Undergraduate Research: Studies on the Impact of Undergraduate Research on Students

Article from the Journal of College Student Development
Few scholars have comprehensively examined benefits of undergraduate research (UGR) participation for students at an institution campus-wide. In this study we examined benefits of UGR participation at a Hispanic-majority institution using National Survey of Student Engagement data. Generalized estimating equations were used to examine the influence of UGR participation on 5 student outcomes: gains in knowledge and skills, institutional support, overall satisfaction, grade point average, and student–faculty interaction. Results indicate that UGR participation is a robust positive predictor of all 5 outcomes. We provide insights into strategies for enhancing the beneficial impacts of UGR participation, especially for students from underrepresented groups.

Article from Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
A key factor to whether college students persist and thrive is the degree to which they participate in educationally effective activities that contribute to their learning, personal development and success (Kuh, 2001; Kuh, 2003; Lopatto, 2006). Undergraduate research is a recognized high impact pedagogical practice that enhances student development and results in increased retention and degree completion; it has been identified as particularly important to the academic success of underrepresented groups. Undergraduate research experiences have been demonstrated to support
STEM-related career aspirations and increase STEM graduation rates.

Article from Stanford University
Both undergraduates and postgraduates think that research activity makes their lecturers more enthusiastic, increases their credibility, and ensures that their knowledge is up to date. They also think that involvement in research means that lecturers are less accessible, and can sometimes lead to curriculum bias if narrowly focused research is given too much attention.
While both undergraduates and postgraduates agree about the generic benefits of lecturer involvement in research, postgraduates also apparently expect the lecturers who support their learning to be involved in research; and they insist that this research should be relevant to the content of their courses.

CUR Quarterly
This article is not a primer on designing an effective assessment
protocol for such experiences, but it is essential to establish
clear objectives and to select or design the appropriate assessment instruments in order to derive meaningful information.
As information is collected and analyzed, it can be used to
improve programs.

Article from Association of American Colleges & Universities
The positive effects of an undergraduate research experience on student learning, attitude, and career choice have passed from anecdote to systematic data. Many educators, particularly in the sciences, have come to see the potential for authentic undergraduate research to be a high-impact educational practice for achieving excellence in liberal education. In the past decade research on these student experiences has revealed the extensive array of professional and personal benefits. Initial efforts to understand these benefits started with evaluation of the relatively clear experience in which a student spent a summer working exclusively on research as an apprentice to a faculty scholar, typically in the sciences.

In this ethnographic study of summer undergraduate research (UR) experiences at four liberal arts colleges, where faculty and students work collaboratively on a project of mutual interest in an apprenticeship of authentic science research work, analysis of the accounts of faculty and student participants yields comparative insights into the structural elements of this form of UR program and its benefits for students. Comparison of the perspectives of faculty and their students revealed considerable agreement on the nature, range, and extent of students' UR gains. Specific student gains relating to the process of “becoming a scientist” were described and illustrated by both groups. Faculty framed these gains as part of professional socialization into the sciences. In contrast, students emphasized their personal and intellectual development, with little awareness of their socialization into professional practice. Viewing study findings through the lens of social constructivist learning theories demonstrates that the characteristics of these UR programs, how faculty practice UR in these colleges, and students' outcomes—including cognitive and personal growth and the development of a professional identity—strongly exemplify many facets of these theories, particularly, student‐centered and situated learning as part of cognitive apprenticeship in a community of practice.