Open AccessHow Well Do Undergraduate Research Programs Promote Engagement and Success of Students?
Author(s) -
Marcus Fechheimer,
Karen L. Webber,
Pamela B. Kleiber
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
cbe life sciences education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.33
H-Index - 67
ISSN - 1931-7913
DOI - 10.1187/cbe.10-10-0130
Subject(s) - measure (data warehouse) , student engagement , mathematics education , control (management) , medical education , causality (physics) , psychology , point (geometry) , computer science , medicine , mathematics , physics , geometry , quantum mechanics , database , artificial intelligence
Assessment of undergraduate research (UR) programs using participant surveys has produced a wealth of information about design, implementation, and perceived benefits of UR programs. However, measurement of student participation university wide, and the potential contribution of research experience to student success, also require the study of extrinsic measures. In this essay, institutional data on student credit-hour generation and grade point average (GPA) from the University of Georgia are used to approach these questions. Institutional data provide a measure of annual enrollment in UR classes in diverse disciplines. This operational definition allows accurate and retrospective analysis, but does not measure all modes of engagement in UR. Cumulative GPA is proposed as a quantitative extrinsic measure of student success. Initial results show that extended participation in research for more than a single semester is correlated with an increase in GPA, even after using SAT to control for the initial ability level of the students. While the authors acknowledge that correlation does not prove causality, continued efforts to measure the impact of UR programs on student outcomes using GPA or an alternate extrinsic measure is needed for development of evidence-based programmatic recommendations.