Teaching Research Best Practices through Early Career Experiential Learning

Launching Your Research is a new course offering designed to engage undergraduate students in research at an early stage of their academic careers (sophomore-second year). This learning opportunity required students to identify research best practices and develop effective time, teamwork, and project management skills to succeed. With the aid of rubrics to scaffold this early introduction to scientific research, students lead every aspect of executing a comprehensive project that included the following: (1) designing a team-based interdisciplinary research project complete with a testable hypothesis; (2) identifying appropriate methodologies and sampling techniques; (3) gathering primary, fieldbased samples; (4) analysis of these samples using modern research instrumentation; (5) rigorous interpretation of results; and (6) dissemination of their findings via peer-reviewed scientific reports and conference-style presentations (both oral and poster). Ultimately, on the basis of feedback received from weekly reflection reports and course exit surveys, our students were observed to meet all of our Undergraduate Degree Level Expectations (UDLEs) in their second year of postsecondary education.