Academic and Professional Preparedness: Outcomes of Undergraduate Research in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

First-generation college students without broad support networks are more likely to leave STEM majors. In rural West Virginia, the First2 Network aims to improve STEM persistence by including students in creating solutions to STEM attrition. One solution, a research program for rising first-year students in STEM majors, is discussed here. The authors assessed students’ STEM education and career plans, identity, efficacy, and sense of school of belonging before and after the program. Intern and faculty perspectives were also analyzed. Students’ STEM identity, efficacy, and school belonging improved after participation. However, First2 students’ early STEM persistence rates were lower than state rates for somewhat similar non-First2 students.

This article reports results of a research study at a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site focused on psychological research with clear applications to the real world. Two cohorts of undergraduates engaged in rigorous research projects with implications for real-world problems such as driving, homeland security, relationships, human-computer interaction, language comprehension and production, discrimination, and health psychology. To determine the effectiveness of the program, students completed the Kardash Ratings of Interns’ Research Skills as well as the Undergraduate Research Questionnaire, kept journals, and completed exit interviews. Results indicated that students and mentors perceived an improvement in the students’ research skills. Students conveyed positive experiences and identified strengths and weaknesses of the program that can be used to improve future REUs.

This study reports results from a three-year implementation of a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program funded by the National Science Foundation in aerospace engineering at a public research university in the southwestern United States. A total of 35 students, who were citizens or permanent residents selected from across the United States, participated in the REU program for 10 weeks during the summers of 2017 through 2019, and 23 completed both presurveys and postsurveys on career goals and research experiences. Most students initially expressed a desire to pursue graduate education and research, but there was a slight decrease in this after the program. Students’ perceptions of research knowledge, skills, and engineering career paths were all positively affected.

Unprecedented growth has occurred in the development of undergraduate journals over the past 10 years. Yet, despite the numerous benefits that research shows for authors, editors, and faculty mentors involved in undergraduate publications, academic institutions have struggled to sustain student journals over time. Based on the authors’ experience with launching and sustaining a journal over six years and data collected from five years of exit interviews, reflective writing, and surveys, they discuss 10 key steps for creating and sustaining an undergraduate journal and overcoming the obstacles linked to such an endeavor.

This article describes a multidisciplinary, asynchronous, 10-hour online training program for undergraduates enrolled in a mentored research apprentice program, addressing communication skills, knowledge of the research process, information literacy, and research ethics. A pretest-posttest survey was completed to assess students’ perceived gains (n = 130) in knowledge and skills. A survey was also administered to faculty mentors (n = 50) to assess observations regarding students’ gains. Results revealed significant perceived gains in all four content areas (p < 0.001) with no significant differences across disciplines. The findings suggest that the training content and format were successful in providing participants with foundational research knowledge and skills. Mentors’ observations support the student findings and identify gains in discipline-specific skills. Implications for undergraduate research programs are discussed.