Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Factors influencing Student Success in Summer Research Programs: Formal versus Informal Relational Structures

Abstract

This research examines the differential impact of formal versus informal relational structures in determining student outcomes in summer research programs. In an effort to generate student responses and feedback regarding the success of the summer 2008 DAACI program, undergraduate participants were individually interviewed during the second-to-last week of the program. The interviews lasted an average of 45 minutes and ranged from about 20 minutes to 1hr 15 minutes. Students were asked a series of questions about themselves and their reactions to the program. Such information is useful in determining successful research program designs, and can be applied to future summer research programs. Overall, the main factor in ensuring the student has a positive summer research experience is their relationship with their mentors. Those who had helpful, involved mentors or graduate student mentors had better experiences than those who did not. Although interactions with fellow students were important to them, the formal social events were not beneficial, and were frequently completely unattended. Students much preferred the informal interactions they engaged in throughout the summer, as well as the formal weekly meetings and Monday lunches. Some students had professors who also met with them weekly, and found that to be helpful. A small group of students met weekly for a study group, and also found this to be much more beneficial than the golf and movie outings. Implications for how this information can be used in designing future programs are discussed.

Introduction

Terenzini1 writes, "Learning is maximized when it is situated in a real and meaningful context, when real problems are encountered and students are afforded opportunities for active engagement with those problems.” One way to achieve these active engagements is via inquiry- based or research based-learning.2 Rather than working individually or statically, students involved in research-based learning engage in dialogues about research or discovery with faculty mentors throughout their undergraduate academic careers, thereby having the opportunity for "accidental collisions of ideas."3 These research experiences differ greatly from the most common form of undergraduate teaching today—lecture.4 To allow students more opportunities to engage in research-based learning, organizations such as the NSF recommend that research deliberately be included within undergraduate education curricula.5

We define undergraduate research as “undergraduate engagement in authentic research conducted in intensive summer long program under the direct supervision of faculty researchers.”6 In addition to allowing students to explore new ideas, undergraduate research experiences benefit students in numerous ways. These experiences can have positive effects upon students' heightened interests in post-graduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers,7 students' decisions to pursue graduate studies,8 and students' persistence to graduation.9 Kardash10 found that both students and faculty mentors thought that students had increased their research skills during their undergraduate research experiences. One

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Cox, M., & Andriot, A., & Beaudoin, S. (2010, June), Factors Influencing Student Success In A Summer Research Program: Formal Versus Informal Relational Structures Paper presented at 2010 Annual Conference & Exposition, Louisville, Kentucky. 10.18260/1-2--16252