Secure Stakeholder Support for Entering Research

Evidence of effectiveness

Evaluation of the original Entering Research curriculum1 showed that the Entering Research course helps students find a mentor, understand their place in a research community, and connect their research to their course work in the biological and physical sciences. Students in the course reported statistically significant gains in their skills, knowledge, and confidence as researchers compared with a control group of students, who also were engaged in undergraduate research but not enrolled in this course. The second edition of the curriculum2 has also been extensively pilot tested at sites across the country and reports from students and facilitators provide further evidence of the effectiveness of the revised curriculum3.

References

  1. Branchaw JL, Pfund C, and Rediske R (2010). Entering Research: Workshops for students beginning research in science. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.
  2. Balster N, Pfund C, Rediske R, Branchaw JL (2010). Entering Research: A course that creates community and structure for beginning undergraduate researchers in the STEM disciplines. CBE Life Sciences Education, 9(2), 108-118.
  3. Branchaw JL, Butz AR, Smith AR (2019). Entering Research: A curriculum to support undergraduate and graduate research trainees (2nd edition). New York: Macmillan Learning.
  4. Branchaw JL, Butz AR, Smith AR (in review). Entering Research: A conceptual framework for research trainee development and customizable curriculum for undergraduate and graduate research trainees.