Among the growing field of experiential learning opportunities provided by the University of the Fraser Valley on and off campus, undergraduate research plays an important role.
On Saturday, May 27, UFV economics students Ben Duncan, Gurpreet Jaswal, and Dayton Marks, supported by their instructor, Bosu Seo, took part in the research showcase competition organized by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. This exciting event in Vancouver was the culminating point of the “Asia Connect Student Working Groups” initiative, and brought together students from several BC post-secondary institutions, including UFV, UBC, SFU and TRU.
Student groups were expected to complete a 20-week long research project on some of the most relevant and timely topics concerning the Asia-Pacific region, investigate the linkages between Asia and Canada, and Asia and British Columbia and examine the contribution that Canadian youth does or could make in finding solutions to existing problems. Thus, the Foundation’s focus was to provide an opportunity for the students to engage in academic research as well as immerse them into developing policy recommendations, and honing skills to present to a popular audience with confidence and style. Students were given several general themes to choose their topics from. UFV’s team focused on the subject of immigration and delivered an engaging talk on “Immigration in ASEAN: A Policy Brief.” It was great to see how Ben, Gurpreet, and Dayton combined the skills and knowledge they gained through their classroom experience at UFV with the competition’s requirements. The judges noted originality and high research competency of the UFV team, as well as their professionalism in delivering rather complex content. This experience will certainly build not only our students’ skill set, but also their resumes.
Through participation of our students, organized by Larissa Horne, UFV’s Experiential Education Coordinator, in the Asia Connect Student Working Groups, UFV is continuing to build an exciting and productive partnership with the APF Canada, sharing ideas and collaborating on projects in education innovation. New initiatives in experiential education will be advertised on campus as they become available.