Research opportunities for undergraduates

Strategies and Intervening Factors Influencing Student Social Interaction and Experiential Learning in an Interdisciplinary Research Team

“…As noted earlier, networking opportunities can provide an important source of emotional support that encourages student learning and builds student confidence and research ability (Goodlad 1998).…”

“…They must learn to mentor colleagues, negotiate with faculty and other students, and deal with the personality conflicts that can arise within a team setting (Buchbinder et al 2005;Twale et al 2002). Involvement with a long-term interdisciplinary research project provides students with opportunities to improve their computer literacy, knowledge of broader academic or policy literatures, critical or analytical thinking skills, methodological and statistical skills, as well as project management skills (Goodlad 1998;Lovitts 2005;Pearson and Brew 2002). They may also have opportunities for developing their writing and communication skills by co-authoring journal articles, preparing ethics review packages, conducting literature reviews, writing reports, conference presentations and papers, and preparing grant applications (Brew and Peseta 2004;Qin et al 1997).…”

“…Wider networks of support can help students develop their personal skills, interpersonal communication, team work, decisionmaking, and leadership skills in an interdisciplinary research setting (Weber and Sleeper 2003). In turn, students can obtain emotional support through these relationships and networks that can improve their self-esteem, confidence, development as a researcher, and a sense of belonging within the research team (Goodlad 1998;Twale et al 2002).…”

“…Flexibility is critical when organizing logistical activities and work schedules to incorporate students into research (Graybill et al 2006). From a faculty perspective, the additional time involved in managing student participation and mentoring in an interdisciplinary research team may exacerbate the limited time available due to competing teaching, administrative, and research demands (Goodlad 1998;Lindsay et al 2002). Further, some faculty may have limited experience supervising students, or had minimal supervision themselves during their graduate work and thus have limited role models to draw from (Aspland et al 1999).…”

Undergraduate research experience in computer science education

“…While this is not a new concept [4], it is one that is perhaps only recently gaining momentum. The NSF conference on revitalising undergraduate education [7] included in its list of improvements the inclusion of research opportunities for undergraduate students.…”