What Websites Tell Us About Student/Undergraduate Research:

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Can’t use the file because of accessibility barriers? Contact us with the title of the item, permanent link, and specifics of your accommodation need.

Date

2023-06-23

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

CUR Council on Undergraduate Research

Abstract

IU East is a regional campus of Indiana University located in Richmond. A culture of student research at Indiana University East is critical for efforts of attraction, retention, commencement, and the employability of our students. Institutions of higher education are asked to adapt to be an effective path to careers and employment. My interest in student research practices and outcomes dates from my years as a librarian with underlying concern of how do librarians help promote strong student/undergraduate research, scholarly, and creative programs? A review of the literature makes the connection that undergraduates engaging in scholarship/research/creativity, "…bring “skills in demand” with them to their first job and are better prepared to apply them successfully."(1) This process aids undergraduates to pull together the diverse learning practices to conceptualize/practice problems and solutions. Specific questions developed, “how can universities help more students become active researchers, scholars, and creators; how do libraries support these efforts; and how do I help students develop deeper engagement and a stronger sense of their capabilities as they graduate and use throughout their lives? And how do institutions help students be more aware of these opportunities? Part of an academic library’s role is to provide information. Historically this relied on the key strengths of organization, storage, retrieval, and discovery and are useful in guiding the study. This presentation develops from sabbatical research, 2019-2021. The global pandemic changed the project to an observational study about the practices of undergraduate research. The developed rubric focused observations of eight characteristics identified through a general review of academic websites. The eight UR characteristics are: Responsible Unit/People, Program, Linked Experiential Learning, Event, Publication(s), Institutional Repository, Website, and Funding. This rubric looked for evidence of the eight characteristics from institutional websites of Indiana University East Peers* to identify undergraduate research and related concepts. The objective is, how are students informed about UR? This study provides insights into the connections and departments of UR on any campus. The search terms are provided along with a reusable rubric. This presentation will report the findings from the observational web-site study, identify good practices, provide observations of innovative ideas, and suggest how the structure of information impacts general knowledge and may be used to encourage student participation. Through use of an online tool, attendees can experience the rubric for themselves.

Description

Keywords

student research practices, undergraduate research practices, provision of UR/SR information, university support of UR/SR, library support of UR/SR, UR Characteristics, UR Responsible Unit/People, UR Program, UR Linked Experiential Learning, UR Event, UR Publication(s), UR Institutional Repository, UR Website, UR Funding, rubric, observational study, Current UR conditions, UR models, UR Best Practices

Citation

Journal

DOI

Link(s) to data and video for this item

Relation

Rights

Type

Presentation