Browsing by Author "Swaby, Keri"
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- Creating an inclusive, adaptable model for tracking, assessing, and celebrating student success in undergraduate researchMacDonald, Amanda B.; Brown, Anne M.; Swaby, Keri (2020-06)There is a current need for programmatic and curriculum support for inclusive, university-wide programs that incentives and recognizes students’ varied research endeavors. Launched in the spring of 2018, the Undergraduate Research Excellence Program (UREP) at Virginia Tech provides a programmatic pathway to assess student interest in collecting, organizing, and reflecting on their undergraduate research experiences. UREP is currently offered as a discipline agnostic and to provide multiple on-ramps into the program. The program has generated interest from students in every College and, to date, 608 students have enrolled. This presentation discusses results and metrics regarding the expansion, assessment, and program updates of UREP and will provide an adaptable framework, program model, and openly-accessible materials for directors/coordinators of undergraduate research offices or programs.
- Distinguishing our Undergraduate Researchers: Perspectives on an Innovative Campus-Wide Framework at Two R1 Land Grant InstitutionsMacDonald, Amanda B.; Brown, Anne M.; Swaby, Keri; Ferstel, Sarah (2022-06-29)There is an increasing need to relate cross-institutional strategies to elevate undergraduate research and foster collaborations. Many students participate in more than one research experience at their home institutions, and some will also have the opportunity to conduct research outside of their home institutions, such as at NSF REU sites, which allows them to engage with new faculty, content, and research. This creates a space for universities to celebrate all types of student research experiences, even research conducted at other institutions, and offer a programmatic structure that not only provides a roadmap for students in terms of participation but also a connector to key university resources. Here, two research-intensive, land-grant institutions discuss their innovative framework to aid launching UR tracking programs. The framework for these programs is highly adaptable and helps with development and implementation. In this presentation, speakers will discuss the varied research landscape for students across the two universities and challenges commonly faced by those in UR supporting roles, such as UR librarians and Directors of Offices of UR. They will provide an overview of their UR tracking programs and how this type of programmatic framework can assist in connecting with student researchers, offering essential training and support for both students and mentors, celebrating the success of students, and identifying the reach and impact the framework provides OURs and other support units, such as University Libraries. The speakers will showcase where their programs overlap and diverge, share cross-institutional strategies for learning and collaboration, and address how this framework allows for flexibility and adaptability. This type of UR programmatic approach not only benefits librarians and Directors but also students, mentors, and the undergraduate research community at large. A set curriculum for UR does not exist for every student, so this program structure offers goalposts for students, particularly those seeking to maximize their research participation potential while in college and/or their future careers in research. Faculty mentors and UR program directors can integrate any or all of the framework’s resources, training, and requirements to build their own recommended path for students. Attendees will leave this session with access to the programmatic framework alongside a “menu” of options for program development and growth, and access to other types of openly accessible UR resources. Following the session, attendees will be able to practice programmatic development using the menu, draft UR tracking programs that celebrate student success, and integrate any shared materials or the framework itself into usable programing at their home institutions.
- Leveraging Epistemic Exclusion as a Lens for Investigating Black Engineering Students' Undergraduate Research ExperiencesBrisbane, Julia Machele (Virginia Tech, 2024-06-04)Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) are presented as a mechanism for improving the persistence of Black engineering students. However, because most engineering UREs are led by faculty and staff in Colleges of Engineering, it is reasonable to assume they are not immune to the systemic racial issues that plague engineering education. Existing scholarship on epistemic exclusion theorizes that individual biases and institutional practices contribute to faculty of color's scholarship being devalued and deemed illegitimate, but this topic is underexplored in UREs. LSAMP is an NSF-funded program that provides funding for institutions to create UREs for racially minoritized students in STEM, providing a ripe context for exploring the phenomenon of epistemic exclusion in UREs. This explanatory mixed methods study examines facets of epistemic exclusion prevalent in the undergraduate research experiences of Black engineering LSAMP scholars and the practices undergirding it. The findings of this study are based on survey and interview data collected from current and former LSAMP scholars. The survey results reveal perceptions of low levels of epistemic exclusion via scholarly devaluation; and there were no significant differences in survey responses based on race, gender, or whether in an engineering discipline or not. However, the qualitative phase helped explain the quantitative results. Black engineering students, specifically, experienced epistemic exclusion in ways that differ from literature on underrepresented faculty; and they perceived UREs as an opportunity for learning knowledge – not producing it. While positive peer interactions and a welcoming lab enabled epistemic inclusion, a toxic lab culture and inadequate URE program structures enabled epistemic exclusion. These findings have implications for faculty mentors, URE program administrators, policymakers, and education researchers. They are valuable for advancing our understanding of Black engineering students participating in UREs, contributing to national efforts to broaden participation of racially minoritized students in engineering education, and diversifying the research enterprise and the engineering workforce.
- UREP: Model for Implementing and Validating Undergraduate Research and Other HIPsMacDonald, Amanda B.; Brown, Anne M.; Swaby, Keri (2019-02-01)Conversations have emerged in higher education surrounding high-impact practices (HIPs) and experiential learning. Undergraduate research presents itself as an excellent HIP to integrate the strengths of a research intensive university and exceptional student learning. We propose a scaffolded approach to tracking, assessing, and connecting undergraduate research to the best HIP practices and student outcomes. The model presented is designed to be discipline agnostic and conceptualized as a university-wide program. The framework of this Undergraduate Research Excellence Program highlights the need for strategic development and implementation while also highlighting the adaption of this model in other curricular and co-curricular contexts.