Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Team via Independent Study Courses

2015 ◽  
Vol 1762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle G. Gipson
Keyword(s):  
Creative Thinking ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Independent Study ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Research Opportunity ◽  
Academic Year

ABSTRACTUndergraduate students from Engineering, Physics, Geology & Chemistry come together to form multidisciplinary teams as part of an undergraduate research opportunity through a sequence of independent study classes within the Department of Engineering at James Madison University. The undergraduate research groups typically contain students from freshman to senior years, totaling approximately three to eight students per academic year per group. One of the primary objectives is to provide a high-level research experience for undergraduates in a nurturing environment within the academic year. Peer-mentoring is integral piece to the team dynamics. The course sequence that facilitates the research opportunity is constructed in order for students to produce research that can be applied to obtaining a minor in Materials Science. Methodologies employed in the course range from problem-based learning, inquiry-based learning, and collaborative efforts with outside entities. The course objectives are geared towards developing critical & creative thinking, technical writing and oral communication skills through the development of planned action & experiments with data analysis as well as submitting findings to be presented at regional and national conferences.

High-Impact Practices in Materials Science Education: Student Research Internships Leading to Pedagogical Innovation in STEM Laboratory Learning Activities

MRS Advances ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (31-32) ◽  
pp. 1667-1672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lon A. Porter
Keyword(s):  
Computer Aided Design ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Digital Design ◽  
Education Student ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Student Research ◽  
Pedagogical Innovation

ABSTRACTTraditional lecture-centered approaches alone are inadequate for preparing students for the challenges of creative problem solving in the STEM disciplines. As an alternative, learnercentered and other high-impact pedagogies are gaining prominence. The Wabash College 3D Printing and Fabrication Center (3D-PFC) supports several initiatives on campus, but one of the most successful is a computer-aided design (CAD) and fabrication-based undergraduate research internship program. The first cohort of four students participated in an eight-week program during the summer of 2015. A second group of the four students was successfully recruited to participate the following summer. This intensive materials science research experience challenged students to employ digital design and fabrication in the design, testing, and construction of inexpensive scientific instrumentation for use in introductory STEM courses at Wabash College. The student research interns ultimately produced a variety of successful new designs that could be produced for less than $25 per device and successfully detect analytes of interest down to concentrations in the parts per million (ppm) range. These student-produced instruments have enabled innovations in the way introductory instrumental analysis is taught on campus. Beyond summer work, the 3D-PFC staffed student interns during the academic year, where they collaborated on various cross-disciplinary projects with students and faculty from departments such as mathematics, physics, biology, rhetoric, history, classics, and English. Thus far, the student work has led to three campus presentations, four presentations at national professional conferences, and three peer-reviewed publications. The following report highlights initial progress as well as preliminary assessment findings.

“Collective Undergraduate Research: A Teaching / Learning Tool For MSE Students”

2000 ◽  
Vol 632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wafeek Samuel Wahby
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Learning Tool ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Eastern Illinois University ◽  
Teaching Learning

ABSTRACTA new experiment to implement and collectively publish undergraduate students' research was started at the School of Technology, Eastern Illinois University in the Fall of 1998. A summary of the procedures followed in this experiment, its assessment and its progress are presented. Collective research publications, authored by undergraduate engineering students and edited by their faculty can be used as an effective teaching / learning tool that benefits students/authors, their peers, faculty/editors, local and other institutions, and industry at large, particularly when this research is interactively posted on the Internet. Through a research study format, undergraduates learn the subject matter much better, become familiar with research methods and techniques early in their careers, and polish their technical writing abilities. As the experiment also fosters teamwork and peer collaboration and evaluation, undergraduates sharpen their oral communication skills through group discussions and in-class presentations. The experiment provided an opportunity for students to independently select and research a particular topic and helped them discover the research resources and reference materials available on the subject matter. As one of the few creative opportunities offered in a class, this experiment presented a variety of learning environments to undergraduates and helped promote their creativity and self-directed learning. It was confirmed that most undergraduate students hold unlimited potential for success as researchers, and that enthusiasm, hard work, self-motivation, and dedication of students are likely to constitute better indicators of success than the conventional grades they earned in the past.

Undergraduate Materials Research Initiative: Providing Active Research Experience

2000 ◽  
Vol 632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bethanie J. H. Stadler ◽  
Ingrid L. St. Omer
Keyword(s):  
Materials Science ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Student Interest ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Research Initiative ◽  
Materials Research ◽  
Active Research ◽  
International Aspects ◽  
Academic Year

ABSTRACTThe Materials Research Society's Undergraduate Materials Research Initiative (UMRI) is a program designed to introduce undergraduates to research and the excitement of discovery in materials science and engineering. Through an open competition process modeled after federal funding agencies, participants gain an understanding of the research process from proposal to final report. Each awardee receives a grant for the cost of a moderate research project (maximum $750). In addition, the student researcher receives an award of $250 upon completion of the project. The MRS awarded 20 grants for research performed during the inaugural 1998/99 academic year, and it has awarded 40 grants this academic year. In addition to financial assistance, the MRS also provides positive exposure for both the UMRI undergraduate researchers and their advisors in order to highlight the importance of an active research experience. Past and present UMRI awardees have been invited to present their work in a poster session during this meeting. The educational impact of the program will be explored in terms of applicant demographics and survey responses from awardees. The review process, international aspects, and suggested research timeframes will also be discussed. The basic operating principles of this program have potential application to any academic, industrial or governmental program designed to increase faculty and student interest in undergraduate research. Such programs address the need to attract and retain talented individuals to technical careers.

