Undergraduate Research at a Liberal Arts College during a Time of Disruption

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-78
Author(s):  
Christopher Fuse ◽  
◽  
Ashley Cannaday ◽  
Whitney Coyle ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Computational Studies ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Research Practices ◽  
New Techniques ◽  
Usual Research

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors, who have expertise in acoustics, optics, and astrophysics, decided to pivot from the experimental components of their research and focus instead on computational studies. Many of their usual research practices were adapted, creating new techniques to optimize the remote research experience for their undergraduate students.

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.

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.

Women's Studies as Change Agent

1977 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 377-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Scott ◽  
Ann Richards ◽  
Marie Wade
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Women's Studies ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Change Agent ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Attitudes Toward Women ◽  
State University ◽  
Women’S Studies ◽  
Regional Campus ◽  
Students Attitudes

Students' attitudes toward women and changes in those attitudes after taking a women's studies course were studied. The Spence Attitude Toward Women Scale was administered to 354 undergraduate students at two mid-western institutions. Matched pre- and posttests were obtained for 176 students. Results showed that attitudes toward women became more liberal after taking a women's studies course ( p < .001); also that attitudes were initially more liberal at an affluent liberal arts college than at a regional campus of a state university ( p < .001).

The Association of Self-Monitoring with Self-Disclosure

1997 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 940-942 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Bryan ◽  
Deanna Dodson ◽  
Salvatore Cullari
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Negative Correlation ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Significant Negative Correlation ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Disclosure ◽  
Self Monitoring

While there are many studies of self-monitoring and self-disclosure independently, few studies have looked at their relationship. Such inquiry may help refine the definitions of these two complex constructs as well as clarify how interpersonal relationships are formed. For 100 undergraduate students at a small liberal arts college a small but significant negative correlation ( r = −.20) was found between scores on the Self-monitoring Scale and Self-disclosure Index. The men had significantly higher self-monitoring scores than the women, but not on self-disclosure.

scholarly journals MUREs - a new member of the URE-CURE family of research opportunities for undergrads

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly E. Bates ◽  
Shanna Lowes ◽  
Sarah L. West
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Research Opportunities ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Undergraduate Research Experiences ◽  
Stem Students ◽  
Experiential Research

Undergraduate research experiences are important for the development of scientific identity, appreciation of authentic research, and to improve persistence towards science careers. We identified a gap in experiential research opportunities for undergraduate Biology students who were seeking a formal yet small-scale research experience that was unique to their own interests and career aspirations. These opportunities may be especially worthwhile for STEM students aspiring to non-research scientific careers (i.e., medicine, dentistry, forensics, communication) and underrepresented STEM students. Here, we reflect on the use of small-scale, individualized undergraduate research experiences that are based on established methods (MURE). These experiences have helped to fill this gap and create problem-centred learning opportunities for undergraduate students that are as unique as the students themselves.

scholarly journals Publishing open, reproducible research with undergraduates

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Feld Strand ◽  
Violet Aurora Brown
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Publishing Research ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Reproducible Research ◽  
Science Practices ◽  
Rapid Pace ◽  
Science Collaboration ◽  
Science Framework

In response to growing concern in psychology and other sciences about low rates of replicability of published findings (Open Science Collaboration, 2015), there has been a movement toward conducting open and transparent research (see Chambers, 2017). This has led to changes in statistical reporting guidelines in journals (Appelbaum et al., 2018), new professional societies (e.g, Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science), frameworks for posting materials, data, code, and manuscripts (e.g., Open Science Framework, PsyArXiv), initiatives for sharing data and collaborating (e.g., Psych Science Accelerator, Study Swap), and educational resources for teaching through replication (e.g., Collaborative Replications and Education Project). This “credibility revolution” (Vazire, 2018) provides many opportunities for researchers. However, given the recency of the changes and the rapid pace of advancements (see Houtkoop et al., 2018), it may be overwhelming for faculty to know whether and how to begin incorporating open science practices into research with undergraduates.In this paper, we will not attempt to catalogue the entirety of the open science movement (see recommended resources below for more information), but will instead highlight why adopting open science practices may be particularly beneficial to conducting and publishing research with undergraduates. The first author is a faculty member at Carleton College (a small, undergraduate-only liberal arts college) and the second is a former undergraduate research assistant (URA) and lab manager in Dr. Strand’s lab, now pursuing a PhD at Washington University in St. Louis. We argue that open science practices have tremendous benefits for undergraduate students, both in creating publishable results and in preparing students to be critical consumers of science.

scholarly journals The orchid recovery program at Illinois College – a successful blend of teaching, research and undergraduate student participation to benefit orchid conservation

Lankesteriana ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence Zettler
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Research Program ◽  
Undergraduate Student ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Student Participation ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Academic Experience ◽  
Teaching Load ◽  
Orchid Conservation ◽  
Recovery Program

A decade ago (1996), the Orchid Recovery Program was established at Illinois College – a private liberal arts college – to promote the conservation of rare orchids through propagation. The school’s rural loca- tion, small size (1,000+ undergraduate students), and heavy teaching load (= 12 hours/semester) posed seri- ous challenges to the establishment of this research program. Nevertheless, over the years several aspects of the College were identified, targeted, and integrated to successfully blend the student academic experience with orchid conservation.  

scholarly journals A Composite Textual Phenomenological Approach to CUREs versus Traditional Laboratory Experiences

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amie Sommers ◽  
Dana Richter-Egger ◽  
Christine Cutucache
Keyword(s):  
Student Retention ◽  
Stem Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Effective Models ◽  
Laboratory Experiences

Here we present unique perspectives from undergraduate students (n=3) in STEM who have taken both a traditional laboratory iteration and a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) iteration of the same introductory chemistry course. CUREs can be effective models for integrating research in courses and fostering student learning gains. Via phenomenological interviews, we asked students to describe the differences in their perspectives, feelings, and experiences between a traditional lab guided by a lab manual and a CURE. We found that (i.) critical thinking/problem solving, (ii.) group work/collaboration, (iii.) student-led research questions and activities, and (iv.) time management are the top four emergent themes associated with the CURE course. Students also indicated that they learned more disciplinary content in the CURE, and, importantly, that they prefer it over the traditional lab. These findings add another dimension of success to CUREs in STEM education, particularly surrounding student retention.

scholarly journals A model for training undergraduate students in collaborative science

FACETS ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 818-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nora J. Casson ◽  
Colin J. Whitfield ◽  
Helen M. Baulch ◽  
Sheryl Mills ◽  
Rebecca L. North ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Graduate School ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Learning Objectives ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Faculty Advisors ◽  
Scientific Disciplines ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Collaborative Skills

Engagement of undergraduate students in research has been demonstrated to correlate with improved academic performance and retention. Research experience confers many benefits on participants, particularly foundational skills necessary for graduate school and careers in scientific disciplines. Undergraduate curricula often do not adequately develop collaborative skills that are becoming increasingly useful in many workplaces and research settings. Here, we describe a pilot program that engages undergraduates in research and incorporates learning objectives designed to develop and enhance collaborative techniques and skills in team science that are not typical outcomes of the undergraduate research experience. We conducted a collaborative science project that engaged faculty advisors and upper year undergraduates at four institutions and conducted a review to assess the program’s efficacy. Students developed a broad suite of competencies related to collaborative science, above and beyond the experience of completing individual projects. This model also affords distinct advantages to faculty advisors, including the capacity of the network to collect and synthesize data from different regions. The model for training students to conduct collaborative science at an early stage of their career is scalable and adaptable to a wide range of fields. We provide recommendations for refining and implementing this model in other contexts.

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