Title: Some Best Practices for Effective Mentoring of Undergraduates in Science Research CUR/SPS 2006
1Some Best Practices for Effective Mentoring of
Undergraduates in Science Research CUR/SPS 2006
Anne-Barrie Hunter, Sandra Laursen, Elaine
Seymour Ethnography Evaluation Research CARTSS,
University of Colorado at Boulder
2Acknowledgments
- We wish to thank
- NSF-ROLE Program and Howard Hughes Medical
Institute for their financial support - The four participating colleges who funded data
collection in the early stages of this study. - The site PIs at the four research sites for their
advocacy of the project, and their guidance as
members of the studys steering committee J.
Swartz (Grinnell College), S. Wettack (Harvey
Mudd College), J. Gentile (Hope College), M.
Allen and A. Wolfson (Wellesley College) - The faculty and students at the four colleges for
their generosity and openness in giving
interviews. - We hope that they, and all who have enabled this
work, will regard its findings as truthful,
useful, and validating
3- Funding agencies and organizations promoting
college science education (NSF, NRC, RC, HHMI,
etc.) have strongly recommended that institutions
of higher education provide greater opportunities
for authentic, interdisciplinary and
student-centered learning - Promotion of research-based learning as a
national objective for science education in
research universities (Boyer Commission Report,
1998)
4 What do we know about whatstudents gain from UR?
- Prior to our work NOT MUCH
- 9 studies meeting accepted methodological
standards - Majority of literature largely claims-based by
faculty practitioners offering - descriptive accounts
- promotional and discussion articles
- histories and reviews
- These are important, but not evidence-based
5Study Research Questions
- What gains do students make from doing UR
immediately following the experience, and in the
longer term? - By what processes do these gains come about? How
do peers, faculty and departments contribute? - How are career outcomes affected by UR
participation? - What are the benefits and costs to faculty of
doing UR?
6Study Design
- 4 liberal arts colleges with long history of
well-established UR programs (based on
apprenticeship model) best case scenarios - In-depth, semi-structured interviews with
- comparative student and faculty
participant/non-participant samples - college administrators and UR program directors
- followed student samples longitudinally
- Total number of interviews 367
- This analysis 76 student interviews 80 faculty
interviews 156 interviews
7Content Analysis of Interview Data
Thematic coding Taking necklaces apart to sort
beads and look for patterns in color, shape,
size, and frequency (common or rare)
8Data Analysis Yields
- Findings grounded in faculty and student
observations - Frequencies for all observations across the data
set (e.g., counts are of observations, not
people) - Verbatim comments to illustrate the issues
identified - Findings help determine nature, range and
relative weighting of the issues. - Findings are not subject to tests of statistical
significance
9Overview Comparison of Faculty and Student
Positive Observations on Gains from UR
10Overview of Research Findings on Student Gains
from UR
- 1) 90 of faculty observations and 92 of student
observations discuss gains - 2) Students and faculty report observations on
the same range of gains - 3) High degree of agreement between faculty and
student observations - 4) UR allows students to confirm, refine or
clarify pre-existing ideas/intentions - 5) Taken together, Thinking and working like a
scientist, Becoming a Scientist, and
Personal-professional Gains, comprise 62 of
all gains observations
11Learning theory, communities of practice, and
the development of personal and professional
identity
12Social constructivism
- A model of learning in which knowledge
acquisition is a process of integrating new
knowledge with prior knowledge - knowledge is continually constructed and
reconstructed by the individual. (Vygotsky,
1978)
13Social constructivism
- Knowledge acquisition is a negotiated, social,
and contextual process - ? Role of the teacher as a facilitator of
student learning - meaning making is a shared, two-way process
between the mentor/master and the
student/apprentice based upon an activity of
mutual interest
14Social constructivism
- Meaning making is situated and takes into
account a students current level of knowledge - Learning objectives aimed at capturing a zone
of proximal development a students ability to
learn and problem-solve beyond his or her current
knowledge level through careful guidance from and
collaboration with an adult or group of more able
peers (Vygotsky, 1978)
15Social constructivism
- Lave and Wenger (1991) and Wenger (1998)
- communities of practice
- newcomers are socialized into the practice of
the community (i.e., science research) through
mutual engagement with, and direction and support
from, an old-timer
