Leveraging Your Summer Research Experience

1. Leveraging Your Summer Research Experience Who Do You Want To Be?

2. Reprise: “What is Undergraduate Research?” • “An inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original, intellectual, or creative contribution to the discipline...”(from the Council on Undergraduate Research) http://www.cur.org/

3. What Do You Think? • Take five minutes to discuss the following questions with your neighbor: • By this definition did you make an original contribution? What was it? • What generalizable lessons/skills did you take away form your summer experience?

4. What Should Undergraduate Research Do for US? • Educational benefits include: • Engages and empowers students in hands-on learning • Enhances the student learning experience through mentoring relationships with faculty • Increases retention in the STEM disciplines & other fields • Provides effective career preparation & promotes interest in graduate education • Develops critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, self confidence, and intellectual independence • Promotes an innovation-oriented culture http://oregonstate.edu/students/research/why-research

5. What Should Undergraduate Research Do for You? • Academic benefits include: • Working closely with a faculty mentor • Learning about issues, methods, and leaders in students' chosen fields • Applying concepts learned in coursework to "real life" situations • Sharpening problem-solving skills  • Learning to read primary literature http://oregonstate.edu/students/research/why-research

6. What Should Undergraduate Research Do for You? • Professional benefits include: • Exploring and preparing for future careers • Developing marketable skills • Enhancing professional communication skills • Collaborating with others and working effectively as part of a team http://oregonstate.edu/students/research/why-research

7. What Should Undergraduate Research Do for You? • Personal benefits include: • Growing as a critical, analytical, and independent thinker • Meeting challenges and demonstrating the ability to complete a project • Discovering personal interests • Developing internal standards of excellence http://oregonstate.edu/students/research/why-research

8. Department of Sociology, Social Work & Anthropology, Utah State University, • Graduates report that they use their research skills, more than any other sociological skills, in their future jobs! http://sociology.usu.edu/urbenefits.aspx • Analytical Skills • Teamwork • Time Management • Leadership • Writing Skills • Troubleshooting • Understanding of Ethics • Communication • Self-Confidence

9. The American Association of Colleges and Universities -Peer Review: Spring 2010, Vol. 12, No. 2 ndergraduateResearch as a High-Impact Student Experience”By David Lopatto, professor of psychology, Grinnell College “Undergraduate researchers learn tolerance for obstacles faced in the research process, how knowledge is constructed, independence, increased self-confidence, and a readiness for more demanding research. These benefits are an advantage in any career path.” http://www.aacu.org/peerreview/pr-sp10/pr-sp10_Lopatto.cfm

10. AAAS Recognizes the Growing Importance of Undergraduate Research • http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2007_07_06/caredit.a0700095 Growing a new generation of scholars and researchers • "my notions of what I wanted to do were shaped by that first summer doing research."

11. Visioning Experience • Spend a few minutes addressing the following “thought experiment” and then share answers with your neighbor • Where (locale) will you be working in the year 2025 and what will you be doing • How will you know if you are happy?

12. How Do I Leverage This Experience? • Explore your passion • Define your strengths and weaknesses • Make connections to mastering your discipline • Prepare for graduate school or professional school • Stay in touch with your mentor

13. How Do I Leverage This Experience? • Stay in Touch With Your Mentor • Look for Other UGR or Active Learning Opportunities • Look to Present Your Research at Regional and/or National Meetings • Push to Publish • Incorporate Your Experience on Your Resume/Portfolio • Seek Research and RISE Notations on Your Transcript

14. Stay in Touch With Your Mentor • Osborne and Karukstis (2009) http://www.missouriwestern.edu/appliedlearning/documents/Chapter4-Final-BenefitsofUGROsborn.pdf • interactions with faculty mentors significantly affect an individual student’s cognitive and behavioral development . • directly impact student satisfaction and learning (Astin, 1993). • participation in undergraduate research with a faculty mentor is a “high impact” learning experience. (Lipka, 2007) • Additional studies verify that the collegial and collaborative partnership of undergraduate students and faculty members contributes significantly to the personal and professional gains reported by students (Seymour, 2004; Hunter, 2006). • Mentors write the best letters of recommendation • Mentors are (often) for life

15. Look for Other UGR or Active Learning Opportunities • http://crl.iupui.edu/resources/additional-opportunities.asp • http://www.cur.org/resources/for_students/ • http://search.nsf.gov/search?access=p&output=xml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&ie=UTF-8&btnG=Google+Search&client=NSF&oe=UTF-8&proxystylesheet=NSF2&site=NSF&q=REU

16. Present at Regional and/or National Meetings • Why should I present my findings? http://curca.buffalo.edu/students/presenting.php • Presenting your research gives you an important opportunity to share your findings with other undergraduates and faculty members. • Conference presentations are an important part of professional development, and they offer the chance to receive valuable feedback on your work. • They provide you with public speaking experience and help you deepen your own understanding of your research as you explain your project and respond to questions. • Conferences are also wonderful places to network with your peers and professionals in your field. • Finally, you will gain valuable experience to highlight on a resume or graduate school application. • Where can you present your research? • http://www.crl.iupui.edu/events/iuurc/ • http://crl.iupui.edu/ • http://www.cur.org/ncur_2014/ • http://www.cur.org/conferences_and_events/student_events/

17. Incorporate Your Experience on Your Resume/Portfolio • Note the specific and general skills learned • Link to products where possible • Modify for audience

18. Reasons to Publish • It is how knowledge is shared, vetted, and accumulated • It is how YOU get recognized as an authority • It is the “gold standard” for academic promotion and tenure • It is the pre-requisite of successful grant funding • It is a way to connect with other potential collaborators.

19. Journals to Consider • http://commons.pacificu.edu/ijurca/ • http://www.cur.org/resources/students/undergraduate_journals/ • Discipline specific Journals

20. Publishing Cultures • Every discipline has it’s own expectations and standards – you will need to learn these before moving forward • Who are co-authors and how they are listed • Medicine vs History • Format of publication, use of graphics etc. • The literature you read for your own research is generally a good guide • Mentor is always a good resource

21. Seek Transcript Notation • http://crl.iupui.edu/assets/documents/TranscriptNotation.pdf • http://www.registrar.iupui.edu/transcript/tran-experiential.html

22. Keep Your Edge! "It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin barefoot irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it" (Bronowski, 1975).

23. Thank You! • Thank the CRL staff – especially your program leaders and Katie Starks for organizing and managing an eventful summer • Special thanks to the mentors who have provided our students with the many unique opportunities that we will highlight tomorrow • Thanks to each of you for spending your summer engaged in “poking and prying with a purpose.” • Remember to stay in touch with CRL and the CRL