Involvement of Undergraduate Students in Research: A Comparison of Course Research Components, Paid Research Activities, Student-Led Projects and Independent / Directed Study Courses

摘要

Involving undergraduate students in bona fide research can provide multiple types of benefits. Whether students elect to pursue research careers or not, research experiences can be beneficial. Students gain an excellent resume item and interview discussion topic. They also gain experience in team participation dynamics and project management and the opportunity to put techniques that they have learned in the classroom to use. In interdisciplinary projects, they learn to work with those from other disciplines, gain an understanding of the challenges of doing so and gain an understanding of the vernacular of these other disciplines. This paper presents an overview of multiple techniques for involving undergraduate students in research activities. For each type, a brief description and a discussion of both the benefits and drawbacks of the style is presented. From this discussion, a set of best practices is drawn.