  The Explorations in Statistics Research workshop is a one-week NSF-funded
summer program that introduces undergraduate students to current research
problems in applied statistics. The goal of the workshop is to expose students
to exciting, modern applied statistical research and practice, with the
ultimate aim of interesting them in seeking more training in statistics at the
undergraduate and graduate levels. The program is explicitly designed to engage
students in the connections between authentic domain problems and the
statistical ideas and approaches needed to address these problems, which is an
important aspect of statistical thinking that is difficult to teach and
sometimes lacking in our methodological courses and programs. Over the past
nine years, we ran the workshop six times and a similar program in the sciences
two times. We describe the program, summarize feedback from participants, and
identify the key features to its success. We abstract these features and
provide a set of recommendations for how faculty can incorporate important
elements into their regular courses.
