scholarly journals Scholarship as conversation: Using book reviews to think about scholarly communication

2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hailley M. Fargo ◽  
Nicholas J. Rowland ◽  
Jeffrey A. Knapp
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Scholarly Communication ◽  
White Paper ◽  
Academic Environment ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Research Groups ◽  
Research Programs

In the ACRL white paper “Intersections of Scholarly Communication and Information Literacy: Creating Strategic Collaborations for a Changing Academic Environment,” the authors suggested librarians should reach out to “formal undergraduate research programs where faculty are paired one-on-one with undergraduate students.” By partnering with research groups, librarians could introduce the concepts behind scholarly communication and the information cycle, thereby enhancing the undergraduate research experience.

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.

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 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 Communicating the relevance of the library in the age of Google: Improving undergraduate research skills and information literacy though new models of library instruction

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Rempel ◽  
Danielle M. Cossarini
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Information Access ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Library Instruction ◽  
Research Skills

Most academic librarians have long been aware that the ascent of the Internet has posed a challenge to the primacy of the library as information hub. Recent studies have shown that the majority of undergraduate students do not begin their research in the library, but with Google and Wikipedia - and many students end their research here as well (Connaway, Dickey, & Radford, 2011). This trend would seem to bode ill for the quality of the research skills and the level of information literacy among current undergraduates, as many students privilege convenient access to information over quality of content (Colón-Aguirre & Fleming-May, 2012; Connaway, et al., 2011). But how do we prepare undergraduate students for the rigours of academic research given this circumstance? The library instruction session has been the path to information literacy traditionally taken by colleges and universities, but increasingly, librarians have begun questioning the value of these sessions. Many undergraduates do not find library instruction sessions relevant to their practical information needs and to changing modes of information access, and many students do not come away from library information sessions feeling fully prepared - or even fully willing - to move beyond Google and into the library in order to carry out quality information searches (Colón-Aguirre & Fleming-May, 2012). Indeed, many librarians also now feel that the classic model of library instruction no longer fully meets the information needs of undergraduates nor anticipates their Internet-focused research habits, and that library instruction needs to change dramatically in order to do so (Colón-Aguirre & Fleming-May, 2012; Farkas, 2012). Such means of improving library instruction include: breaking away from the single-session model and moving toward a multiple-session model (Farkas, 2012); incorporating discussion of Internet-based and electronic resources more fully into instruction sessions (Colón-Aguirre & Fleming-May, 2012); tailoring library instruction to course curricula and assignments (Smith, et al., 2012); and incorporating active, student-centred learning into library instruction sessions (Abate, Gomes, & Linton, 2011). The successful implementation of these measures is ultimately dependent upon communication and collaboration among library staff, faculty, and students. Implementing major changes to library instruction can be challenging for all stakeholders; such challenges will be explored in a discussion of the implementation of a prototype library instruction model developed at Selkirk College, a small undergraduate-focused institution in British Columbia, Canada.

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.

scholarly journals A functional genomics screen identifying blood cell development genes in Drosophila by undergraduates participating in a course-based research experience

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Cory J Evans ◽  
John M Olson ◽  
Bama Charan Mondal ◽  
Pratyush Kandimalla ◽  
Ariano Abbasi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Cell ◽  
Functional Genomics ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Bioinformatic Analysis ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Fluorescent Reporter ◽  
Stem Retention

Abstract Undergraduate students participating in the UCLA Undergraduate Research Consortium for Functional Genomics (URCFG) have conducted a two-phased screen using RNA interference (RNAi) in combination with fluorescent reporter proteins to identify genes important for hematopoiesis in Drosophila. This screen disrupted the function of approximately 3500 genes and identified 137 candidate genes for which loss of function leads to observable changes in the hematopoietic development. Targeting RNAi to maturing, progenitor, and regulatory cell types identified key subsets that either limit or promote blood cell maturation. Bioinformatic analysis reveals gene enrichment in several previously uncharacterized areas, including RNA processing and export and vesicular trafficking. Lastly, the participation of students in this course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) correlated with increased learning gains across several areas, as well as increased STEM retention, indicating that authentic, student-driven research in the form of a CURE represents an impactful and enriching pedagogical approach.

scholarly journals Perspectives on Online Undergraduate Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arriane Pirhalla ◽  
Crystal Marull
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Online Research ◽  
University Of Florida ◽  
Post Graduate ◽  
Research Programs ◽  
The University

With the rise of online education surrounding the current global situation, facilitating engaging, communicative and interesting online courses and research has become increasingly more important. This study surveyed various undergraduate students at the University of Florida (n=114), gathering perspectives on their awareness of, interest in and opinions on online undergraduate research and courses. This study found that a majority of students (74.58%, n=88) surveyed were not aware of online research programs like the University Scholars Program, despite majority (71.67%, n=81) indicating they were at least moderately interested in the program. Students also overwhelmingly rated research as being  very or extremely important, especially for post-graduate work or school. This paper discusses the implications of relationships between these responses, and touches on suggested future research.

It’s Not All Fun and Games

2013 ◽  
pp. 214-238
Author(s):  
Hope Kelly ◽  
Margeaux C. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Educational Games ◽  
Technical Skills ◽  
Educational Game ◽  
Key Players ◽  
Group A ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Managerial Experience

This chapter explores the design and development process for the iLOOK game, a grant-funded educational game about information literacy at a large public university. This case is presented through the eyes of Leslie Anderson, a young librarian who is passionate about the subject matter but lacks the technical skills and managerial experience to implement her vision. It describes the challenges and successes of coordinating the project across departments with varying cultures. The key players include: a library content team, a computer science programming lab group, a humanities undergraduate research group, and an expert on educational games. Enthusiastic about the potential of games to enhance undergraduate students’ ability to access, evaluate, and use information, the partners began working on the grant with campus-wide support. However, they quickly ran into issues.

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