Inquiry-Based Showcase Features Freshman Best at Franklin Pierce University

Rindge, New Hampshire – Franklin Pierce University held an Inquiry-Based Showcase and Awards Ceremony on Dec. 3 on the Rindge campus, which highlighted a diverse array of research projects. The Showcase was the culmination of the semester’s class work done by close to 600 students, mostly freshmen, who participated in the First-Year Inquiry class, an integral part of the University’s new General & Liberal Education curriculum.

Thirty sections of the First-Year Inquiry class were taught by 26 faculty members with as many different themes. A unifying element of the First-Year Inquiry class is that students in all sections share an assignment designed to utilize a well-defined inquiry process leading to research findings on a subject of their own choosing; the research findings are then delineated in a poster and presentation format. The students who produced the top 58 posters/presentations were selected to participate in the First Annual Inquiry-Based Showcase.

The Inquiry-Based Showcase allowed those attending the event to engage with each of the selected students about their chosen subject matter on a one-to-one basis, as they stood ready to expound on the findings represented on their respective posters. An Awards Ceremony followed, during which President James
Birge offered a welcome and congratulatory remarks, and Provost Kim Mooney encouraged the students to “embrace assignments that require inquiry and research as an invitation to scholarship in order to make a contribution to a body of knowledge.”

Dr. Lynn Chandler, coordinator of the First-Year Inquiry courses, extolled all students who had been chosen to participate in the Showcase for their exemplary work and regretted that only five could be awarded “Follett Awards for Inquiry-Based Research.” Award winners were then announced and each was presented with a $200 book award by Dean Kerry McKeever and Dr. Gerald Burns, division chair of General & Liberal Education.

The five award winners and their respective research topics were:
Kyle McAnallen, “Why Do People Have Different Views on the Environment?”
Maria Ganio, “Childhood Memoires Become Best-Selling Novels”
Danielle Turcotte, “Hope, Pain, Work and Freedom through Song”
Max Fanwick, “Super Wednesday: Revamping the Presidential Process”
JoBeth Weinreich, “How Has the U.S. Government’s Policy toward Native Americans Negatively Affected their Lives Today?”

All were congratulated for their intellectual accomplishments.

Photo caption: Dr. James Birge discusses freshman Kyle McAnallen’s research findings.

Franklin Pierce University is a regionally accredited university grounded in the liberal arts, with a focus on personal attention and high-quality instruction. The University consists of the College at Rindge and the College of Graduate & Professional Studies with locations in Arizona and throughout New Hampshire. Degrees are offered through the doctoral level. The institutional mission embraces an education that matters: one that achieves academic success through the integration of liberal arts and professional programs. Our community of educators and learners creates an environment that fosters intellectual curiosity and encourages experiential and applied learning. A Franklin Pierce experience enables each student to discover and fulfill his or her own unique potential. We prepare students to become confident, knowledgeable individuals and leaders of conscience.

Franklin Pierce University, 40 University Dr., Rindge, NH 03461, (603) 899-4000, www.franklinpierce.edu