Learning in laboratories: Investigating interactions between engineering research communities and undergraduate workers

在实验室学习：调查工程研究社区和本科生之间的互动

• 批准号: 1606868
• 负责人: Caitlin Wylie
• 金额: $ 5.86万
• 依托单位: University of Virginia Main Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-09-01 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1606868&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Learning; laboratories; Investigating; interactions; between

Undergraduate research is often touted as an important aspect of the college experience. The laboratory is intuitively a valuable learning space, in which students can gain hands-on research experience as well as personal mentoring and support from expert researchers. But there are few studies about what student laboratory workers actually learn, or about how their presence affects the work of the laboratory community. To better understand and thereby improve how undergraduates learn research skills and other professional skills, this study investigates the experiences of undergraduate workers and the professors, graduate students, technicians, and others who work with them in two engineering laboratories. Specifically, do undergraduates learn technical skills by working with machines and conducting experiments, or do they perform simple repetitive tasks, such as washing glassware or soldering? Are they integrated into the lab community in apprenticeship-style immersion and mentorship, or are they segregated as "just undergrads"? Do they acquire the skills of a professional engineer, such as how to design a research project and how to present their work, or do they mostly learn general employee skills, such as punctuality and following directions? How are they learning these lessons? How does working in a lab shape students' senses of identity as engineers, including their own race, gender, and class? This study uses the answers to these questions to identify best practices for student learning and personal development as well as for the laboratory community's effectiveness and efficiency, focusing on behaviors and policies that can be achieved by researchers, university research administrators, and undergraduates. Studies show that students from underrepresented groups benefit significantly from mentoring relationships, and are more likely to continue in science and engineering careers as a result. Yet the processes behind these beneficial experiences are not well understood, because most previous studies examine only quantitative, retrospective surveys of students and faculty. This study applies qualitative research methods, including interviews, participant observation, and concept-mapping activities, to gain a valuable direct view of how students interact with and learn from a lab's principal investigator and other workers. By examining such interactions as instructions, work assignments, questions, and subtle exchanges that immerse students in the tacit knowledge of professional engineering practices and behaviors, this study investigates whether and how students acquire T-shaped expertise (i.e., deep, broad, and interdisciplinary knowledge) and develop a personal sense of identity as an engineer. Understanding these processes will inform the development of best practices to create laboratory communities that are places of learning, work, inclusion, and professionalization. This information will support the future formation of a more diverse, research-savvy, and professionally-skilled population of engineers.

本科研究经常被吹捧为大学经历的一个重要方面。实验室直观上是一个有价值的学习空间，学生可以在其中获得实践研究经验以及专家研究人员的个人指导和支持。但是，关于学生实验室工作者实际上学到了什么，或者他们的存在如何影响实验室社区的工作，却很少有研究。为了更好地了解，从而提高本科生如何学习研究技能和其他专业技能，本研究调查了本科工人和教授，研究生，技术人员，和其他人谁与他们一起工作在两个工程实验室的经验。具体来说，本科生是通过与机器和实验一起工作来学习技术技能，还是进行简单的重复性任务，如清洗玻璃器皿或焊接？他们是以学徒式的沉浸和导师制融入实验室社区，还是被隔离为“仅仅是本科生”？他们是否获得了专业工程师的技能，例如如何设计研究项目以及如何展示他们的工作，或者他们主要学习的是一般员工技能，例如守时和遵循指示？他们是如何吸取这些教训的？在实验室工作如何塑造学生作为工程师的身份感，包括他们自己的种族，性别和阶级？本研究使用这些问题的答案，以确定学生学习和个人发展以及实验室社区的有效性和效率的最佳实践，重点是研究人员，大学研究管理人员和本科生可以实现的行为和政策。研究表明，来自代表性不足群体的学生从导师关系中受益匪浅，因此更有可能继续从事科学和工程职业。然而，这些有益的经验背后的过程并没有得到很好的理解，因为大多数以前的研究只考察了学生和教师的定量，回顾性调查。本研究采用质性研究方法，包括访谈，参与者观察和概念映射活动，以获得学生如何互动，并从实验室的首席研究员和其他工作人员学习有价值的直接看法。本研究通过考察诸如指令、工作任务、问题和微妙的交流等互动，使学生沉浸在专业工程实践和行为的隐性知识中，研究学生是否以及如何获得T形专业知识（即，深入，广泛和跨学科的知识），并发展作为工程师的个人认同感。了解这些过程将为最佳实践的发展提供信息，以创建学习，工作，包容和专业化的实验室社区。这些信息将支持未来形成一个更加多样化，精通研究和专业技能的工程师群体。