The Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities program has been established to enable undergraduate students to experience the excitement of creating new knowledge or works. Various opportunities are available for students to engage in contemporary activities that are potentially publishable or otherwise communicated in a discipline appropriate fashion. Students participating in these programs should expect to work with a faculty mentor and be actively engaged in a project while gaining hands-on experience. Students may present the results of their work at the campus Student Research Symposium and/or at regional and national meetings.
The National Survey of Student Engagement (NNSE) describes a faculty mentored undergraduate research experience as a ‘high impact’ learning experience that promotes ‘deep learning’.
Studies have demonstrated that undergraduate researchers:
- show measurable gains in sophistication of epistemological reflection
- experience personal gains in independence and self-confidence
- show gains in career clarification and career preparation
- persist in their pursuit of an undergraduate degree at a higher rate than comparison groups
- pursue graduate education at a higher rate than comparison groups
- experience gains in specific skills such as making use of primary literature, formulating research hypotheses, interpreting data, and communicating the results of research
- as alumni they retrospectively report higher gains than comparison groups in skills such as carrying out research, acquiring information, and speaking effectively
