Between 3 and 5 p.m. on May 8, the sound of a chattering crowd could be heard down the hallway outside the SF State gymnasium. Inside, walking space was at a minimum due to the large number of metal easels. People weaved in and around the easels checking out the many projects on display at The Graduate Research and Creative Works Showcase of 2008.

This annual event gives graduate students at SF State the chance to show off their hard work to students, faculty and graduate school recruiters.

“It’s a terrific event. We really enjoy coming because students are so focused on their research. We usually get some good applicants coming out of the event every year,” said Daniel Bennett, assistant dean of graduate admissions at UCLA. Representatives from several other graduate schools had tables at the event including UCSF and UC Berkeley.

Displayed work came from departments across campus and covered topics ranging from the effect of a defendant’s facial expression on a jury to a hand made wood bench. The benches back was comprised of 24 wood tiles hand-carved by high-school students from San Francisco’s Thurgood Marshall High School.

“It was a community project within the Design and Industry Department for a Foundation called IDO,” said Holly Burton, one of the projects mentors.

The IDO program, part of the Design and Industry Department, goes into the classrooms of high school students in the Bayview District of San Francisco, Burton said. The program does vocational projects to introduce non-academic career options to students.

“We’ve been at SOTA (School of The Arts), Lincoln [and] different high schools,” Burton said. The bench will be on display at the De Young Museum next week before making its permanent home at Thurgood Marshall High School.

Many projects took on an environmental theme. Elizabeth Scotta, a teacher at Cesar Chavez Elementary School and recent recipient of a masters degree in education, developed a curriculum to teach English-language-learner students in elementary school about global warming.

“When I started this project two years ago…if you were trying to teach global warming to a 10-year-old, it[a program] didn’t exist,” Scotta said. “

Scotta’s curriculum includes 11 lessons that involve such activities as webquests and art lessons and a final puppet show and covers topics such as lowering carbon emissions, coral reefs and ocean waters.

The showcase drew an enthusiastic crowd. As the lights were flashed to signify the end of the event, many were reluctant to leave.

“This is great. I got to see a lot of creative ideas,” said Connie Luu, who works with the Head Start program at SF State.

“I think its very well done. It allows us to get an idea of what it is students are doing research wise and in different disciplines. Its pretty impressive,” said UC San Franicisco recruiter, Don Woodson.

For more information on graduate studies at SF State visit graduate studies Web site.