Integrating research and education at research-extensive universities with research-intensive communities

Abstract

Although the Boyer Commission (1998) lamented the lack of research opportunities for all undergraduates at research-extensive universities, it did not provide a feasible solution consistent with the mandate for faculty to maintain sustainable physiology research programs. The costs associated with one-on-one mentoring, and the lack of a sufficient number of faculty members to give intensive attention to undergraduate researchers, make one-on-one mentoring impractical. We therefore developed and implemented the "research-intensive community" model with the aim of aligning diverse goals of participants while simultaneously optimizing research productivity. The fundamental organizational unit is a team consisting of one graduate student and three undergraduates from different majors, supervised by a faculty member. Undergraduate workshops, Graduate Leadership Forums, and computer-mediated communication provide an infrastructure to optimize programmatic efficiency and sustain a multilevel, interdisciplinary community of scholars dedicated to research. While the model radically increases the number of undergraduates that can be supported by a single faculty member, the inherent resilience and scalability of the resulting complex adaptive system enables a research-intensive community program to evolve and grow.

Undergraduate and Graduate Research and Creative Activities: Faculty’s evaluation, time commitment and perceived barriers

“…There are numerous benefits for students involved in research across all disciplines, but especially for those in academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and those that are firstgeneration and/or low-income (Desai et al, 2008;Lopatto, 2007). Significant gains can also be accounted for by students in the social sciences and humanities (Ishiyama, 2002) and business (Gault, Leach, & Duey, 2010).…”

Access to undergraduate research experiences at a large research university

“…There are many challenges associated with engaging all students in UREs, such as decreases in mentors' research productivity [10], infrastructural constraints imposed by lack of lab space, high student-to-mentor ratios, and other issues [11]. Importantly, the APS calls for providing undergraduate students with access to research, which is a broader goal than providing research opportunities.…”

31. Real Problems, Real Research, Real Students: Authentic Research with Undergraduates as a Win-Win-Win Collaboration

“…In contrast, undergraduate research is based on original questions with open answers. Such authentic research requires that all involved have some say in the direction of the research and develop self-efficacy through shared communication (Desai et al, 2008). Authentic research experiences on a variety of scales and over varying lengths of time thus provide avenues for students to create new knowledge and understanding, even at the early stages in their university careers.…”