Assessment of Undergraduate Research Learning Outcomes: Poster Presentations as Artifacts

The authors have developed a set of undergraduate research learning outcomes that address the traditions of research and mentoring across campus. Achievement of these outcomes is assessed at annual, institution-wide, undergraduate research events by employing a poster presentation evaluation rubric and deploying graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty as ad hoc raters. Between April 2018 and April 2019, 2,721 rubrics evaluating 803 undergraduate research posters by 436 raters were collected. Students participating in the one-semester funded and mentored undergraduate research program performed significantly higher on all four quantified learning outcomes than did nonparticipants. It was further found that disciplines exhibited different profiles of relative strength and weakness with respect to the various learning outcomes. Together, these findings inform future programmatic decision-making at the institution.