studies as well as real recordings from a boy that he worked with. The presentation he gave at the symposium was also extremely interesting, though. The work that he does is very cool. I would definitely pursue research in forensic psychology.


    6. )I enjoyed the diversity of the presentations. We were able to see research being done in health/medicine, psychology and engineering. I believe that this sample was an accurate representation of the program as a whole. Each student has a different interest than the next, thus yielding to very different research topics throughout the program as a whole. It also showed people that there is no one or right way to do research.

    7.) My favorite part of the symposium was my senior tribute, of course! Other than that, I just really enjoyed spending time with the whole program for one last time. The experience was very bitter-sweet. As for an improvement, the intermission probably could have been a little shorter.

    8.) 5. I think this symposium went very well. For the amount of seniors we had, it was a very good length. The emcees also did a really great job of keeping the mood fun, funny and light.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Victoria Liu
    It was just as thrilling as past year's, if not more. The decorating committee really killed the game this year! The photo booth was so innovative and a great touch, and the cafeteria overall looked fabulous. I feel like the symposium ended earlier than previous years, even though it still went over time. I think cutting down the presentation time was key this time. Plus the emcees were so enthusiastic and really pumped up the crowd to an extent we've never seen before!

    2. Mostly helped with the PowerPoint, and aided in writing the emcee script and mentor certificates.
    3. My mom came (my mentor was away in a different state), and she thought it was overall pleasant and enjoyable. She didn't think it was much different from past years, but she thought we were all "so cute".
    4. N/A
    5. I enjoyed his presentation. His profession is generally so intriguing and I liked how he broke down his process of scientific investigation for us, hopefully inspiring people to look more into his somewhat more obscure field. His enthusiasm was contagious, and was a pretty stellar presenter. His stories were fascinating and if I wasn't so freaked out by forensics and crime scenes, it's definitely something I'd look more into.
    6.I liked how each student presentation pretty much focused on a different area of interest. RWDC did very well for a team presentation, moving very fluidly. The five minutes time limit was pretty short (but also necessary even though some students went over time), but the students figured out how to condense their projects well to fit the time limit. They were all amazing in their own ways, but Helen Liu definitely stole the show because she's Helen :)
    7. I'd say the best thing about the symposium this year was the emcees as they made this symposium different from the rest, and how they made the progression of the event both smooth and entertaining at the same time. I liked the utilization of media (songs playing in background) and also how the senior tributes were all videos. However, next year, students should have the choice to do something else besides a video. Of course, time is a another issue so next year the symposium should aim to start at 6:30 on the dot and also have each speaker try to adhere to their time limits so much as possible.
    BUT STILL A FABULOUS SYMPOSIUM!!
    8. 4.5. -0.5 for the timing but everything else was great!! IM GOING TO MISS YOU ALL

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  49. Arvene Golbazi

    1. This symposium was a step above the rest, mainly beause Owais and I were running he show. I'd have to say it was a close tie with Andrew and Peter's although we probably would've edged out.

    2. Like I just said, I ran the show with Owais by introducing speakers, keeping the crowd awake, choosing fresh music to match Science Research's values, and making Ms. Day's kickin' tribute.

    3. None of my mentors said they could coe, but I mailed them their certificates. My parents and brother attended, and they said it was the single greatest event of their lives.

    4. Lol N/A

    5. I very much enjoyed the content of Prof. Bernstein's presentation, and thought that his case study presentation was superb and easy to understand. However, he was a little shaky in explaining topics thoroughly during his introduction, but he made up for it with the case study. I actually would like to try my hand at forensics in the future, seems like a fun and cheery field.

    6. I thought all of the student presentations were amazing, and I'm honestly not just saying that. Arpita's was very thorough, RWDC were a little shaky in presentation but the content was great, the sophomore presentation was very interesting, and Hannah Rappaport's impressed me the most because of presentation and quality of content.

    7. I liked the creative freedom that the MC's had best, and I think the area most needing of improvement was the length of speaker talks.

    8. I'd give it a solid 4.965934983248932049302423904823049823409823904.

    ReplyDelete
  50. 1. This symposium was similar to all the other symposiums that I had.
    2. I worked on the PowerPoint slides and abstract committee before the symposium happened.
    3. I invited all mentors I had across sophomore, junior, and senior year, but none of them could make it.
    4. N/A
    5. The presentation was very enjoyable. It was very easy to grasp, and his interaction with the audience helped keep everyone engaged.
    6. All the presentations went smoothly. They were diverse and high-quality.
    7. I liked the senior tributes the best (totally not any bias).
    8. 4.5


    Joseph Neumann

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  51. 1. The symposium, like those of the past, was amazing. It was fun and entertaining. Furthermore the guest speaker was very informative and fun to listen to.
    2. I helped with the mentor bios and food.
    3. Two of the guests I invited were able to attend. They both loved the senior tributes.
    4. I did attend.
    5. I enjoyed his presentation. I really think forensic psychology is important and interesting. I wanted to go into this field and wouldn’t mind doing so, but I am unsure of my future as of now. What he was presenting was at my comfort zone and understanding, mostly.
    6. I thought that the projects were diverse in that one was a group project and others were single. I don’t specifically remember each presentation but I do remember that each person had a different presentation style yet all of them were interesting and flowed well. Not only that I remember the topics being very diverse…from genetics to engineering.
    7. I loved the senior tributes. Something to work on for next year would be the presentation errors in the PowerPoint—though it was very minor and easily looked over.

    Vimratha Teepireddy

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  52. 1. How did this symposium compare to others in the past? If this was your first Amity Science Symposium, was it what you expected? Explain.
    It was a little longer than ones in the past. I missed most of it so I can’t say much.