16Social constructivism
- Lave and Wenger professional socialization as an
outcome of engaging in a community of practice - Legitimate peripheral participation
- students active participation in the authentic
practice of the community - the process by which the novice is inducted into
the knowledge and skills of the communitys
professional practice under the guidance of the
master - the process by which the novice moves from the
periphery toward membership in the community
17Social constructivism
- Cognitive apprenticeship (Brown, Collins
Duguid, 1989 Farmer, Buckmaster LeGrand,
1992) helps students learn to contend with
ambiguity and uncertainty - ? transmits knowledge about how to deal with
situations that are ill-defined, complex and
risky - ? prepares the student to negotiate undefined
spaces of learning where answers are unknown to
everyone (novice and master) - ? opportunities for the students self-expression
and reflective thinking facilitated by an expert
18Social constructivism
- Epistemological reflection model
- Baxter Magolda (1999,2004)
- links students intellectual development to
identity development as part of professional
socialization process - ways of knowing gradually shift from an
externally-directed view to one that is
internally-directed - ? process of self-authorship
19Social constructivism
- Self-authorship
- situated learning that takes into account the
students own perspective - negotiated, shared meaning making between the
teacher and the student - ? validates students as capable learners
encourages their epistemological, intellectual,
personal, and professional development
20? Constructivist learning theory and pedagogies,
including communities of practice, are manifested
in the structure and practice of the
apprenticeship-style model of undergraduate
research
21- How do these theories on learning, professional
socialization and identity development relate to
our findings on student gains from participation
in UR experiences in the sciences?
22- Interconnectedness of
- cognitive development
- personal growth
- identity development
- Thinking and working like a scientist
Becoming a scientist Personal-professional
gains - Intellectual gains ?
- personal and professional growth
23- Thinking and working like a scientist
Hands-on learning of how science research is
done ? students integrate current and new
knowledge ? directly apply critical thinking and
problem-solving skills to the professional
practice of science research ? growth in
students confidence to do science - Role of the research advisor as a facilitator
of student learning providing guidance and
support, helping the student to reflect on their
own learning ? growth in students confidence
24 Personal-professional gains
- Novelty of interacting with faculty as
colleagues is very powerful for students - Being taken seriously and respected for their
opinions and insights ? validates students as
capable learners and builds students confidence
and draws students into the community of science - I can do science I can contribute to
science - Student research peers are an extra resource
and provide camaraderie ? contribute to sense of
belonging to a community
25Becoming a scientist
- Students reported changes in attitudes toward
learning and working as a researcher, but did not
project these changes beyond the context of UR - Taking greater care to be accurate, going beyond
the minimum expected, greater willingness to work
independently, take initiative - Faculty research advisors witness students
growth - Increased willingness to work independently, make
decisions about next steps in the project, more
willing to take risks, think creatively - ? Adoption of attitudes and work norms that
indicate professional socialization and
integration into the community of practice
(though students are not conscious of their
professional development)
26Career clarification
- Increased interest and enthusiasm for field of
study, or in science, generally, but students
largely unclear about future plans at time of
first interview - Faculty and students value UR experience as an
opportunity to cognitively and affectively assess
the appropriateness of a career in science
research - Clarified, confirmed and refined previous career
intentions, including going on to graduate school - 7 of 76 students discovered research is not for
me - ? Personal and professional identity development
27Enhanced career preparation
- Students value UR as real world work
experience with transferable value
opportunities to network with other scientists,
faculty, peers - Faculty value UR for enhancing students
preparation for future work contexts and graduate
school - Personal and professional identity development as
part of professional socialization - ? Role of other community of practice members who
actively contribute to students learning and
professional socialization
28Skills
- Faculty and students report student gains in
technical skills and learning to present
