Eastern will host the first undergraduate research fair for education in the Midwest tonight in Buzzard auditorium.

Beginning at 6 p.m., nine education students will present research papers from their philosophy and history of education courses. Six judges will choose four students to move ahead and present their papers to the Midwest Philosophy of Education Society Nov. 11 at the National-Louis University in Chicago.

“Let’s show the world what we’re doing,” said Gus Albear, assistant professor for the secondary education and foundations department and project director of the fair.

This is the first time this type of education research fair has been held at Eastern and at a Midwest university for that matter, Albear said.

“We’re seeing that we are leading the way in a sense,” he said.

Along with presenting four research papers at the Midwest Philosophy of Education Society conference, Eastern has also been asked to host a panel discussion about undergraduate research fairs in education because of the school’s experience.

“(Education students) should have a venue available to demonstrate the type of research they’re doing,” Albear said. “We have undergraduate research at Eastern, but most of it has been focused on the sciences.”

But research is needed to expand any field of learning.

“There’s not a discipline that will grow without research,” Albear said. “We want students to critically look at the field and come up with their own ideas in this complex job we have to do.”

The research fair is mainly based in the department of secondary education and foundations, but Albear hopes it will expand to the other eight departments of the School of Education with future fairs.

“This event will allow students to see what their peers are studying and they might decide to pursue a similar research topic,” said Diane Jackman, dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies.

Presentations will take place in two segments at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The music department will perform and the fair will end with poster sessions and refreshments.