Faculty perspectives regarding the undergraduate research experience in science and engineering

Journal of Engineering Education, Jul 2002 by Zydney, Andrew L, Bennett, Joan S, Shahid, Abdus, Bauer, Karen W

ABSTRACT

This study examined the perceptions of 155 science and engineering faculty at a mid-size university with a very extensive undergraduate research program. The faculty thought the undergraduate research experience provided important educational benefits to the students, in good agreement with results from a recent alumni survey. The faculty who supervised undergraduates for a longer period oftime and who modified their research program to accommodate undergraduates perceived a greater enhancement of important cognitive and personal skills. Undergraduate research was also believed to provide important mentoring and teaching experience for graduate students who worked with undergraduate research assistants.

I. INTRODUCTION

The publication of the Boyer Commission Report [2] caused many research universities to re-examine their approach to undergraduate education. In particular, the Report urged universities to "make research-based learning the standard" for education of their undergraduates [2]. The most straightforward model for "research-based learning" is the undergraduate research experience, in which undergraduates collaborate with faculty and their graduate students in the conduct of research. A 1998 workshop sponsored by the National Research Council [9] stated that "research is a necessary component of the bachelor's degree education." The National Science Foundation has presented undergraduate research as a critical component of its core strategy for education reform [8]. Further, some programs now require undergraduate research as part of the B.S. degree to ensure that all students meet the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) engineering criteria (e.g., the Chemical Engineering Department at Princeton University).

Faculty mentors generally agree that significant educational benefits result from the undergraduate research experience [4, 6]. Students are thought to develop expertise in an area of specialization, gain a better understanding and appreciation of the research process, and acquire team, communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. Zydney et al. [10] recently surveyed engineering alumni at the University of Delaware to assess more quantitatively the impact of the undergraduate research experience. Alumni who had participated in research were compared with a comparable group of alumni with no research experience. Respondents were unaware that their response would be used to assess the impact of undergraduate research. A very high percentage (92.4%) of the alumni who had participated in undergraduate research thought that this experience was "very" or "extremely" important to their overall education [10]. Alumni with research experience were more likely to pursue graduate degrees, and they reported greater enhancement of their ability to carry out research, speak effectively, understand scientific findings, know literature of merit in the field, analyze literature critically, and possess clear career goals than did alumni with no research experience [10].

In spite of the educational benefits that are associated by alumni and by faculty with undergraduate research, many faculty have significant concerns regarding the time and financial commitment needed to mentor undergraduates and the overall benefits of the required efforts. For example, Hakim reported that many faculty mentors and students at Jacksonville University had "serious complaints about shortage of time and money" for undergraduate research [5]. Foertsch et al. [3] interviewed ten faculty mentors at the University of Wisconsin who were involved in an eight-week summer undergraduate research program designed to expose minority students to research and encourage them to attend graduate school. Many of the faculty members felt that undergraduates did not make significant research contributions during their short stays, particularly when balanced against the amount of time that the faculty mentor had invested in the student. In addition, some faculty voiced concerns about the financial cost of supporting these undergraduate research assistants.

The objective of the current study was to examine the practices and perceptions of faculty in engineering, mathematics, and science (including psychology) who were actively involved in undergraduate research at the University of Delaware, a mid-sized, research-- extensive university where more than 90% of the full-time faculty regularly work with undergraduates in their research. More specifically, we wanted to see what factors motivate such a large percentage of the faculty to participate in undergraduate research and what barriers still exist to further participation. We also wanted to determine what, if any, accommodations these faculty make to facilitate the participation of undergraduates in their research programs. Finally, we wanted to compare the educational outcomes perceived by faculty mentors with those reported by alumni who had participated in research at this institution.