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Undergraduate Research Experiences |
One of the most critical experiences for enhancing students’ motivation and qualifications to pursue graduate studies is the opportunity to participate in research. In addition to enhancing students’ motivation for graduate education and the quality of preparation in STEM, research experiences are fundamental for developing and/or enhancing critical thinking and communication skills (Spilich, 1997). Also “Prior research experience is extremely helpful for making adjustment to lab or field work easier, and is a selling point for admission into graduate school” (Bloom, Karp, and Cohen, 1998). According to Judith Ramaley, former Assistant Director of the Education and Human Resources at NSF, undergraduate research helps students develop “an ongoing love of learning and a curiosity about the world” as well as critical thinking skills.
During Phase IV PR-LSAMP will offer between 275 and 280 research stipends per year to an average of 200 students per year (a student may participate more than once in a given year) to participate in a mentored research experience. Rather than rely on the usual approaches to undergraduate research experiences, PR-LSAMP will offer during Phase IV a mentored research experience, as students are more likely to acquire the knowledge and skills needed for research in a nurturing teaching/learning environment rather than in an “on the job training” environment.
Students participating in the PR-LSAMP mentored undergraduate research experience will be expected to meet high standards in a challenging and rigorous research experience. However, they will be provided the skills, knowledge and nurturing environment needed for them to meet the challenge. According to Adams (2004) “A well-planned and implemented mentored research experience exposes undergraduate students to other networking opportunities with STEM faculty and STEM undergraduate and graduate students in an environment that offers empowerment… Research crystallizes the essence of methodology and serves as the path to new knowledge; mentoring “creates a culture that develops and enables students” (Adams 2004)8. As such, the proposed mentored undergraduate research experience will be key to enhancing the overall conceptual development of STEM students.
PR-LSAMP will provide participating PR-LSAMP undergraduate students a multi-faceted mentoring program at each institution, consisting of the Mentoring Coordinator (to be selected from the pool of faculty members trained as mentors by PR-LSAMP during Phase II and III); and Research Mentors, and Peer Mentors. The Mentoring Coordinator at each institution will be responsible for leading the development and organization of the group mentoring activities for the participating PR-LSAMP students at his/her institution. Research Mentors will be responsible for developing in PR-LSAMP students basic research skills, while participating in a given research project. Peer Mentors (an upper level student in the case of a 4-year institution and a graduate student in graduate institutions) will coach the PR-LSAMP undergraduate student through the stages of development while participating in the research experience and will also serve as a role model. Thus, participating students will have three trained mentors, all of whom will be seen as “… facilitative partner[s] in an evolving learning relationship focused on meeting mentees goals and objectives…” (Zachary 2000). The goal is the establishment of a mentoring culture as an integral part of the research experience. The extent of the Mentored Research Program at each PR-LSAMP institution will vary depending on the number of students participating in research experiences and the number of research mentors. One of the most critical experiences for enhancing students’ motivation and qualifications to pursue graduate studies is the opportunity to participate in research. Besides enhancing students’ motivation for graduate education, research experiences are fundamental for enhancing the quality of students' preparation in SMET. Research crystallizes the essence of methodology and serves as the path to new knowledge. As such, it is key to enhancing the overall conceptual development of SMET students. During Phase I and II, a total of 2,363 research stipends were awarded.
In Phase II PR-LSAMP identified and trained 64 STEM faculty members from the participating institutions, to become mentors to undergraduate STEM students. The objective was to have in each institution a core of mentors to guide students through their academic and personal development, and to increase retention rates and therefore, the number of participants who successfully completed a BS degree in a STEM field.
In Phase IV, PR-LSAMP selected at each participating institution a STEM faculty member from this core of mentors to coordinate the three-face mentorship experience. At each participating institution, the Mentoring Coordinator is responsible for group mentoring activities to be developed for all PR-LSAMP students participating in undergraduate research experiences at the institution. Eight seminars (three per semester and two during the Summer) will be offered at the PR-LSAMP institutions. The topics for the four core seminars to be offered at each PR-LSAMP institution are: 1) using data bases; 2) ethics in research; 3) analytical reading and thinking skills, and 4) basic lab safety. The resources for the core seminars will be STEM faculty members from the institution. Topics for the remaining four seminars were determined jointly by the Mentoring Coordinator, the Research Mentors and the Peer Mentors and target specific identified needs of the participants at each institution. Workshop resources are identified from the different PR-LSAMP institutions. The Mentoring Coordinator maintains constant communication with Research and Peer Mentors (by e-mails, visits to the labs or meetings) to support their mentoring activities and assure that students’ needs are being met and that they are demonstrating academic progress. The Mentoring Coordinator leads the mentorship experience at the three levels to ensure that mentoring is successfully being met at each stage.
The Research Mentor - Each Research Mentor assigns a peer mentor to each PR-LSAMP protégé assigned to his/her lab. The Research Mentor is responsible for helping PR-LSAMP students develop scientific research skills such as observing, classifying, inferring, identifying and manipulating variables, predicting; forming hypotheses, organizing and interpreting data, and designing and conducting experiments. The Research Mentor also assists PR-LSAMP students in developing/enhancing assessment and synthesis skills.
The Peer Mentor - Peer mentors work with PR-LSAMP students participating in research experiences. In 4-year institutions, the peer mentor is an upper level student who has had experience in the lab and has been trained by PR-LSAMP in mentoring strategies; in graduate institutions, peer mentors are graduate students trained by the AGEP Mentoring Program or by PR-LSAMP, including former and current BDP Fellows. Peer Mentors: 1) assist incoming PR-LSAMP students in becoming familiar with the research being conducted in the lab; 2) develop the calendar of work for each research stage; 3) are responsible for the day-to-day monitoring of the student’s development of research skills and accomplishment of work assigned; 4) serve as role model; and 5) develop a nurturing relationship with the student to support his/her academic and personal growth. The Peer Mentor is the liaison between the PR-LSAMP student and the Research Mentor.
A central part of this activity will continue to be the Puerto Rico Interdisciplinary Scientific Meeting (PRISM), the major local scientific forum for students from universities across the island to share their research projects and experiences with their peers and STEM faculty members. Last year 500 STEM students and faculty participated in this activity, and 355 research projects were presented. Each year the event is hosted by a different PR-LSAMP institution. The activity opens with a plenary session featuring an internationally renowned scientist.
As part of this component, PR-LSAMP also provides participants with travel stipends to present their research projects at national conferences, such as The American Chemical Society, the American Society for Microbiology, the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, SACNAS, AICHE Annual Students Conference, and the American Physical Society Conference.
Check calendar of events for application deadlines here!
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