KENNESAW, Ga. | Jul 28, 2020

Undergraduates can experience new research opportunities through course integration

Experiential learning through research experiences, service learning, internships and co-ops continues to be the cornerstone of a well-rounded undergraduate education. Opportunities for students to engage in mentored research and scholarship across disciplines has been an important priority at Kennesaw State University for the past fifteen years. 

“Undergraduate research has grown tremendously in the past several years, culminating when we hosted the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in 2019,” said Amy Buddie, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and professor of psychology. “There is a strong desire amongst KSU undergraduates to get involved in research, and we need to facilitate ways for larger numbers of students to become scholars. One way to do that is to embed undergraduate research into courses."

Buddie explained that integrating undergraduate research projects into courses has numerous benefits. According to the 2016 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), many students are underrepresented in undergraduate research, including first-generation students and students of color. When undergraduate research projects are embedded in courses, all students have an opportunity to participate.

Buddie developed the Undergraduate Research Course Redesign Institute over the summer for faculty to address the need to expand experiential learning opportunities in this area and to facilitate and increase engagement among all undergraduate students. A typical research experience at KSU, for example, would include one faculty member mentoring one student.

“This new institute was created for 20 faculty members who will each teach at least one course with maybe 20 students, which could have an impact on at least 400 students,” said Buddie. “I want to help students get involved in undergraduate research as early as possible because previous initiatives show that there are increases in graduation rates and graduate school attendance along with significant gains in skills such as writing and public speaking.”

The course redesign institute was conducted virtually over a week-long period in early May to help selected faculty who had applied to design or redesign courses so that they were aligned with the definitions and guidelines of the university wide “It’s About Engagement” initiative.

“’It’s About Engagement’ is an initiative designed to facilitate student involvement in experiential learning opportunities, specifically internships and coops, service learning, and undergraduate research,” said Buddie. “The goal of the initiative is to increase the number of courses at KSU offering these learning opportunities.”

By the end of the institute, the participants submitted revised syllabi for courses they are planning to teach over the next year, including a class assignment in which their students self-reflect and describe their experiences from conducting undergraduate research.

For Afekwo Mary Ukuku, assistant professor of public health in WellStar's College of Health and Human Services, finding new approaches for involving undergraduates in research was pivotal as she will teach a new public health writing and analysis course this fall that emphasizes research engagement. 

“The course redesign institute was important because it provided a space to work with like-minded faculty and exposed me to several different departments and courses that I may want to partner with in the future,” said Ukuku. “My hope for the new course is for students to leave with a desire to engage in research, and I felt like the institute would help me with prioritizing activities that will lead to outstanding student projects.”

Rebecca LeFebvre teaches a course on undergraduate research methods once a year in the School of Government and International Affairs, which included students submitting their projects for outside presentations or publications. Once the course moved online in recent years, the number of students disseminating their research findings dropped.

“Since Dr. Buddie heavily referenced academic studies during the institute, I felt confident that the methods presented were going to make a difference for students,” said LeFebvre senior lecturer of political science in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “The institute also facilitated peer-to-peer learning with other faculty at KSU, and I came away with so many great ideas and suggestions that I have already implemented.”

Robert Simon, professor of Spanish and Portuguese in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, said that the institute experience was very positive and enhanced his ability to create a designated space for student research and his capacity to guide and supervise students at a distance.  

“Intensive research projects will teach our students to be expert professionals in their chosen field(s) as well as active citizens in their local and wider communities in the near future,” said Simon. “Guided research at the undergraduate level helps students to feel comfortable with the idea and practice of becoming informed, working analytically, and finding a path which the facts of their world can support.”

The faculty participants in the course redesign institute included:

—Geena Lawrence