Question and Answer session: Characteristics of Excellence in Undergraduate Research (COEUR) Webinar
April 17, 2012
Questions were presented during the webinar by several of the attendees, whose names are noted below.
Respondents include:
Elizabeth Ambos: Executive Officer, Council on Undergraduate Research
Linda Blockus: Director, Office of Undergraduate Research, University of Missouri
Robin Howard: Senior Director, Council on Undergraduate Research
Susan Larson: Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and National Fellowships, Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota
Roger Rowlett: Gordon and Dorothy Kline Professor of Chemistry, Colgate University
Lindsay Currie: Director Communications and Membership Council on Undergraduate Research
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1. Michael L. Williams: Do you have any institutions that are doing UG Research within Schools of Nursing really well? The discipline of nursing (my take at least) is trying to move ALL reseearch to the graduate level (undergrads being 'consumers' of research rather than beginning researchers) as a result it is difficult to motivate nursing faculty to work with students in UG research. Would love examples of nursing schools that do it well!
* Robin Howard(privately): Michael, we recently added a Health Sciences division to CUR, so our network is expanding in that aspect. The chair of that division is Paul Miller at Elon University. I will reach out to him.
*Elizabeth Ambos: Additionally, CSU Channel Islands has had some success in nursing research programs involving undergraduates. You may wish to contact the department chair of nursing at CSUCI, Karen Jensen .
2. L. Diane Miller: How can we get a copy of the presentation slides?
* Robin Howard(privately): Diane, we will make the slides, as well as a recording of the webinar available within the week. (Include the link and send out)
3. Jeanne Viviani: Did you look at or do research on the involvement of other departments such as a Career Services Office which is geared more toward job placement versus research?
* Susan Larson: The COEUR document does not talk specifically about career services and connections with departments geared towards career placement, but it does argue for the importance of connecting with other campus constituents. In particular, the document encourages connections with others involved in high-impact practices, which often include career centers through their involvement with internships. Additionally, programming for undergraduate researchers will be well served by connections with Career Centers to make sure that students can leverage research experiences into employment and new career directions.
4. Ana T. Mendez Merced: Why do you say that it is "difficult" to publish with undergrad? Do we need to have any particular considerations?
* Susan Larson(privately): Ana, I was thinking more about the challenges of publishing multiple-authored papers in some disciplines (often the humanities). Some disciplines expect only a single author, which makes it difficult for undergrads to publish their work.
5. Jaya Mohan, Drexel Univ.: Can you please repeat the examples of assessment tools you would suggest implementing?
* Robin Howard(privately): Jaya, this is being recorded, and we will be sharing that information with participants. Additionally, the full document is available online. There is a link in your confirmation email to access that full document.
6. Jaya Mohan, Drexel Univ.: Is the PowerPoint presentation going to be made available to participants, as well as the recording of the webinar?
* see question #2 above.
7. Ormond Brathwaite: I missed most of the presentation since I don't have the proper version on Adobe in my office. I found a place on campus where I could log in but no sound was available. Would there be an oportunity for the audio?
* Robin Howard(privately): Yes, we have been recording the webinar and access instructions will be sent to you in the coming days.
Open Questions (44)
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8. How can I start a conversation about COEUR on my campus?
*Roger Rowlett: Departmental reviews-COEUR might provide a basis for a self-study to improve or integrate UR within a program of study, e.g., for development of a more research supportive curriculum, or to make a case for support staffing. InstitutionalStrategic planning-COEUR might provide a basis for conversations about how strategic priorities might be identified that will enhance UR, especially if it is part of your institutional mission statement (It IS, isn't it?). Faculty affairs-COEUR might provide the basis for a conversation about how to value faculty participation in UR in tenure and promotion decisions.
9. Why doesn't COEUR make specific recommendations, e.g., faculty teaching loads should be "X" or startup funding should be "Y."?
*Roger Rowlett: COEUR is a document that addresses UR at diverse institutions including research universities, liberal arts colleges, public undergraduate institutions, and community colleges. It is impossible to make specific recommendations that are appropriate for all of these UR environments. However, CUR can provide consultants and/or facilitators that can help contextualize COEUR for specific institutions.
10. COEUR identifies characteristics that define institutional excellence in UR. How did CUR define institutional "excellence"?
*Roger Rowlett: I think the best answer is that CUR recognizes UR excellence in those institutions that have built self-sustaining and scholarly productive programs that involve a large fraction of their undergraduate students. Such institutions are not only recognized by CUR but also by research funding agencies and/or professional societies who bestow awards to faculty.
