Student research provides a leg up

Applied research arms grads with valuable skills, experience

 By MATEO MUEGO

Research assistant Max

Besarab says that the experience gained working on projects, eventually showcased at Applied Research Day, gives students an advantage in the job market.

“The students who don’t have a diploma but worked in a lab will probably be prioritized,” said Besarab.

Max Besarab says he’s worked with his research team to collect, dry and analyze a new variety of feral hops.

“We’re focusing on comparing two methodologies right now, it’s like a solvent extraction, steam distillation,” said Besarab.

The applied research centre (ARC) funds research projects involving both students and instructors. These projects allow students to learn the process of scientific research while still attending classes.

Every semester the ARC has between 35 to 45 students involved in research projects.

There are four to six students in a group, each of whom are assigned a unique role. Students involved at the centre spend between two and seven hours a day working on their research projects while balancing their course load.

Besarab said working with Langara’s ARC puts students in a unique position for employment opportunities.

“It teaches you practical skills and ethics of the research, which will be beneficial if someone will continue into third or fourth year or into masters and doing their own projects. And it gives insights into how the labs work,” he said.

Besarab said he has seen students get hired soon after working on research projects in the ARC because they have more practical experience in comparison to the average student.

Lydia Chau, a data analyst student, said learning these skills will prepare her for the future.

Although Chau says the subject of her project isn’t her chosen field, she says the opportunity has given her “good experience.”

Chau’s project, which focuses on helping Langara’s sustainability by creating a new system to identify types of waste and recycling, is an example of how a student can gain practical experience while benefiting the school.

“I would say it’s fun,” said Chau, adding, “And also it’s more related to our daily life.”

Kelly Sveinson, the director of ARC, said the work of students shouldn’t be underestimated.

“The work that [students] are doing has direct relevance to the community, the work that they do is real,” he said.

Sveinson said that the instructors have seen many students hired for jobs within their field of interest after graduation.

“Students are really keen on just developing their skills in the area that they’re interested in pursuing,” he said. “This helps students, once they get out of school, have kind of a network already or business experience.” care workers in B.C.

The Applied Research Day will take place March 23 in the A Building foyer and will involve 25 different presenters showcasing their ongoing research projects.

The eight hour online course module teaches students how to anticipate and de-escalate potentially violent situations in the workplace.

Hazel Tan, a first year Langara nursing student from the Philippines, said the violence prevention course is important to learn to prepare students how to reduce workplace violence.

“I am afraid that some patients or even worse, workmates, will bully me when I get into the workforce,” she said.

Tan said that other nurses in the program who are new to Canada think the violence prevention course will help them gain a better understanding of dealing with patient violence.

Jennie Takata, a third-year Langara nursing student, said the violence prevention course teaches students to use situational awareness in order to deal with certain dynamics between nurses and patients that indicate if a patient is getting agitated or upset.

“Like, do I have a safe exit to the room? Is there anything they could throw at me? Is there anything around my neck that they could grab?”

Takata said these are all things nurses learn to think about when learning with the violence prevention course.

Syme said by using the skills taught in the violence prevention course, students learn to be aware of the risks of a violent situation by studying how to anticipate violence and how to protect themselves through cues.

Syme said reminding students they are stepping into people’s space when caring for them is key.

“Understanding the relationship you have with the people that you work with, in all the ways,” Syme said.

During clinical experience learning, students learn in a small class size setting which allows instructors to have intensive oversight over their students’ learning, said Syme.

Once their training on nurse violence during their clinical experience is done for the day, students come together for a debriefing session. In these sessions, there is also a student mentor assigned to each group that can assist with any student inquiries.

“We’re very careful, particularly with first term students, we don’t want them coming into nursing with this sort of sense that they need to have self-defense skills,” she said.