TY - GEN
T1 - The effectiveness of undergraduate research programs
T2 - 42nd Annual Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE 2012
AU - Hirsch, Linda S.
AU - Perna, Angelo
AU - Carpinelli, John
AU - Kimmel, Howard
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Graduate work, especially the Ph.D., requires extensive research, a skill not often emphasized in undergraduate programs. Although not much is known about all the factors that influence undergraduate students' decision to pursue or not pursue graduate studies, particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, recent research indicates that many undergraduates feel unprepared for graduate studies and view the research requirement as a deterrent. Opportunities for undergraduates to engage in research have increased recently as a result of federally funded programs including Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs), McNair Achievement Programs and Bioengineering and Bioinformatics Summer Institutes (BBSI). Students work in research laboratories during the summer, interact with faculty and graduate students, learning hands-on how to do research. The Attitudes toward Graduate Studies Survey was developed to help evaluate the effectiveness of these programs at New Jersey Institute of Technology. Students who participate in these programs show increases in their attitudes toward graduate studies and have significantly higher attitudes than students who do not participate. Often students indicate confidence in their ability to pursue graduate studies but only a small percentage think that they will have the skills necessary to begin a Ph.D. program when they complete their undergraduate degree. A possible conclusion is that even though students feel confident in their academic abilities they do not feel confident enough about their research skills to complete a Ph.D. program, making research programs such as REU's, BBSI and McNair, necessary. A follow-up study of students who attended these programs at NJIT over the last decade has found that participation in these programs increases attendance in graduate programs.
AB - Graduate work, especially the Ph.D., requires extensive research, a skill not often emphasized in undergraduate programs. Although not much is known about all the factors that influence undergraduate students' decision to pursue or not pursue graduate studies, particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, recent research indicates that many undergraduates feel unprepared for graduate studies and view the research requirement as a deterrent. Opportunities for undergraduates to engage in research have increased recently as a result of federally funded programs including Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs), McNair Achievement Programs and Bioengineering and Bioinformatics Summer Institutes (BBSI). Students work in research laboratories during the summer, interact with faculty and graduate students, learning hands-on how to do research. The Attitudes toward Graduate Studies Survey was developed to help evaluate the effectiveness of these programs at New Jersey Institute of Technology. Students who participate in these programs show increases in their attitudes toward graduate studies and have significantly higher attitudes than students who do not participate. Often students indicate confidence in their ability to pursue graduate studies but only a small percentage think that they will have the skills necessary to begin a Ph.D. program when they complete their undergraduate degree. A possible conclusion is that even though students feel confident in their academic abilities they do not feel confident enough about their research skills to complete a Ph.D. program, making research programs such as REU's, BBSI and McNair, necessary. A follow-up study of students who attended these programs at NJIT over the last decade has found that participation in these programs increases attendance in graduate programs.
KW - Attitudes toward Engineering
KW - Attitudes toward Graduate Studies
KW - BIOMEMS
KW - McNair
KW - Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84874748829&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84874748829&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/FIE.2012.6462241
DO - 10.1109/FIE.2012.6462241
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84874748829
SN - 9781467313513
T3 - Proceedings - Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE
BT - 2012 Frontiers in Education Conference
Y2 - 3 October 2012 through 6 October 2012
ER -