Improving retention and graduate recruitment through immersive research experiences for undergraduates

Abstract

Research experiences for undergraduates are considered an effective means for increasing student retention and encouraging undergraduate students to continue on to graduate school. However, managing a cohort of undergraduate researchers, with varying skill levels, can be daunting for faculty advisors. We have developed a program to engage students in research and outreach in visualization, virtual reality, networked robotics, and interactive games. Our program immerses students into the life of a lab, employing a situated learning approach that includes tiered mentoring and collaboration to enable students at all levels to contribute to research.Students work in research teams comprised of other undergraduates, graduate students and faculty, and participate in professional development and social gatherings within the larger cohort. Results from our first two years indicate this approach is manageable and effective for increasing students' ability and desire to conduct research.

Coarse-grained detection of student frustration in an introductory programming course

“…Computer science research groups within universities recruit undergraduates into research projects early in the students' college lives [cf. 10,26], games are used as capstone projects and/or to teach introductory computer science concepts [3], curriculum pace is reduced to give students more time to digest content [29], students program in pairs [30] or groups [13], and are guided to participate in peer-review [2] to stimulate conversations about their work.…”

“…10,13,29]. Students' selfperception of their programming competence [4,20] and their comfort levels with the subject [4] have been shown to be predictors of programming achievement.…”

“…To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. ICER'09, August [10][11]2009 We attempt to detect student frustration automatically based on measures distilled from student behavior within the program development environment. Automatic detection can support instructors in large introductory classes, where instructors do not have the time to monitor every student's affective experience.…”

Undergraduate Research Experiences: Qualitative Results from a Multi-Year Survey

“…4 Participating in undergraduate research is also a proven strategy for recruiting and retaining students from diverse backgrounds into STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields. [5][6][7][8][9] Well-structured undergraduate research programs provide opportunities for students to engage in knowledge discovery, production and meaning-making. 10 Undergraduate research programs can also promote what Hodge, Baxter Magolda, and Haynes 11 have described as an engaged learning approach:…”

Board # 5 : A Mentoring Workshop for an REU Program

“…2 Mentoring also improves retention, 3,4,5,6 facilitates exploration of career options 7 , increases participation in undergraduate research and cooperative work experiences 2 , and leads to greater consideration of graduate programs 3,4,6,8,9 by women, underrepresented minorities, and first-generation-to-college students.…”