Resulting Projects and Research

The Forensic Investigation course has become one of the most popular courses offered at our University. Almost unfortunately, this class fills on the first day of registration. Students comment favorably on the use of demos and the PRS often claiming the class always kept their attention. Based on the success of this class, SOU is now offering two additional Synthesis and Application classes offered around a forensics based theme: a Computer Forensics class (CS 346) and a Criminal Investigations course in our Criminology Department (Cr 407). The first allows basic principles of computer science to be introduced as students learn about cyber crime, the fastest growing category of crime in the U.S. The second teaches students the introductory aspects of criminology including scene preservation and detective work through a crime-based class.

It can be hoped that other instructors at SOU will look at Forensic Investigation as a model course for capturing student attention. The students who have taken Forensics become the biggest advocates for the class. It is satisfying that these students recommend the class not only for what the course teaches, but also they way in which the course is taught.

Addendum to Forensic Investigation

The most recent change to the course involves forensics students designing and implementing plans through which they help lessen crime in Southern Oregon community. This is an assignment that students work on in teams and have the entire term to complete. Students have worked with local police departments, helped organize neighborhood watches, and printed literature for parents on keeping kids safe (from strangers, drugs, alcohol, etc). They are charged with designing a plan to make a difference in the community, implementing the plan, and summarizing their idea in a written paper where they discuss strengths and weaknesses of their idea and can offer a budget for continued success.

In the summer and fall of 2005, select members of the class have volunteered with the Tommy Foundation (local chapter of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children). These students have helped fingerprint children in the community at the parent's request using digital software. The students also help make parents aware of what to do if a child should go missing including distribution of packets of literature, educating people on the Amber Alert system, and handing out kits designed to help parents save children's DNA for comparison to evidence. Our next event is Saturday, August 6, at Hawthorne Park in Medford, OR, and is co-sponsored by a local television station and the Tommy Foundation.