Assessing Efficacy of a New Research-Oriented Peer Mentoring Program: YOU’RE@CU

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Y. Tsai ◽  
Daria Kotys-Schwartz ◽  
Virginia Ferguson ◽  
Beverly Louie
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Student Interest ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Engineering Research ◽  
University Of Colorado ◽  
New Research ◽  
The University

At the University of Colorado, Boulder, a new program designed to link graduate students with 1st and 2nd year undergraduate students through engineering research projects and mentoring relationships was initiated in Spring 2011. Your Own Undergraduate Research Experience at the University of Colorado (YOU’RE@CU) has three main goals: (1) increase retention of undergraduate students in engineering, particularly women and underrepresented minorities (URMs); (2) excite undergraduate student interest in research projects and future careers in academia or industry; (3) provide graduate students with training and hands-on mentoring experience with the expectation that this will positively influence graduate student choices to seek a career in academia. This paper illustrates the details of the YOU’RE@CU program during its pilot implementation in Spring 2011. The assessment strategy and methods are also explained, with presentation of qualitative data and discussion of the overall data analysis process.

Comparing Mentor and Mentee Perspectives in a Research-Based Undergraduate Mentoring Program

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Y. Tsai ◽  
Daria Kotys-Schwartz ◽  
Beverly Louie ◽  
Virginia Ferguson ◽  
Alyssa Berg
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Retention Rate ◽  
Mentoring Relationships ◽  
Mentoring Program ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Engineering Research ◽  
Reflective Questions ◽  
Undergraduate Mentoring

At the University of Colorado Boulder (CU), a research-based undergraduate mentoring program is now in its second year of implementation. The program, Your Own Undergraduate Research Experience (YOU’RE@CU) has three main goals: improve the retention rate of diverse groups in undergraduate engineering, build undergraduate interest in engineering research, and prepare graduate students to take on leadership roles in either academia or industry-based research careers. In YOU’RE@CU, undergraduate students are paired with a graduate mentor and work in the graduate student’s lab several hours a week. Undergraduate mentees enroll in a one-credit seminar course focusing on research and graduate school opportunities, and are assessed via pre- and post-surveys to gauge their excitement and interest in engineering. The undergraduates also respond to biweekly qualitative reflective questions while participating in the program. Graduate mentors complete several reflective questions about their experiences and are required to complete pre- and post-assessments. Adopting a person-centered, case study approach, this paper focuses on two telling examples of research-based mentoring relationships in the YOU’RE@CU program. Given identical mentor training through YOU’RE@CU, two graduate students start the Spring 2012 semester by meeting with their mentees to launch a research project. By examining application, pre-survey, reflective questions, and post-survey responses from these four participants, the differences in the trajectory of the two paired mentoring relationships can be clearly seen over the course of one semester. This close examination of two disparate mentoring relationships is instructive in understanding the subtle details that create either a positive learning environment or an uncomfortable lab situation for young engineers, and assists program administrators in making improvements in subsequent years.

Industry-Academia Computer Aided Engineering Undergraduate Research Projects

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Schonning ◽  
Daniel Cox
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
National Science Foundation ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Computer Aided Engineering ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Resource Center ◽  
Manufacturing Innovation ◽  
Computer Aided ◽  
National Science ◽  
The University

Florida’s First Coast Manufacturing Innovation Partnership (MIP), sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), promotes collaboration between academia and local industry members by providing a shared resource center. The local industry provides the university with research opportunities for its undergraduate students in areas of mechanical engineering design, manufacturing, and analysis and the university provides the local industry with technical resources. This paper outlines how this collaborative effort is structured, what types of projects are undertaken, and what the benefits are to academia, industry, and society in general. In particular, the paper describes three computer aided engineering (CAE) projects, addresses how these industry-academia projects help achieve the goals of the MIP program, and how these projects help improve the CAE skills of the future workforce.

scholarly journals Putting student partnership and collaboration centre-stage in a research-led context

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 160-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henk Huijser ◽  
James Wilson ◽  
Yao Wu ◽  
Shuang Qiu ◽  
Kangxin Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Poster Presentation ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Research Fellowship ◽  
Practical Research ◽  
University Degree ◽  
The University

In this case study, we evaluated the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) initiative at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), an extracurricular programme that focuses on academic staff-student partnerships and collaborations. While not directly integrated into university degree programmes, SURF provides students with the opportunity to develop practical research skills related to knowledge they have acquired in class. Participating students receive an authentic research experience, which involves collaboration on research projects with academic staff. All students are required to present results of their projects at a public poster presentation event organised by the university. This case study is a partnership between Academic Enhancement Centre (AEC) staff, who organize and run SURF, SURF students, and a lecturer (M.B.N. Kouwenhoven), and it presents a reflection on their experiences of the SURF programme, and in particular on the notions of partnership and collaboration and the potential tension between those two concepts.