11. COEUR describes the importance of an Office of and Director for Undergraduate Research. We don’t have one of those on my campus. Can you provide some more specific ideas of how such an office and director might operate?
* Linda Blockus:
Although we believe that institutional investment in a “central office” has many broad benefits for the institution,as well as students and faculty, there are many models for infrastructure that don’t require a full time staff member or is a decentralized, but coordinated approach. [Look for a book this summer published by CUR on “Undergraduate Research Offices and Programs: Models and Practices”]
We hope that COEUR will enable institutional leaders and Undergraduate Research Program Directors with a framework to set priorities. The suggestions outlined in COEUR are meant to be aspirational and we all know that “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.
Forming partnerships on campus with existing units is KEY. Not only is this a more efficient use of resources, those offices and staff members have expertise. Examples of offices on your campus may be: institutional public relations offices – both internal and external, research compliance staff (RCR training, IRB training, etc), student leadership programs (communication and interpersonal skills for students), faculty development programs, event planning, alumni affairs….
12. With respect to infusing UR into curriculum, do you have any specific suggestions on how to do this?
*Roger Rowlett: COEUR section 9.1.2 provides some guidance. Research training courses can serve as a skills gateway to further, productive research involvement of undergraduates in a major. The ideal situation is to integrate teaching and research in such courses. This works best for research areas in which reliable methodology is in hand, but there are more problems or interesting avenues to explore than can be assigned to senior thesis students. Each student or group of students can be assigned different but closely related mini-projects that may contribute research results or research materials to a larger research effort. For example, in my biochemistry teaching laboratory, I might assign students the task of constructing expression plasmids for different site-directed variants of proteins under investigation in my research laboratory, and then have them make, purify, and partially characterize the resulting proteins. The same student skills are learned as in a “traditional” teaching laboratory, but the laboratory projects can lead to publishable results for which students may become co-authors.
* Susan Larson: Another recommendation would be to scaffold UR throughout the curriculum, so that students progressively learn more sophisticated research techniques. Take advantage of first year seminars to start to develop basic research skills. Depending on your department, you may wish to include a Research Methods course as part of the curriculum. One important aspect would be to ensure you build in information literacy and quantitative literacy skills. CUR has published a book that might help: Developing and sustaining a research supportive curriculum, a compendium of successful practices
13. As I prepare my NSF grant, how can I use this document?
* Linda Blockus: Many NSF-funded faculty will use “undergraduate research” as their Broader Impacts activity. However, it is now longer “enough” to simply say you will mentor undergraduates and receive a high score from reviewers. Look through COUER for ideas that will “add value” to the undergraduate research experience. This may include the PI offering professional development workshops for undergraduate research for the department or campus, organizing venues for students to present their work (if not already done on your campus), partnering with existing programs on campus so that your student may have a more robust experience….or if no programs exist – collaborate with other NSF funded faculty to create one. Don’t forget assessment, as assessment of Broader Impacts is a growing priority as indicated by the recently released report from the National Science Board on review criteria. Cite COEUR in your proposal and don’t forget COEUR when applying for NSF REU site grants…the section on summer programs in COEUR may be especially helpful.
14. Kristin Fox: Are there any examples of research mentoring programs for faculty available?
*Roger Rowlett: CUR does not run any institutes exclusively devoted to faculty or student mentoring, but two programs might be relevant. CUR has a discipline-specific mentoring program which will pair a faculty member with an experienced CUR mentor. Several CUR disciplines offer this service for CUR members. CUR also runs weekend institutes that address a variety of topics, including student mentoring. One of these institutes is the “Beginning Research in the Natural Sciences at a Predominantly Undergraduate Institution.”
15. Jim Murowchick: Can you give some actual examples of faculty rewards and recognition for UGR participation from your institutions?
*Roger Rowlett There are several ways that faculty can be rewarded or recognized by institutions for their engagement in undergraduate research. The most obvious include faculty load credit for supervising UR, campus awards for being an outstanding undergraduate mentor, endowed chairs that specifically recognize undergraduate research excellence, etc. At my institution, faculty who frequently act as summer undergraduate research supervisors receive credit toward accelerated professional development (e.g., sabbatical) leave. Other institutions offer modest faculty stipends or additional research supplies funding.
16. Patricia Astry: Our faculty (Biology) receive workload credit for UG research (9 hours teaching, 3 hours for supervising UGR each semester). We are discussing how many students a faculty member shouldmentor each semester tomeet the workload expectations. Any suggestions?
