Excellence In Mentoring Undergraduate Research

This cross-disciplinary volume incorporates diverse perspectives on mentoring undergraduate research, including work from scholars at many different types of academic institutions in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It strives to extend the conversation on mentoring undergraduate research to enable scholars in all disciplines and a variety of institutional contexts to critically examine mentoring practices and the role of mentored undergraduate research in higher education.

Undergraduate Research (UR) can be defined as an investigation into a specific topic within a discipline by an undergraduate student that makes an original contribution to the field. It has become a major consideration among research universities around the world, in order to advance both academic teaching and research productivity. Edited by an international team of world authorities in UR, this Handbook is the first truly comprehensive and systematic account of undergraduate research, which brings together different international approaches, with attention to both theory and practice. It is split into sections covering different countries, disciplines, and methodologies. It also provides an overview of current research and theoretical perspectives on undergraduate research as well as future developmental prospects of UR. Written in an engaging style, yet wide-ranging in its scope, it is essential reading for anyone wishing to broaden their understanding of how undergraduate research is implemented worldwide.

Mentorship is a catalyst capable of unleashing one's potential for discovery, curiosity, and participation in STEMM and subsequently improving the training environment in which that STEMM potential is fostered. Mentoring relationships provide developmental spaces in which students' STEMM skills are honed and pathways into STEMM fields can be discovered. Because mentorship can be so influential in shaping the future STEMM workforce, its occurrence should not be left to chance or idiosyncratic implementation. There is a gap between what we know about effective mentoring and how it is practiced in higher education. The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM studies mentoring programs and practices at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It explores the importance of mentorship, the science of mentoring relationships, mentorship of underrepresented students in STEMM, mentorship structures and behaviors, and institutional cultures that support mentorship. This report and its complementary interactive guide present insights on effective programs and practices that can be adopted and adapted by institutions, departments, and individual faculty members.

The Naylor Report on Undergraduate Research in Writing Studies combines scholarly research with practical advice for practitioners of undergraduate research in writing studies, including student researchers, mentors, and program administrators. Building upon the 1998 Boyer Commission Report, Reinventing Undergraduate Education, this book provides insight into the growth of undergraduate research over the last twenty years. Contributors demonstrate how undergraduate research serves students and their mentors as well as sponsoring programs, departments, and institutions. The Naylor Report also illustrates how making research central to undergraduate education helps advance the discipline. Organized in two parts, Part I focuses on defining characteristics of undergraduate research in writing studies: mentoring, research methods, contribution to knowledge, and circulation. Part II focuses on critical issues to consider, such as access, curriculum, and institutional support.

This book presents a radical reconceptualization of subject-focused and research-led teacher professional development. Drawing on the experiences of more than 50 high school teachers and technicians who participated in science-based research with their students, the author examines how this enables teachers to develop a ‘Teacher Scientist’ model of professional identity. Through active participation in research, science teachers and technicians can implement socially just approaches to education, where students’ differences are valued and, through research, their social and academic development is supported. Central to the ‘Teacher Scientist’ identity is the development of, and sustained interaction with, complex and collaborative professional networks which include researchers, university-staff and teachers and students in other schools. In the context of persistent recruitment and retention challenges, the ‘Teacher Scientist’ model provides a research-led approach which may offer an alternative to strategies focused on financial incentives.