    2. What contribution did YOU make towards helping the symposium run smoothly (set up, planning, organizing, tributes, break down, program, certificates, food etc...).
    I helped with creating the programs and pie tables.
    3. How many guests (that you invited) were able to come and what was their impression?
    I invited 2 and 2 came.
    4. If you did NOT attend the symposium, what did you do instead? Explain.
    5. Prof. David Bernstein discussed "The Importance of the Scientific Process in Forensic Psychology". What was your overall impression of the Keynote presentation? Did you enjoy the topic? Was it delivered at, above or below your understanding/ability or comfort level? Why or why not? Would you be interested in pursuing research in this area?
    I missed this part of the symposium.
    6. What did you think about the quality and diversity of student presentations and topics? Be specific.
    It was very diverse in that their were project from many different fields and not the same people presented every year.
    7. List one thing you liked BEST about the symposium and one IMPROVEMENT that you would like to see for next year.
    It was nice to have it on a friday, but it would have been better if it was right after school.
    8. On a scale of 0 (low) to 5 (high), rate this year's symposium.
    Your BLOG post is due by the end of the first post-symposium class period.
    3

    ReplyDelete
  53. 1. How did this symposium compare to others in the past? If this was your first Amity Science Symposium, was it what you expected? I felt as though this year's symposium was better than all of the ones I had been to before. I loved the decorations and the speaker was quite interesting. Also, it was nice to finally have my own senior tribute.
    2. What contribution did YOU make towards helping the symposium run smoothly (set up, planning, organizing, tributes, break down, program, certificates, food etc...) - This year I headed the decorations committee. Mainly this meant I picked out most of the decorations and planned how the event was going to look including color scheme, etc. I also organized the set-up of the symposium in terms of table organization and decoration placement, in addition to running the piñata event.
    3. How many guests (that you invited) were able to come and what was their impression? I was able to get 5 guests to come including my mother father and 3 friends of mine. While they had all been to a symposium before they found this one especially charming and loved to see my own tribute!
    4. If you did NOT attend the symposium, what did you do instead? Explain. - n/a
    5. Prof. David Bernstein discussed "The Importance of the Scientific Process in Forensic Psychology". What was your overall impression of the Keynote presentation? Did you enjoy the topic? Was it delivered at, above or below your understanding/ability or comfort level? Why or why not? Would you be interested in pursuing research in this area? - I had seen many similar presentations on forensics but Dr. Bernstein shed a new interesting light on the subject and provided a wholesome keynote to top of the already spectacular symposium. I do not see myself pursuing a career in that field but the research was interesting in itself.
    6. What did you think about the quality and diversity of student presentations and topics? Be specific. - I thought that this year we had a great representation of student research in a plethora of areas. I found the first-year research, while in prior years lacked some depth, was quite thorough this year. I also believe we completed a variety of projects this year that we were genuinely interested in and passionate about as student researchers and not simply stuck on.
    7. List one thing you liked BEST about the symposium and one IMPROVEMENT that you would like to see for next year. I enjoyed the senior tributes most, and I would like to see improvement in the piñata portion of the symposium.
    8. On a scale of 0 (low) to 5 (high), rate this year's symposium. - 5!

    ReplyDelete
  54. Jacob Gibbons-Morales
    1. This symposium was slightly better than those in the past. First off it didn’t drag on and go way over time, which was nice. Also this being my senior symposium, the tributes were even more enjoyable as they were for people I knew very well and myself.
    2. My main role was the head of the pie day table decorations for my class. Not only did I make many by myself I also made sure the other people in the committee also made theirs. I also, of course, brought food as everyone does.
    3. Of the guest I invited only 2 were able to make it and they were both enjoyed it. They too enjoyed the fact that it ran semi-on time and enjoyed the senior tributes more as they actually knew some of the kids.
    5. I thought his topic was interesting, but his presentation was not great. He was very repetitive and at times not the most engaging of presenters. I did enjoy the topic and it was easy to understand; however, I would not be interested in pursuing this field.
    6. I think the quality and diversity of the student presenters was good. It was nice that we had presenters from many fields. We had Sikorsky and RWDC from the engineering field, Julia from the technology field, and Victoria from the medical field. All presenters were amazing and had great in-depth projects.
    7. I liked the senior tributes the most, for the seniors and Mrs. Day. For improvements I would cut out more sections to save time. Putting a greater limit on the guest presenter and possibly cutting the amount of student presenters would make it quicker.
    8. I would rate the symposium 4.611156101565156815.

    ReplyDelete
  55. The first segment that interested me was the section regarding depression and how the twin sisters had different emotions and psychology despite their similar genetics. This part interested me the most since it provided evidence to the debate nature versus nurture. The sisters have almost identical genetics whilst one sister remained happy and the other sister became depressed. This shows that the experiences one sister had must have been different than the other sister to affect their psychology in such different ways. This also brings up the question on to what effect does one’s childhood shape their social behaviour and emotions? Since the experiences in addition to the twin’s genetics should be close, that means one crucial moment shaped the depressed sister’s chemistry. Also, I found it interesting how medicines can fix depression. Additionally, it was interesting how the sister was able to use electroconvulsive therapy to fix her depression.
    The second segment that interested me was the part regarding fear. I thought it was interesting how medical professionals treat people who have phobias. I relate to the woman who has the irrational fear of flying since I have an irrational fear of insects. I also agree with the movie how humans can be very rational but once emotions take effect over our bodies they take control and are able to sway our rational. Also, the thought of facing one’s fears as a means of therapy must be very difficult for the patient since fear is an overwhelming emotion. One’s body is put into survival instincts and a person is degraded to their primal sense to survive. A person uses fear as a defense mechanism. To control that fear and to control instincts will take a lot of will power and scientific advancement to understand the chemical processes that occur when one feels fear.

    ReplyDelete