In This Class, the Professor Taps Undergrads to Conduct Research

Rutgers University-New Brunswick undergraduate students in Yanhong Jin’s elective class, “Food, Nutrition, and Health,” find themselves becoming researchers – some of whom may get their work published. 

Jin, a professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, provides her students an uncommon opportunity to conduct research as undergrads.

The professor said students in her class come up with the research topics and then follow through with developing survey questions, gathering data and analyzing the results.

I understand how research can empower students through critical thinking, through data analytics, through presentation of findings and also through individual independent research as well as team collaboration.

Yanhong Jin

Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics

Jin said she has two requirements for pitched projects: first, the topic that students choose must be relevant to the class; second, the topic must be relevant to their daily life, “something they care about.”

Every semester, she also has an information sheet for her students to complete.  
 
“I want to see what they are lacking, what they are looking for and what they are interested in,” Jin said. “I find out that most of the students do not have analytical skills and they do not have experience with research as an undergraduate student.”

Jin said she also recognized that teaching and research can be integrated in undergraduate classrooms to reflect the emphasis on undergraduate success in Rutgers Academic Master Plan.  
 
She added, “Because I spent my whole life doing research, I understand how research can empower students through critical thinking, through data analytics, through presentation of findings and also through individual independent research as well as team collaboration. And I think this is a great way for them to be engaged and to learn those skill sets which are required by the industry.”

For the fall semester, students in Jin’s course have been involved in two research projects: One is focused on analyzing healthy eating behaviors among college students; the other targets food waste by students in college dining halls.  
 
Formed into teams, the students develop survey questions for their research topic to be presented in a smartphone app. Participants of the surveys respond to these questions on their phones. 

Two undergraduate students, Jacqueline Skunakis and Jess Dugo, are working together on food-waste research. Those involved in that project are making final revisions to their survey and preparing to connect with students in the dining halls by posting flyers with a QR code outside the halls as well as asking them in person in the dining areas. 
 
Skunakis, of Marlboro Township, N.J., said she appreciates learning how to conduct research as well as the connections that are forged in the research realm. 

“I think it’s a great opportunity, actually,” said Skunakis, a senior who plans on graduating in January with a bachelor’s degree in nutritional sciences with a concentration in food administration from the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.

To conduct research at an undergraduate level, “it's definitely something, especially being a senior,” said Skunakis, who was accepted into the Global Sports Business master of science degree program at Rutgers. 
 
“It's a great way to end my undergrad career here at Rutgers,” added Skunakis, who aims to work in the sports-management field. “For someone who's never done research before in the field, I think that's pretty great.” 

“I've had her for three classes so far, and she always starts all our classes with information about how to get involved in research – and I really appreciate that,” said Dugo, a junior who is majoring in environmental and business economics with a concentration in food industry economics and a minor in sustainability.

Dugo, who seeks an internship related to research and analytics – “something along those lines or sustainability” – said she appreciated Jin not only encouraging undergraduate students to get involved in research, but for showing them how to do it.  
 
“I'm able to form more research connections, which is going to help me in the future,” the Lower Moreland Township, Pa., resident said. 
 
Undergraduates who take Jin’s course may have another rare opportunity: presenting their research findings at professional meetings and having their research published in an academic journal. 

In 2018, a team of four undergraduate students presented their project, titled “Understanding the Implications of New Meat and Meat Substitute Technologies on Consumer Decision Making,” at the 22nd International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research conference at the World Bank.

Moreover, Jin recently submitted a research paper based on a team project conducted in 2022 by undergraduate students. The study was published in Applied Economics Teaching Resources, a peer-reviewed journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, with the students involved in the research listed as coauthors.

“I have been doing the research project for many years, and we were able to publish this paper with students,” said Jin.

The professor also has accepted students for research through an Aresty Research Center program.

One Aresty student, Moustafa Basiony, a 2024 graduate, presented his research at a national conference in May. Jin said Basiony, whose paper is under review, asked faculty to give undergraduates more research opportunities as a panelist in a panel discussion titled “Engaging Undergraduate Students in Research: Form Cross-Discipline Programs to Published Articles” organized by Jin at the 2024 Rutgers Active Learning Symposium.

Jin added that her undergraduate students must receive the required certification for research involving human subjects.

It’s something they can put on their resumes and “it can also make them outstanding in the job market as an undergraduate student,” the professor said.