Strengthening Research Experiences for Undergraduate STEM Students

在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)教育中，越来越多的证据表明，研究经验以及类似的真实应用专业经验为本科生提供了显著的好处。这些对学生的潜在好处包括提高对STEM领域性质的兴趣和理解，留住STEM专业，以及明确职业目标。随着为本科生提供研究体验的尝试变得越来越普遍，关于它们的附加值以及将其扩展到更多学生所需的相关成本和努力的问题也越来越多。在这个改善本科生STEM教育(IUSE)的项目中，国家研究委员会(NRC)的一个专家委员会将评估和综合关于本科生研究经验的证据的现状，并为改进当前的实践制定一个概念性框架。该委员会将研究各种实施战略，包括在学术和工业实验室的学徒式研究经验，纳入本科实验室课程的研究，以及其他纳入研究的课堂形式。最终，委员会将报告支持各种类型的本科生研究经验好处的证据的强度，使利益相关者能够在其机构背景下权衡实施的好处和成本。由14人组成的跨学科NRC委员会将评估和综合目前关于STEM本科生研究和实践经验的证据，供2年制和4年制高等院校的学生使用。该委员会将定义什么是“真实的本科生研究经验”，评估这些经验的研究质量，比较不同实施机制和计划的有效性，提供最佳实践范例，并考虑不同方法的成本和收益。委员会还将讨论教职员工和管理人员成功实施或改善和扩大本科生研究机会的需求。根据他们对证据的审查，委员会将制定一套结论和建议，其中包括未来的研究议程。该委员会将编写一份总结其调查结果的报告，由NRC确定的其他专家进行审查，并随后向公众发布。

There is a growing body of evidence in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education that research experiences, as well as similar authentic applied professional experiences, provide significant benefits to undergraduate students. These potential benefits for students include enhanced interest in and understanding of the nature of STEM fields, retention in STEM majors, and clarification of career goals. As attempts to provide research experiences for undergraduate students are becoming more widespread, so are questions about their value added, and the associated costs and effort that would be required to expand them to more students. In this Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) project, an expert committee of the National Research Council (NRC) will assess and synthesize the current state of the evidence regarding undergraduate research experiences and develop a conceptual framework for improving current practice. The committee will study a variety of implementation strategies, including apprenticeship-style research experiences in academic and industrial laboratories, research integrated into undergraduate laboratory courses, and other classroom formats that incorporate research. Ultimately, the committee will report on the strength of the evidence supporting the benefits of a variety of types undergraduate research experiences, enabling stakeholders to weigh the benefits and costs of implementation in their institutional contexts.The 14-member, interdisciplinary NRC committee will assess and synthesize the current evidence on STEM undergraduate research and practice experiences for students in 2- and 4-year institutions of higher learning. The committee will define what qualifies as "authentic undergraduate research experiences", assess the quality of research on these experiences, compare the effectiveness of different implementation mechanisms and programs, provide best-practice examples, and consider the costs and benefits of different approaches. The committee will also discuss the needs of faculty and administrators to successfully implement, or improve and expand, undergraduate research opportunities. Based on their review of the evidence, the committee will develop a set of conclusions and recommendations that include a future research agenda. The committee will produce a report summarizing its findings that will be reviewed by other experts identified by the NRC and subsequently released to the public.