October 14, 2021

Laguna Beach High School Authentic Exploratory Research Program Students Present Their Project Proposals

Laguna Beach High School’s Authentic Exploratory Research (AER) Program students presented their project proposals during a special class session on October 13, 2021. Teachers and students of the Palo Alto USD’s Advanced Authentic Research (AAR) program and their mentors were invited to join the special class via Zoom to collaborate and offer feedback. Attendees in the hybrid meeting included mentors, AER parents, Superintendent Viloria, and a handful of District staff.

LBHS’s AER students gave a two-minute elevator pitch of their projects. This unique opportunity allowed the students to give feedback to their fellow researchers and celebrate their accomplishments so far, now that their research questions have been solidified. Our students received valuable feedback from attendees both virtually and in person that will help them streamline their research as they gather both qualitative and quantitative data.

Throughout their experience in the AER program, students will learn essential academic skills in preparation for post-secondary education, such as research, argumentation, and critical thinking; as well as life and career skills, such as time management, communication, professionalism, and organization.

One of the AER students, Abby Roedersheimer, presented two questions she will be researching: 1) Which topics and forms of news stories create a political divide in America and why? 2) How does the polarization caused by these stories affect political elections and elected officials’ votes? “I was really excited to present my questions,” exclaimed Abby. “Hopefully my study will be able to help reunite the country again and bring trust back into the media.”

“I am delightfully in awe of the students and the way they all put a piece of themselves into their projects.” shared LBHS AER Teacher, Jun Shen.

“Gallup has done studies and found six factors for success in students.  In designing this class, we have all six factors incorporated into the experience. One of the key factors is having an experienced mentor. I believe this class truly prepares our students for college and career in a way that we haven’t seen before. We are excited about adding AER concepts into other classrooms,” explained Chief Technology Officer, Michael Morrison.

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