In To Africa: Teaching Nanoscience to Undergraduates in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 1320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian H. Augustine ◽  
Orde Q. Munro
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Laboratory Course ◽  
Kwazulu Natal

ABSTRACTThere has been considerable interest in developing curricular programs and materials for teaching undergraduate courses in nanoscience in the United States and other developed countries in the past decade. Materials science and nanoscience research programs are growing in developing countries in South America, Africa and Asia. However, there still exists a significant disconnect between the research efforts in developing countries and undergraduate coursework. This report will focus on the teaching of an upper-division one semester lecture/laboratory course developed at James Madison University (JMU) called “The Science of the Small: An Introduction to the Nanoworld” taught in the School of Chemistry at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg (UKZN-PMB), South Africa in 2009 through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar program. We report insights into the preparation needed to teach a cutting-edge laboratory course in South Africa. Also addressed will be some of the challenges of teaching an instrument-intensive laboratory course in a developing country, academic preparation of the typical native isiZulu-speaking UKZN undergraduate student compared to a typical U.S. student, and pre and post attitudes and content assessment of students who were enrolled in the course. Further discussed will be observations of post-apartheid science and math education in South Africa, and the beginning of a pilot program bringing South African undergraduate students to the U.S. to gain undergraduate research experience.

scholarly journals An Exploration across Institution Types of Undergraduate Life Sciences Student Decisions to Stay in or Leave an Academic-Year Research Experience

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. ar47
Author(s):  
Logan E. Gin ◽  
Carolyn E. Clark ◽  
Deanna B. Elliott ◽  
Travis B. Roderick ◽  
Rachel A. Scott ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Undergraduate Research Experiences ◽  
Decisions To Stay ◽  
Academic Year

Many studies on persistence in undergraduate research experiences have been almost exclusively conducted at research-intensive (R1) institutions, and it is unclear whether such challenges are generalizable across institution types. A study previously conducted across public R1 institutions was extended to include other institution types to address this question.

scholarly journals Linguistic Analysis of Project Ownership for Undergraduate Research Experiences

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 378-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. I. Hanauer ◽  
J. Frederick ◽  
B. Fotinakes ◽  
S. A. Strobel
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Student Experiences ◽  
Quantitative Methodology ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Working Definition ◽  
Undergraduate Research Experiences ◽  
Student Interview ◽  
Research Opportunity

We used computational linguistic and content analyses to explore the concept of project ownership for undergraduate research. We used linguistic analysis of student interview data to develop a quantitative methodology for assessing project ownership and applied this method to measure degrees of project ownership expressed by students in relation to different types of educational research experiences. The results of the study suggest that the design of a research experience significantly influences the degree of project ownership expressed by students when they describe those experiences. The analysis identified both positive and negative aspects of project ownership and provided a working definition for how a student experiences his or her research opportunity. These elements suggest several features that could be incorporated into an undergraduate research experience to foster a student's sense of project ownership.

Effect of Student-Led Undergraduate Research Experience on Learning and Attitudes --A Practice in An Introductory Materials Science Course

2014 ◽  
Vol 1657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanyuan Zhou ◽  
Raymundo Arroyave ◽  
Miladin Radovic
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Word Problems ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
Traditional Teaching ◽  
Real Word ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Field Of Study ◽  
Knowledge Content

ABSTRACTAn introductory materials science course has been traditionally taught at Texas A&M University - like at many other universities - through lectures with minimal active student involvement. With this approach, most students just reproduce what they are given and accept it without any challenge or question. The authors have redesigned this course to include an active learning component. While the course consists of lecture-based classes during regular teaching hours to keep the essence of traditional teaching, the authors incorporated a research experience to their class in order to engage students and encourage them to apply the content seen in class to real-word problems with a higher level of expertise. The aim of the study was to discover the effectiveness of the authors’ redesign. We hypothesized that the research experience would facilitate the learning of knowledge content and the enthusiasm for the chosen field of study, i. e. engineering. The results reveal that students in the experimental condition consistently show a greater gain in knowledge, but there is no sufficient evidence suggesting that the research experience increase the student’s enthusiasm to be an engineer.

scholarly journals International Research Experiences in the Development of Minority Scientists

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raeshan D. Davis ◽  
Zakiya S. Wilson-Kennedy ◽  
David Spivak
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
International Research ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Science Identity ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Research Opportunity ◽  
The Impact

Undergraduate research and international experiences are often described as high-impact educational practices beneficial for undergraduate student success and for supporting the development of science identity and intercultural competencies. While several studies have investigated the impact of undergraduate research on students from minoritized groups, fewer studies have focused on their engagement in global experiences, and fewer still have explored their engagement in international research experiences. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Science Identity, Social Cognitive Career Theory, and the Intercultural Competence Model, this present study explores the benefits of participating in an international research experience for minority undergraduate scientists. Using a qualitative case study methodology, we examined the evolution of students’ science identity, research competencies, and intercultural competence after engaging in a three-month international research opportunity in France and Belgium. We found that after participating in international research, minority undergraduate scientists had: 1) Increased confidence in their science identity and abilities; 2) Gained and strengthened skills necessary to be a successful researcher, 3) Recognized the influence of international exposure on their growth personally and professionally, 4) Expressed how monumental this research opportunity is for all minority students to experience. Our findings suggest substantial benefits from an international research experience on the development of minority undergraduate scientists.

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