Working with undergraduate researchers Elizabeth Catlos and Kathy Surpless

Research with Undergraduates What are the benefits of undergraduate research? In other words, why involve undergraduates in your research? What are the challenges and pitfalls of working with undergraduates in research?

What does undergraduate research look like? Undergraduates work on a piece of their mentor’s larger research project Undergraduates work on projects of their own design Undergraduates work on research topics of peripheral interest to their mentor’s research Students at different levels are involved in a research team Students complete research within a class context Students complete research as part of a structured Honors Program or similar

Goals for undergraduate research Research results contribute to advancing our knowledge of the discipline and/or result in new scholarly and creative works Students learn ways of the discipline and develop as researchers; process is as important as outcome Enlivens the intellectual climate on campus, stimulates discussions and collaborations within and across disciplines, and increases the number of high quality interactions between students and faculty outside of the traditional classroom Challenges students to pose and answer meaningful questions, and helps students develop quantitative, problem-solving, and presentation skills

Some resources Collaborating with students: http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/earlycareer/res earch/students.html#thoughts Undergraduate research: http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/earlycareer/res earch/students.html#thoughts Advisor, Teacher, Role-Model, Friend: On being a mentor to students in science and engineering (full text online): http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5789

Your turn… Your institution: What is the institutional climate for undergraduate research at your institution? What institutional challenges do you face? What questions do you need to find answers to soon? Who will you ask? Your research program: What projects do you have in which you can involve undergraduates? At what level are these projects? How will you balance moving your research forward with undergraduate students’ needs and goals? Your mentoring philosophy: What characterizes a good undergraduate research mentor? How are the needs of undergraduate students different from graduate student needs, and how will you address this?