Shadow‐a‐Postdoc Initiative: Evaluation of the Undergraduate Students' Research Workshop Series at the University of Alabama at Birmingham

Undergraduate research initiatives across major institutions have received considerable investment and attention over the last two decades. The reason for this attention is not far‐fetched, as numerous studies have enumerated the benefits of undergraduate research. These include undergraduate students' self discovery, enhanced career preparedness, increased retention, intellectual independence, development of critical thinking and problem solving skills, to mention a few. Furthermore, academic institutions as well as research scientists see undergraduates as the future of the academia. Undoubtedly every investment in undergraduate research activity is about securing the future of the research enterprise. Like other research‐intensive institutions, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is also very committed and continues to heavily invest in undergraduate research. This paper reports on one of such undergraduate research initiatives called the Undergraduate Research Workshop Series (URWS). This workshop series focuses on providing information and enhancing the capability and the untapped research potentials of undergraduate students at UAB. Succinctly, the workshop is structured in three main modules: Introduction to Research (2 sessions), Good Laboratory Practices (3 sessions), and Research Communication (2 sessions). Most of the invited speakers are postdoctoral scholars or graduate students. In addition, the undergraduate students are provided the opportunity to participate in the “Shadow‐a‐postdoc Initiative (ShaPI)” program. In this program, students interested in research experiences are “matched” based on common research interests with a postdoctoral fellow (mentor) for a brief period of research shadowing. Therefore, the major objective of this study was to evaluate the success of the URWS in tandem with the the ShaPI program. Methods We utilized a mixed‐methods research design in our evaluation of the URWS. Descriptive statistics and thematic analyses of students' responses are presented. For the quantitative date collection a likert‐scale survey was used to elicit participating students' perceptions of the different modules of the URWS. Moreover, qualitative responses were tallied through feedback provided by the students on their experiences with the ShaPI program and their assigned mentors. Results Our preliminary findings indicate that all the respondents rated the workshop as very good or excellent. Similarly, about 93% of respondents indicated that they agree or strongly agree that the workshop increased their awareness of different types of research being conducted at UAB. Of the students who signaled interest in engaging in the research shadowing opportunity, about 30% of these students made initial contact with their assigned mentors and participated in the shadowing program. Currently, about 22% of these undergraduates are currently performing undergraduate research in a research lab. Conclusion Increasing the knowledge, attitude, and the interests of mentored undergraduates in research may enhance the likelihood of such students to pursue research opportunities in the future. Implications for improving recruitment, pedagogy, and students' retention as it relates to undergraduate research are also delineated. Support or Funding Information This work is supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants T32‐DK7545 and GM K12 088010 to Oreoluwa Adedoyin