This project is developing, implementing, and disseminating an innovative curricular model for engaging undergraduates in research, with an emphasis on enhancing faculty-student collaborations at primarily undergraduate institutions. The project is a training-model that organizes faculty-student collaborative research into hierarchical, three-student teams, teams which systematically ladder students' experiences according to their skills, promoting their overall development from assistants into graduate-level researchers. The training model is being implemented each summer with one research team consisting of two Lewis & Clark College students and one student from a neighboring community college. The results of each research project are being presented at regional professional conferences. The implementation component of this project is building on a newly published paper (co-authored with an undergraduate participant): JB Detweiler-Bedell, B Detweiler-Bedell, A Hazlett, & MA Friedman, "The effect of diagnosis and perceived reward on perceptions of depressive symptoms and social support," Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology (2007). Concurrently, the project is developing and producing a team-based laboratory manual for students and is creating an extended resource edition of the manual for faculty. Together, these form the project platform for disseminating the training-model. A regional conference focusing on effective faculty-student research is planned for the end of the project. The conference is intended for a diverse audience of faculty members with an interest in developing a more research-supportive curriculum at their own institutions.
Intellectual Merit Early prior work on this model has occurred over the past six years that demonstrates the feasiblity of this approach. The team-based training model accomplishes three educational goals: (1)It tailors undergraduate research to each student's level of education and abilities; (2)It supports a rigorous, lab-based research experience that emphasizes the collaborative nature of experimental psychology; and (3)It fosters a strong sense of intellectual community within and between project teams. The model has promise in developing student enthusiasm for research and graduate studies.
Broader Impacts This model of organizing faculty-student research has promise for supporting faculty research at primarily teaching institutions. It can be adapted to work well during the summer, and is an effective means of making research opportunities available to underrepresented students and students from community colleges. The model is in principle applicable to many disciplines and areas of research in many institutions.
