Undergraduate research has become an essential mode of engaging and retaining students in physics. At Loyola University Chicago, first-year physics students have been participating in the Freshman Projects program for over twenty years, which has coincided with a period of significant growth for our department. In this paper, we describe how the Freshman Projects program has played an important role in advancing undergraduate research at Loyola and the profound impact it has made on our program. We conclude with suggestions for adoption of similar programs at other institutions.

1.
L.
Guterman
, “
What good is undergraduate research, anyway?
,”
Chron. Higher Educ.
53
(
50
),
A12
(
2007
).
2.
M.
Graham
,
J.
Frederick
,
A.
Byars-Winston
,
A.
Hunter
, and
J.
Handelsman
, “
Increasing persistence of college students in STEM
,”
Science
341
(
6153
),
1455
1456
(
2013
) http://www.chronicle.com/article/What-Good-Is-Undergraduate/6927.
3.
R. C.
Hilborn
,
R. H.
Howes
, and
K. S.
Krane
, “
Strategic programs for innovations in undergraduate physics: Project report
,
2003
” <https://www.aapt.org/Programs/projects/spinup/upload/SPIN-UP-Final-Report.pdf>.
4.
P.
Heron
and
L.
McNeil
, “
Phys 21: Preparing physics students for 21st-century careers. A report by the Joint Task Force on Undergraduate Physics Programs
,
2016
” <https://www.compadre.org/JTUPP/docs/J-Tupp_Report.pdf>.
5.
L.
McNeil
and
P.
Heron
, “
Preparing physics students for 21st-century careers
,”
Phys. Today
70
(
11
),
38
43
(
2017
).
6.
A.
Gangopadhyaya
, “
Undergraduate research—What is it
?,” in Proceedings of the World Conference on Physics Education, 2012,
Ankara
,
Turkey
,
2014
, pp.
753
762
.
7.
R.
Feynman
, “
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!”: Adventures of a Curious Character
(
Norton
,
NY
,
1985
), pp.
63
65
.
8.
For more information about the current status of the Freshman Project Program, please see the department website
<https://www.luc.edu/physics/freshman_project.shtml>.
9.
J. M.
Osborn
and
K. K.
Karukstis
, “
The benefits of undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity
,” in
Broadening Participation in Undergraduate Research: Fostering Excellence and Enhancing the Impact
(
Council on Undergraduate Research
,
Washington, DC
,
2009
), pp.
41
53
.
10.
S.
Kapos
, “
More than just an
experiment, Chicago Tribune, 2005
,” <https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2005-02-09-0502090069-story.html>.
11.
G.
Ramsey
,
C.
Banaszak
, and
J.
Wiseman
, “
The harmonica as a blues instrument
,”
Proc. Meet. Acoust.
18
,
035003
(
2012
).
12.
J.
Wiseman
,
C.
Banaszak
, and
G.
Ramsey
, “
The harmonica as a blues instrument: Part II
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
132
(
3
),
1990
(
2012
).
13.
K.
Pomian
, “
A cross correlation of stringed instruments
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
135
(
4
),
2184
(
2014
).
14.
G. P.
Ramsey
and
K.
Pomian
, “
Correlating properties of stringed instruments
,”
Proc. Meet. Acoust.
21
(
1
),
035006
(
2014
).
15.
B.
Irvine
,
M.
Kemnetz
,
A.
Gangopahdhyaya
, and
T.
Ruubel
, “
Magnet traveling through a conducting pipe: A variation on the analytical approach
,”
Am. J. Phys.
82
,
273
279
(
2014
).
16.
R.
Polak
,
A. J.
Cua
,
D. J.
Perez
,
M. Q.
Robertson
,
J. A.
Stuck
, and
J. M.
Thomas
, “
Low-cost student experiments in optics
,”
Phys. Teach.
52
(
7
),
442
443
(
2014
).
17.
R. D.
Polak
,
N.
Fudala
,
J. T.
Rothchild
,
S. E.
Weiss
, and
M.
Zelek
, “
Easily accessible experiments demonstrating interference
,”
Phys. Teach.
54
(
2
),
120
121
(
2016
).
18.
R. D.
Polak
,
A.
Kumar
, and
M.
Schmidt
, “
A practical lesson in polarization optics: Creating a 3D image using a liquid crystal cell
,”
Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst.
646
(
1
),
132
141
(
2017
).
19.
R. D.
Polak
,
A. R. V.
Davenport
,
A.
Fischer
, and
J.
Rafferty
, “
Determining Young's modulus by measuring guitar string frequency
,”
Phys. Teach.
56
(
2
),
122
123
(
2018
).
20.
R.
Polak
,
V.
Acuesta
,
J.
Cirone
,
M. B.
Conway
,
J.
Summers
, and
L.
Tinawi
, “
Mario Kart 8: A case study in total internal reflection
,”
Phys. Teach.
56
,
566
567
(
2018
).
21.
S.
Moses
,
N. Y.
Butler
,
D.
Zavala
, and
S.
Jaradat
, “
The nanobiophotonics of gold nanoparticles and Allium cepa and its symbiotic effect on Escherichia coli
,”
J. Bionanosci.
12
(
3
),
442
445
(
2018
).
22.
P. H.
Phelps
, “
Five fundamentals of faculty development
, Faculty Focus,
2016
,” <https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/faculty-development/five-fundamentals-faculty-development/>.
23.
Graduation data taken from Physics Department records prior to the 2005–2006 Academic Year and from Loyola University records from the
2005–2006 Academic Year to the present.
24.
P. J.
Mulvey
and
S.
Nicholson
, “
Physics bachelor's degrees: Results from the 2010 survey of enrollments and degrees
,
2012
,” <https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/statistics/undergrad/bachdegrees-p-10.pdf>.
AAPT members receive access to the American Journal of Physics and The Physics Teacher as a member benefit. To learn more about this member benefit and becoming an AAPT member, visit the Joining AAPT page.