Undergraduate research, learning gain and equity: the impact of final year research projects

Abstract

This study evaluates the impact of undergraduate research on student achievement. It analyses graduating students from 2012 to 2016 at a UK university that requires a research project comprising 25% of finalyear credits in most subjects, providing a sample of over 5000 students across the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. It compares project grades to other final-year grades to gauge the 'research gain' or impact on students' achievement. Multiple regression analysis then determines what factors affect this impact. It finds that students achieve better grades on research projects than the average of other modules. This improvement is larger for students with lower prior achievement, women, and students in the natural sciences, though smaller for Asians and students declaring a disability. The implications are that undergraduate research provides a measurable benefit to all students, but this impact is larger for some, though not all, historically underrepresented or underachieving groups of students.

An innovative framework for higher education to evaluate learning gain: a case study based upon the discipline of marketing

“…Student learning performance at university can be linked to many factors including motivation (Liu, Bridgeman and Adler 2012), previous qualifications, gender and ethnicity and socio-economic background (Jones et al 2017). These behavioural, sociocultural, psychological and holistic perspectives (Maskell and Collins 2017;Neves and Stoakes 2018;Parker 2018;Standford et al 2017;) map directly on to Kahu's framework of student engagement (2013). Normative measurement (individual performance), instead of ipsative testing (relative performance), can be the most effective way to compare the learning of students (Evans, Kandiko Howson and Forsythe 2018) and assessing such student learning is now one of the drivers for measuring student performance in terms of value added and learning gain (Caspersen and Smeby 2018).…”

Converting a formerly in‐person biochemistry course based undergraduate research experience to online teaching during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Nevertheless, it is important to provide students with the knowledge and the experience required for their undergraduate training, and so the online capstone undergraduate course was designed and implemented. [4][5][6] In the pre-medical program, at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q), the Capstone Lab Experience was designed under course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) guidelines for second-year students. 7 The 13-week project course was originally developed to be delivered in-person, with goals of gaining hands-on experience with laboratory techniques and skills, learning to articulate scientific findings clearly through scientific writing, and enhancing analytical skills, teamwork, and problem-solving strategies.…”

Transitioning undergraduate research from wet lab to the virtual in the wake of a pandemic

“…Another aspect of teaching that has not been given enough attention is the online management of undergraduate research and biochemistry/molecular biology teaching labs. [5][6][7] In our undergraduate program (as in most institutions), students take research for credits, and earn it by committing to lab work for a few hours per week (3 hr per credit in our institution). Typically, undergraduate students in the sciences work with their mentors in the lab on a specific project, doing lab-based experiments and analyses.…”

“…For regular course work, lectures are given online and students continue to work on assignments and homework as they usually do. Another aspect of teaching that has not been given enough attention is the online management of undergraduate research and biochemistry/molecular biology teaching labs 5–7 . In our undergraduate program (as in most institutions), students take research for credits, and earn it by committing to lab work for a few hours per week (3 hr per credit in our institution).…”