How to Do Research in High School
Many students want to participate in a research project or conduct independent research in high school, but have no idea where to start. Impactful high school research not only looks good on college applications, but can open up other opportunities and allow students to look in depth on a topic they are interested in. Students can build soft and hard skills and experience professional development. All of this sounds great, but how do you get started? Well, there are different types of research that a high school student can perform, below are some examples.
Independent Research for High School Students
Independent research is one way to develop soft and hard skills and have research published in your name. This can not only develop your professional skills, but also help in college applications, as if your research gets published by a reputable journal, your work gains credibility and so does your name.
At Inspirit AI, we work closely with high school students to develop their own independent research projects in our AI + X Mentorship Program. You can learn more here.
STEPS TO CONDUCT INDEPENDENT RESEARCH
Choose an area of interest, then a specific topic
Let’s say you want to conduct research regarding Computer Science. Well, now you have to pick a specific topic in the field. Focusing in more, let’s say you wanted to conduct research on healthcare and how CS can be used to improve healthcare
Figure out what type of research you want to conduct
There are many different types of research and you should figure out what type you wish to conduct. For example, do you do an analysis of a current system or a past project, or an experiment to try and create something new. You could also do different types of studies or apply the scientific method to a problem. You should figure out what type of research you want to do, so that way you know what steps to take next.
Read Publications
To develop a strong understanding of the topic you have chosen, you must read publications from earlier researchers. Usually, you can find specific research journals that focus on the area of interest that you have chosen, but starting on Google Scholar is never a bad idea. When reading these publications, keep in mind what you want to replicate, and what you think can be improved to yield better results.
Find a Mentor
Finding a mentor is always a good idea, and a lot easier than some people think. You don’t have to cold email or join a program. You might be able to find a mentor at your school. Continuing off the assumption that your research is related to CS, you can ask your CS teacher to be your mentor, and if they are uncertain, let them know that it won’t be much work. The purpose of a mentor is not to do the project for you, but to steer you in the right direction and help when you get stuck.
Do the Research
Obviously, there comes a time when you have to do the research. When you are making a research question or forming a hypothesis, think about what you wanted to improve from Step 3. You should also consider why this research matters and who it would make an impact on. Usually, research contains an Abstract, Introduction, Background, Conclusion, Acknowledgements(usually to the mentor), and References. Between the Background and Conclusion steps, you will have different headings based on what type of research you are conducting. Again, continuing with the assumption you are conducting research on CS and healthcare, this could be a Dataset heading detailing what data you have chosen and then a Methodology heading detailing the process you went through to make
Share the Results
Once you have completed you research project, you can try to have it published in a journal, though you may have to change some aspects of it. Different journals have different formats that they would prefer their published research to be in, so consult the website before sending in a submission. You will likely have to do some editing as well after the proofreaders for the journal look over your paper. You could also enter your research into competitions or conferences. This could be locally, or at a large stage, like ISEF.
Other Types of Research for High School Students
RESEARCH WITH A COLLEGE PROFESSOR
Research with a college professor can develop the same skills as independent research, and also looks good on college applications. Though with limited programs to partake in research with a college professor, cold emailing is often the best chance, which makes starting this research harder. However, if you do get the chance to partake in research with a college professor and do well, they might invite you to continue research with them for longer or in the future and if asked, might be willing to write a recommendation letter.
RESEARCH WITH A MENTOR
Research with a mentor can provide the opportunity to gain skills and develop your resume. Since your work will be checked by a mentor and your information will be accurate, you have greater chances of being published in research journals and gaining credibility. One such program that provides this opportunity is Inspirit AI’s 1:1 Research Mentorship program, which allows students to work with a graduate from Stanford, MIT, and other top colleges to combine Computer Science/Machine Learning with a topic of their choosing. Further information can be found here: https://www.inspiritai.com/returning-students
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are different types of research that you can engage in and different methods to go about them. However, there are some important things to keep in mind before you head off to start your research project. First of all, only conduct research on a topic you are personally interested in. Don’t conduct research because you think a college admissions officer will find it interesting. Also, be sure to make a timeline of when you want to complete each of the steps by, research is a time consuming process, and setting deadlines for yourself makes it so you hold yourself accountable and get work done in a timely manner. Finally, make sure that you are having fun! You get your best work done when you are interested and engaged, so make sure that it stays that way, and that you are learning while you do this research.
About Inspirit AI
AI Scholars Live Online is a 10 session (25-hour) program that exposes high school students to fundamental AI concepts and guides them to build a socially impactful project. Taught by our team of graduate students from Stanford, MIT, and more, students receive a personalized learning experience in small groups with a student-teacher ratio of 5:1.