*Roger Rowlett: Institutions usually work out some formulas (or several formulas) for assigning faculty load credit. No one model is better than another, and indeed at my institution there are several different models in the sciences alone! In one department that requires research of all majors, faculty credit is assigned for any number of students supervised (but the load typically gets spread evenly among faculty over time). Other departments receive load credit when a certain number of supervised students are accumulated. For us, it’s typically 3 students for a full year or 6 students for a full semester to receive a full load credit. But to be honest, the load credit issue is most effectively addressed within the context of the entire curriculum and the faculty resources available. You may find it helpful to give up some lower-priority courses or laboratories in the curriculum, and re-assign that load credit to the supervision of research. That’s usually a winning strategy.
17. William Ploog: I have not yet read the report. Do you discuss undergraduate community based research, i.e., research that engages the local community in a way which is both community service and research?
* Susan Larson: The document doesn’t address this issue at length, but you may wish to check out the CUR publication, A practical handbook for supporting community-based research with undergraduate students.
18. Jeanne Viviani: Other offices like Writing Support Center or Quantitative Centers... my questions have more to do with maximizing UR across departments that already do things centered around working with students (our students at New College already do independent research with faculty so the culture is there, but the division of departmental oversight makes getting services harder for students)
* Linda Blockus: See Kinkead & Blockus book to be published this summer.
*Lindsay Currie- Undergraduate Research Offices & Programs: Models & Practices by Joyce Kinkead and Linda Blockus will be available through CUR as of July 1.
19. Jeff Watson: When providing student course credit for research, is it common practice to provide a letter grade for these courses? Do they typically fill a curricular/major requirement? Or are they typically generic pass/fail "credit toward graduation" courses?
*Roger Rowlett: Because most research courses generally carry student credit, a grade is typically assigned. However, the faculty-student relationship in a mentored research experience is very different than that in a typical lecture, discussion, or laboratory course. In my experience, it has been very rare that students did not meet my expectations for engagement (maybe 2-3 out of 150 students mentored in 30 years). That should not be surprising, as faculty typically have very close, daily contact with student in the research environment. We design the research experience right in to our major curriculum (it’s a requirement for all seniors).
It is the case, however, that some schools might have the opportunity to pass/fail courses and mentors individually may feel that is a more appropriate under certain circumstances.
In many cases, these courses are built into major requirements.
20. Molly Van Wagner: what are common time commitments for say 1 cr of a typical UG research course. Students sometimes get large time commitments for only 1 credit.
*Roger Rowlett: At my institution, the general expectation is that students are expected to devote a minimum of 8 hours per week to their research to earn a half-credit(equivalent to 2 credit hours) over the course of one semester. The reality is that (1) research can’t always be scheduled, say Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:00-5:00 like a teaching laboratory or a senior seminar, and (2) productive research time demands are often variable. My students are in and around the lab every day, maybe as much as 12-16 hours per week. Basically, the research environment is comfortable and inviting, so students like to hang out there and do other work while monitoring research tasks.
21. Michelle Hamlet: Would Susan repeat the assessment resources she mentioned?
22. Sylvia Tiala: does CUR have a list of key references showing the benefits of research available online, and updated regularly?
*Roger Rowlett: One source you might want to look at is David Lopatto’s examination of student self-reporting. I believe Lopatto is one of the few references in COEUR.
- Crowe/Brakke CURQ article (2008)
- chapter 4 in Boyd/Wesemann book
- Lopatto “Science in Solution”
* Elizabeth Ambos: Another source is the spring 2012 CUR Quarterly, the “Science of the Count.”
- See also #27 below
23. Krys Strand: What are some of the challenges/solutions, or pros/cons to serving off-campus students through REUs with trying to serve enough students at the home institution?
* Linda Blockus: There is always an issue of balancing resources for guest students and students at your own institution. Inviting students from other campuses to your institution for a summer program does have many benefits: 1) You can select students with specific skill sets or experiences to add to the expertise of your research group….perhaps students from a collaborating lab/research team. 2) New students can bring new enthusiasm and new perspectives to the projects. 3) Students from different backgrounds, institutions, and areas of the country to work alongside your own students addvalue to their own experience. In addition to different life experiences, students can also learn about different educational and career plans and research experiences from their peers and compare their progress/experiences with students from other schools. From a practical standpoint, including students from other institutions may be looked upon favorably by funding agencies and provides opportunities for recruitment for graduate programs. However, there are advantages to involving your own students in research: 1) the department can strategically prepare them for research through the curriculum or other training programs; 2) the students can continue on their work during the academic year while taking classes; 3) it may be easier to follow up with students as publications and presentations are being prepared; and 4) your own students won’t need additional orientation to the campus for a summer program.