students emphasize transferable value of skill
gains - Growth in students confidence, understanding of
professional practice -
- Basis of professional socialization and
integration into community of practice
29- Some best practices of
- mentoring students in UR
- Research advisor as facilitator of learning
- Student-centered and situated
- UR project well-defined, but open-ended
- Meets students at their level, but stretches
intellectual capacity - Provides legitimate participation
- Meaning making is shared and negotiated
- ? Thinking and working like a scientist
Becoming a scientist Personal-professional
gains
30Conclusions
- Every category of student gains reflects elements
of personal growth and professional socialization
into the practice of science research. - Research findings show how theory on learning,
communities of practice, and personal and
professional identity development are manifested
in practice. - ? The importance of UR to students education and
its contribution to their cognitive, personal and
professional development
31Research FindingsThe Benefits to Students ofUR
Experiences in the Sciences
32Thinking and Working Like a Scientist
- Applying critical thinking and problem-solving
skills to research - Faculty observation
- I tend to go around saying, Okay. What have
you done? What is your analysis? I can tell
that theyre catching on when, as I start
discussing possible interpretations with them and
Ill say something and theyll say, Oh, but that
doesnt fit with what we did yesterday. Then
you know the science is there. - Student observation
- It really does help you learn to detect your own
dumb mistakes. Like, its easy to think about
something conceptually a little bit wrong, and go
with that for about a week. But then you look at
what youve got, and your spectra dont make any
sense. Then you realize what the problem is. You
learn to recognize things like that quicker and
quicker the more you do it.
33SummaryThinking and Working Like a Scientist
- Faculty emphasize more than students, student
gains in - understanding science research
- understanding the nature of science
- Students emphasize more than faculty gains in
- Increases in their knowledge
- Appreciating the relevancy of their coursework
- Student claims in gaining increased understanding
of how to frame research questions/develop
research design are NOT matched by faculty
observations of student gains in this area
34Becoming a scientist
- Demonstrated gains in attitudes and attributes
- Faculty observation Taking Ownership of the
project/intellectual engagement - What I look for, and to me, the mark of success
in this kind of endeavor is ownership.Its fun
to see.Theres some transformation that occurs,
where it suddenly becomes their project. And you
see that. - Student observation Greater intellectual
engagement/thinking and working independently - Just being able to sit down and concentrate on
one thing and figure it out and understand. We
work with protein-DNA interactions. And so just
for me to look at that and really, really
understand it rather than just getting the big
overview. And then, actually thinking about the
problem critically and creatively and being,
Okay. Now what can I change to have this effect
and to have this outcome? Thats a whole new
experience for me.
35Becoming a scientist
- Understanding the nature of science/that research
- requires particular temperament
- Faculty observation
- I think they learn that science is really boring
(laughs). And thats the key. If they can know
that science is boring and still do it, and still
stick with it, then they have the makings of a
really good scientist. - Student observation
- You cant get too emotionally distraught over
somethingI have a tendency, especially when its
my own dumb mistake thats caused me to lose
several hours of work. You have to just step
back and deal with the facts as they are and say,
Okay. Ive messed up. I need to correct this.
Itll take a few hours, but then well move on.
36Summary Becoming a scientist
- Faculty value the development in students of
attributes and attitudes important to
professional practice, as these are essential if
students are going to become scientists - Students acknowledge changes in themselves, but
do not recognize these as important professional
attributes. Rather, students internalize these
gains, focusing on the immediate effects of
their own self-development.
37Personal-professional gains
- Gains in confidence to do science
- Faculty observation
- You can see it a mile away. When they approach a
new piece of equipment, its more, Well, wheres
the manual? (Laughs) Dont waste my time
teaching me this. Just tell me how to turn it on
and Ill figure it out. Self-confidence,
maturity. - Student observation
- At the beginning, I asked a lot of questions to
get a good basis and a good idea when I didnt
really know what I was doing. But by the end of
the summer, I didnt speak to my advisor much,
because I would just do it.