Engaging and Supporting Underrepresented Undergraduate Students in Linguistic Research and Across the University

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne H. Charity Hudley
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Underrepresented Students ◽  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Research Focus ◽  
Linguistically Diverse Students ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
The University ◽  
Work Done

This article describes my prior work as co-founder and director of the William & Mary Scholars Undergraduate Research Experience (WMSURE), a cross-departmental and cross-school program at the College of William & Mary, designed to support underrepresented undergraduate students in research. I focus first on how this program paved the way for more underrepresented students to major in and do research in linguistics at the College of William & Mary in a way that work done just within the linguistics program could not have done alone. I also describe how, as a result of my research focus on culturally and linguistically diverse students, my role as director of WMSURE expanded into work with admissions and development to recruit students who were interested in linguistics as well as to raise funds to support their research. I detail how a linguistic lens on social justice has provided the platform for spearheading this endeavor to promote the success of underrepresented students and thereby foster broader inclusion and equity efforts at William & Mary and across the university as a whole, providing a model for other linguists to promote similar endeavors elsewhere.

“Hands-On, Minds-On, and Science-Up”: A Concept-Based Learning Laboratory With a Taste of Research Experience for an Undergraduate Biomedical Engineering Course

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Taisiya Sigaeva ◽  
Cyrus J. B. M. Fiori ◽  
Maria J. Pino Alban ◽  
Youssef Beauferris ◽  
Donovan Stagg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Biomedical Engineering ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Laboratory Exercise ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Hands On ◽  
University Of Calgary ◽  
The University

Abstract In this paper, we bridged faculty research expertise with concept-based learning pedagogy to design and implement a unique laboratory experience for biomedical engineering undergraduate students enrolled in the biomechanics of tissues course at the University of Calgary. This laboratory aimed to increase student engagement, facilitate deeper understanding of course content, and provide an opportunity for accelerated undergraduate research through “hands-on,” “minds-on,” and “science-up” learning components, respectively. The laboratory exercise involves testing aortic tissues using a novel miniaturized planar biaxial machine. This type of machine is normally reserved for use in the context of research. The relevance of the proposed laboratory as a teaching tool was assessed using student feedback. Results indicate an overall valuable and positive learning experience for students.

Framing the Undergraduate Research Experience: Discovery Involvement in Retailing Undergraduate Education

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenda Sternquist ◽  
Patricia Huddleston ◽  
Ann Fairhurst
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Undergraduate Education ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Theory Building ◽  
Learning Cycle ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Research Experience

We provide an overview of ways to involve undergraduate business and retailing students in faculty research projects and discuss advantages of these student–faculty collaborations. We use Kolb’s experiential learning cycle to provide a framework for creating an effective and engaging undergraduate research experience and use it to classify types of projects in which our undergraduate students have participated. These types of projects include (a) theory building and testing, (b) empirical research using primary or secondary data collection, (c) practitioner-oriented projects, and (d) creative projects. We provide specific examples of each type of project and then apply Kolb’s experiential learning cycle roles to a variety of undergraduate research projects. We conclude with a discussion of the benefits of involving undergraduate students in research projects.

scholarly journals A Framework for Implementing Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) in Freshman Biology Labs

2016 ◽  
Vol 78 (6) ◽  
pp. 448-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arundhati Bakshi ◽  
Lorelei E. Patrick ◽  
E. William Wischusen
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Research University ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Implementation Barriers ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Undergraduate Research Experiences ◽  
Widespread Implementation ◽  
Flexible Framework ◽  
Large Research

There have been many calls to make research experiences available to more undergraduate students. One way to do this is to provide course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), but providing these on a scale large enough to accommodate many students can be a daunting undertaking. Indeed, other researchers have identified time to develop materials and course size as significant barriers to widespread implementation of CUREs. Based on our own experiences implementing CUREs at a large research university, we present a flexible framework that we have adapted to multiple research projects, share class materials and rubrics we have developed, and suggest logistical strategies to lower these implementation barriers.

