Undergraduate Research at 2-year Campuses: Challenges and Opportunities
Primary Faculty Mentor’s Name
none
Proposal Track
Faculty Affinity Network (FAN)
Session Format
Paper Presentation
Abstract
Undergraduate research is a high-impact practice which provides many benefits to students beyond typical classroom learning, including enhanced problem solving ability, critical thinking skills, practical skills, presentation skills, and self-confidence. Traditionally, undergraduate research has been limited to upper-class undergraduate students. Community colleges have become more important in undergraduate education in recent years (AAAC, 2011). Recognizing the importance of community college education, the Council of Undergraduate Research received NSF funding to study the potential of undergraduate research to promote education at the community college level. Their findings support the effectiveness of undergraduate research programs for community colleges or 2-year commuter campuses (Hensel & Cejda, 2014).
This session would serve as an opportunity for faculty mentors from community colleges or 2-year campuses to network and engage in discussion of the many issues in supervising undergraduate research that may be unique to this population. Some of the issues we may discuss include:
- Finding time to mentor students with a heavy teaching load
- Limited space and resources for conducting research
- Developing a culture of undergraduate research on campus
- Maintaining student motivation throughout a research project
- Dealing with interference from life-circumstances, students’ employment, and family life
- Making U.R. “worth it” to the students, with stipends or with course credit
- The transferability of research credits past the AA degree
- The usefulness of a “Memorandum of Understanding” between faculty & students
- Teaching the ethics of research
- Core competencies developed through research experience
- Marketing transferable skills gained from research experience
- Dealing with students with less personal investment
- Conducting research with students who are less experienced and needing more hand-holding
- Opportunities for dissemination of research results
References:
American Association of Community Colleges. (2011). Fact Sheet. Washington, D.C.: American Association of Community Colleges
Hensel, N. H., & Cejda, B. D. (Eds.) (2014). Tapping the potential of all: Research at community colleges. Washington, D.C.: Council on Undergraduate Education.
Keywords
community colleges, 2-year campuses, AA degrees, freshmen, sophomores
Location
Room 2901
Presentation Year
2015
Start Date
11-7-2015 9:00 AM
End Date
11-7-2015 10:00 AM
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Kipp, Katherine, "Undergraduate Research at 2-year Campuses: Challenges and Opportunities" (2015). Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference (2014-2015). 50.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gurc/2015/2015/50
Undergraduate Research at 2-year Campuses: Challenges and Opportunities
Room 2901
Undergraduate research is a high-impact practice which provides many benefits to students beyond typical classroom learning, including enhanced problem solving ability, critical thinking skills, practical skills, presentation skills, and self-confidence. Traditionally, undergraduate research has been limited to upper-class undergraduate students. Community colleges have become more important in undergraduate education in recent years (AAAC, 2011). Recognizing the importance of community college education, the Council of Undergraduate Research received NSF funding to study the potential of undergraduate research to promote education at the community college level. Their findings support the effectiveness of undergraduate research programs for community colleges or 2-year commuter campuses (Hensel & Cejda, 2014).
This session would serve as an opportunity for faculty mentors from community colleges or 2-year campuses to network and engage in discussion of the many issues in supervising undergraduate research that may be unique to this population. Some of the issues we may discuss include:
- Finding time to mentor students with a heavy teaching load
- Limited space and resources for conducting research
- Developing a culture of undergraduate research on campus
- Maintaining student motivation throughout a research project
- Dealing with interference from life-circumstances, students’ employment, and family life
- Making U.R. “worth it” to the students, with stipends or with course credit
- The transferability of research credits past the AA degree
- The usefulness of a “Memorandum of Understanding” between faculty & students
- Teaching the ethics of research
- Core competencies developed through research experience
- Marketing transferable skills gained from research experience
- Dealing with students with less personal investment
- Conducting research with students who are less experienced and needing more hand-holding
- Opportunities for dissemination of research results
References:
American Association of Community Colleges. (2011). Fact Sheet. Washington, D.C.: American Association of Community Colleges
Hensel, N. H., & Cejda, B. D. (Eds.) (2014). Tapping the potential of all: Research at community colleges. Washington, D.C.: Council on Undergraduate Education.
