Workshop: Training the Trainers in Pre-Research Coursework

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This project is supporting a workshop to nationally disseminate the educational materials and lessons learned during the PIs' earlier NSF-funded project, "EURO: Enhancing Undergraduate Research Opportunities" (award 1123068). In this earlier project, faculty from 3 large institutions collaborated in developing coursework to provide lower division undergraduate STEM students with research experiences that were less costly than traditional methods involving labs. EURO met the considerable challenge of increasing participation in early undergraduate research in an affordable way. This was done through the creation of courses and programs designed to teach general research skills, rather than only engaging students in specific disciplinary research activities. By focusing on "research-oriented" or "research skills" experiences, more students can engage research early in their undergraduate studies without major increased expense. The target audience for the current project is comprised of faculty and administrators interested in increasing the number of students involved in undergraduate research at their institution. The workshop organizers are drawn from the EURO team. All of them have taught these courses over the past four years. The workshop has a capacity for 27 participants who are expected to become trainers in this method. The organizers are committed to following up with the participants to support adaptation of this approach at the participants' home institutions. The PI team is continuing to solicit and develop modules and information to share with practitioners of undergraduate research. Workshop participants will be expected to contribute to the research concept inventory problems previously developed, adding content from a broad range of institutions. By holding the workshop concurrently with the short course taught at the lead institution, the PI team is also planning to measure the effectiveness of this method of dissemination and determine if it is more effective than the conventional methods. If most of the participants follow through and set up their own regional training programs, using materials that the project team will make accessible, the train-the-trainers aspect of this project will have a substantial impact and also become self-sustaining.