scholarly journals Early year undergraduate researchers’ reflections on the values and perceived costs of their research experience

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaye D. Ceyhan ◽  
John W. Tillotson
Keyword(s):  
Achievement Motivation ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Value Theory ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Expectancy Value ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Future Work

Abstract Background Prior research reported that motivational beliefs that individuals attach to specific tasks predict continuing interest and persistence in the task. A motivational approach may be particularly useful for understanding undergraduate students’ engagement with research in their first and second years in college. The current study utilizes the expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation to qualitatively explore how much and in what ways early year undergraduate researchers value their research experience and what kinds of costs they associate with it. Results The results revealed that intrinsic value had the highest expression in participants’ motivation to engage in research. The second most expressed value type was the utility value of undergraduate research with regards to obtaining the desired outcomes, and attainment value played the least important role in participants’ motivation to engage in research. Findings also indicated that some of the participants associated a cost(s) to their research experience. The highest mentioned perceived cost was opportunity cost, where participants commented on losing other valued alternatives when engaging in research. Participants commented on the time, effort, or amount of work needed to engage in research, and a few participants commented on the emotional cost associated with their research experience in terms of the fear of failure. Conclusion As perceived cost is the least studied in the expectancy-value framework, this study contributes to cost values within college students, particularly about early year undergraduate researchers. The findings of this study can form the basis for future work on exploring ways to increase the values and decrease the costs students experience in their undergraduate research experiences.

scholarly journals A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience on the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance and its Molecular Basis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Dickinson ◽  
Joya Mukerji ◽  
Stuart Graham ◽  
Liz Warfield ◽  
Ben Kerr
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Drug Effects ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Stem Majors ◽  
Cellular Machinery ◽  
Transformative Approach ◽  
Introductory Classes ◽  
The University

Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) in high-enrollment, introductory classes are a 37 potentially transformative approach to retaining more students in STEM majors. We developed and piloted a CURE 38 in the introductory biology courses at the University of Washington. This CURE focuses on analyzing experimental 39 evolution of antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli and generates data on two topics relevant to clinical practice: 40 compensatory mutations and cross-drug effects. By studying mutations in central cellular machinery that confer drug 41 resistance, students not only gain insight into fundamental cellular phenomena, but also recognize the molecular 42 basis of a medically important form of evolutionary change, connecting genetics, microbiology, and evolution.

scholarly journals Testing an Academic Library Website for Usability with Faculty and Graduate Students

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Z. Emde ◽  
Sara E. Morris ◽  
Monica Claassen-Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Front Page ◽  
Federated Search ◽  
Library Resources ◽  
Search Tool ◽  
The University ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
New Discovery

Objectives - This usability study was developed to observe faculty and graduate students’ reactions to a recent redesign of the University of Kansas (KU) Libraries’ website. The redesign included new navigational features, introduction of a federated search tool, a quick search box on the front page, and research subject pages. The study also provided the opportunity to observe the practices of faculty and graduate students in locating and retrieving information on the Libraries’ website. Methods - Ten participants (five faculty and five graduate students) representing diverse disciplines were solicited for the study. Participants were required to access the Libraries’ website to answer a series of questions regarding new and updated features of the website. Observational analysis using Morae™ software was conducted and interviews with each participant provided details of their opinions on how these new features would influence their research and teaching activities. Results - Most of the participants either did not notice or ignored the major website changes. Links to and locations of commonly used resources (e.g. catalogue; databases; e-journals) had been changed minimally, and the faculty and graduate student participants gravitated to those familiar features to complete tasks. Prior to the study, participants had not accessed the new discovery tools; however, once previewed, responses to the tools’ utility were generally favourable. After using the federated search tool on a familiar topic, several participants noted that, when directed to databases they had not previously considered, they were able to locate citations they had missed in the past. Observers noted pitfalls in navigating the site such as inconsistent underscoring of links, ambiguous terminology, and unclear icons meant to expand subject heading lists. Unexpected searching behaviours were observed, including inconsistent and lack of conceptual understanding in searching for e-journal content. Conclusions - This study provides evidence regarding the usability of a library website with a population already familiar with library resources. It demonstrated that faculty and graduate students are not interested in experimenting with new discovery tools but are amenable to their potential value to undergraduate students. The recent trend toward minimizing content and links on websites satisfies this population, one which is already comfortable with the basic attributes of a library’s website.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document