Leveraging Your Summer
Research Experience
Who Do You Want To Be?
Reprise: “What is Undergraduate
Research?”
• “An inquiry or investigation conducted by an
undergraduate student that makes an
original, intellectual, or creative contribution
to the discipline...”(from the Council on
Undergraduate Research) http://www.cur.org/
What Do You Think?
• Take five minutes to discuss the following
questions with your neighbor:
– By this definition did you make an original
contribution? What was it?
– What generalizable lessons/skills did you take
away form your summer experience?
What Should Undergraduate Research
Do for US?
• Educational benefits include:
• Engages and empowers students in hands-on learning
• Enhances the student learning experience through
mentoring relationships with faculty
• Increases retention in the STEM disciplines & other fields
• Provides effective career preparation & promotes interest
in graduate education
• Develops critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, self
confidence, and intellectual independence
• Promotes an innovation-oriented culture
http://oregonstate.edu/students/research/why-research
What Should Undergraduate Research
Do for You?
• Academic benefits include:
• Working closely with a faculty mentor
• Learning about issues, methods, and leaders in
students' chosen fields
• Applying concepts learned in coursework to "real
life" situations
• Sharpening problem-solving skills
• Learning to read primary literature
http://oregonstate.edu/students/research/why-research
What Should Undergraduate Research
Do for You?
• Professional benefits include:
•
•
•
•
Exploring and preparing for future careers
Developing marketable skills
Enhancing professional communication skills
Collaborating with others and working effectively
as part of a team
http://oregonstate.edu/students/research/why-research
What Should Undergraduate Research
Do for You?
• Personal benefits include:
• Growing as a critical, analytical, and independent
thinker
• Meeting challenges and demonstrating the ability
to complete a project
• Discovering personal interests
• Developing internal standards of excellence
http://oregonstate.edu/students/research/why-research
Department of Sociology, Social Work
& Anthropology, Utah State University,
• Graduates report that they use their research skills, more
than any other sociological skills, in their future jobs!
http://sociology.usu.edu/urbenefits.aspx
• Analytical Skills
• Teamwork
• Time Management
• Leadership
• Writing Skills
• Troubleshooting
• Understanding of Ethics
• Communication
• Self-Confidence
The American Association of Colleges and Universities -Peer Review: Spring 2010,
Vol. 12, No. 2 ndergraduate Research as a High-Impact Student Experience”
By David Lopatto, professor of psychology, Grinnell College
“Undergraduate researchers learn tolerance for
obstacles faced in the research process, how
knowledge is constructed, independence, increased
self-confidence, and a readiness for more
demanding research. These benefits are an
advantage in any career path.”
http://www.aacu.org/peerreview/pr-sp10/pr-sp10_Lopatto.cfm
AAAS Recognizes the Growing Importance
of Undergraduate Research
• http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_
magazine/previous_issues/articles/2007_07_0
6/caredit.a0700095
Growing a new generation of scholars and
researchers
– "my notions of what I wanted to do were shaped
by that first summer doing research."
Visioning Experience
• Spend a few minutes addressing the following
“thought experiment” and then share answers
with your neighbor
– Where (locale) will you be working in the year
2025 and what will you be doing
– How will you know if you are happy?
How Do I Leverage This Experience?
•
•
•
•
Explore your passion
Define your strengths and weaknesses
Make connections to mastering your discipline
Prepare for graduate school or professional
school
• Stay in touch with your mentor
How Do I Leverage This Experience?
• Stay in Touch With Your Mentor
• Look for Other UGR or Active Learning
Opportunities
• Look to Present Your Research at Regional and/or
National Meetings
• Push to Publish
• Incorporate Your Experience on Your
Resume/Portfolio
• Seek Research and RISE Notations on Your
Transcript
Stay in Touch With Your Mentor
Osborne and Karukstis (2009)
http://www.missouriwestern.edu/appliedlearning/documents/Chapter4-Final-BenefitsofUGROsborn.pdf
• interactions with faculty mentors significantly affect an
individual student’s cognitive and behavioral development .
• directly impact student satisfaction and learning (Astin,
1993).
• participation in undergraduate research with a faculty
mentor is a “high impact” learning experience. (Lipka, 2007)
• Additional studies verify that the collegial and collaborative
partnership of undergraduate students and faculty members
contributes significantly to the personal and professional
gains reported by students (Seymour, 2004; Hunter, 2006).
• Mentors write the best letters of recommendation
• Mentors are (often) for life
Look for Other UGR or Active Learning
Opportunities
• http://crl.iupui.edu/resources/a
dditional-opportunities.asp
• http://www.cur.org/resources/for
_students/
• http://search.nsf.gov/search?access=p&output=x
ml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&ie=UTF
-8&btnG=Google+Search&client=NSF&oe=UTF8&proxystylesheet=NSF2&site=NSF&q=REU
Present at Regional and/or National
Meetings
•
•
Why should I present my findings? http://curca.buffalo.edu/students/presenting.php
– Presenting your research gives you an important opportunity to share your
findings with other undergraduates and faculty members.
– Conference presentations are an important part of professional development,
and they offer the chance to receive valuable feedback on your work.
– They provide you with public speaking experience and help you deepen your
own understanding of your research as you explain your project and respond
to questions.
– Conferences are also wonderful places to network with your peers and
professionals in your field.
– Finally, you will gain valuable experience to highlight on a resume or graduate
school application.
Where can you present your research?
– http://www.crl.iupui.edu/events/iuurc/
– http://crl.iupui.edu/
– http://www.cur.org/ncur_2014/
– http://www.cur.org/conferences_and_events/student_events/
Incorporate Your Experience on Your
Resume/Portfolio
• Note the specific and general skills learned
• Link to products where possible
• Modify for audience
Reasons to Publish
• It is how knowledge is shared, vetted, and
accumulated
• It is how YOU get recognized as an authority
• It is the “gold standard” for academic
promotion and tenure
• It is the pre-requisite of successful grant
funding
• It is a way to connect with other potential
collaborators.
Journals to Consider
• http://commons.pacificu.edu/ijurca/
• http://www.cur.org/resources/students/under
graduate_journals/
• Discipline specific Journals
Publishing Cultures
• Every discipline has it’s own expectations and
standards – you will need to learn these
before moving forward
– Who are co-authors and how they are listed
• Medicine vs History
– Format of publication, use of graphics etc.
• The literature you read for your own research
is generally a good guide
• Mentor is always a good resource
Seek Transcript Notation
• http://crl.iupui.edu/assets/documents/Transcr
iptNotation.pdf
• http://www.registrar.iupui.edu/transcript/tran
-experiential.html
Keep Your Edge!
"It is important that
students bring a certain
ragamuffin barefoot
irreverence to their
studies; they are not
here to worship what is
known, but to question
it" (Bronowski, 1975).
Thank You!
• Thank the CRL staff – especially your program
leaders and Katie Starks for organizing and
managing an eventful summer
• Special thanks to the mentors who have provided
our students with the many unique opportunities
that we will highlight tomorrow
• Thanks to each of you for spending your summer
engaged in “poking and prying with a purpose.”
• Remember to stay in touch with CRL and the CRL