38Personal-professional gains
- Establishing a collegial relationship with
faculty - Faculty observation
- Theres a lawyer in Cedar Rapids that Ive kept
in touch with over the years. He was 76 class,
something like that. And about every other year
we get together someplace. We have a lot of
mutual friends and we know what each others
doing. Theres another guy, a faculty member, a
mathematicianwe see him all the time. He used
to baby-sit for us. Their daughter was up a
couple of weeks ago. - Student observation
- He said hes learning as much from us as we are
learning from him. Hell start taking out his
notebook and start writing down things we are
saying. It makes you feel proud when something
you said is important enough for someone like
him, who has been researching this stuff much
longer than we haveespecially when it seems like
a moment of insight, like something he hadnt
thought of before. It just feels great when
somebody takes me seriously, or takes my work
seriously.
39SummaryPersonal-professional gains
- Students emphasize more than faculty gains in
confidence - to do research
- to contribute to science
- in feeling like a scientist
- Students experience the force of these affective
gains for themselves - Faculty emphasize more than students gains in
establishing a collegial relationship - Faculty have longer-term evidence of the
importance of these relationships (for themselves
and for their students)
40Clarification/Confirmation of Career/Graduate
School Intentions
- Faculty observation
- Its certainly nice to see them learn over the
course of the summer, to see them doing more
thinking for themselves, more autonomy, making
good choices, making good decisions. Its nice
to see them gain confidence in their role as
research collaborators. Its nice to see them get
to a point where they clarify what they do and
dont want to do, because that really does often
happen. Its nice to see them clarify, Yeah,
that was interesting, but its not my cup of
tea, or, Oh, I loved it and this is what I want
to do! - Student observation
- Ive always been thinking and wanting to go to
grad school, ever since I can remember, wanting
to get a doctorate, but I actually truly decided,
it was this summer when I said, Yes, Im going
to go to grad school. Its what I want to do.
41SummaryClarification/Confirmation of
Career/Graduate School Intentions
- Students emphasize gains in
- Assessing fit between interests and field of
study research is for me - Clarifying, refining and confirming previous
career/graduate school intentions - Faculty emphasize student gains in
- Increased interest
42Enhanced Career/Graduate School Preparation
- Provides Relevant Career/Graduate School
Preparation - Faculty observation
- Some of my M.D.-Ph.D. alums, they come back and
say, Look. I got my Ph.D. because I love being
in the lab. I dont know that Ill ever become a
faculty member. Im practicing now. But the way
of functioning that I got from being in the lab
informs everything that I do in general
practice. - Student observation
- Youre given a lot of freedom and responsibility
to do things so Im really getting out of it how
to go about a professional type job or business,
these kinds of things.
43SummaryEnhanced Career/Graduate School
Preparation
- The larger number of student comments for all
types of observations highlights students
position as graduating seniors and their
preoccupation with what comes next - Faculty comments highlight the importance of UR
to their own careers bean counting numbers of
students, articles, presentations, etc.
44Summary Skills
- Faculty and student observations are well
aligned. Both agree greatest gains are in - Presentation skills
- Lab skills
- Higher ranking of skills for students (3rd) than
for faculty (6th) indicate their greater
importance to students - Reflect the steep learning curve of UR learning
new instrumentation at the beginning meeting the
challenges of learning to present at the end - Transferable to other areas in life and as
important to future careers or graduate school
45Conclusions
- Different observations on the same types of gains
reveals how each group sees and values the gains
of undergraduate research differently - Factors evident in students observations
- had just finished their 10-week UR experience
very intensive - were about to start senior year, were
uncertain/concerned about future plans - as yet, do not recognize in themselves the
development of professional traits that faculty
see. - Factors evident in faculty members observations
- an encompassing view of student gains derived
from long experience leading UR - bring own perspective as educators, mentors and
professional scientists (particularly noting
gains in students seen as necessary if students
are going to go on to replace the science
profession)