Moderators: Jeremy B. Kanter, TeKisha Rice

Panel: Siera J. Schwanz, Amie E. Kahovec, Kayley Davis, Shelby T. Clouthier

With undergraduate students increasingly attending national research conferences, understanding how to optimize their undergraduate research experience is critical – not only for the undergraduates, but for the graduate students and faculty who work with them. The purpose of this workshop is to provide practical strategies for undergraduates to strengthen their own research experiences through professional development and improvement of key components of the scientific process. We also aim to provide student perspectives on how faculty and graduate student mentors can optimize their undergraduate assistants’ research experience. Workshop information is informed by both scholarly literature on undergraduate research involvement as well as the panelists’ personal experiences with undergraduate research.

OBJECTIVES

--To improve the student research experience by providing practical tips for engaging in professional development activities.
--To improve the student research experience by providing practical tips for strengthening key components of the research process.
--To identify practical strategies for faculty and graduate students to improve mentorship of undergraduate research assistants.

Keywords: mentoring, research, professional development