Mentoring Undergraduate Research

March 29, 2006

Clark's "Learn through Inquiry" signature states, in part, that "Each student has an opportunity to participate in a culminating experience in the context of senior seminars, research, or other capstone experiences." As a follow-up to our most recent CETL lunch on Research Methods Courses (which turned into a broader discussion of institutional structures to support undergraduate research), we now turn our attention to faculty mentoring of undergraduate research. Arshad Kudrolli (Physics), Patrick Derr (Philosophy), and Colin Polsky (Geography) will kick things off with a brief discussion of how they each organize the undergraduate research process, including finding projects for students within their research areas, recruiting students, setting expectations, mentoring on a day to day basis, and helping students present and publish their work. There will be plenty of time for discussion--bring your good ideas to share!