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Re: Definition of Undergraduate Research

George et al,

I don't mean to deflect this thread from its original direction,
but I think a much more important question is "What is the GOAL of
undergraduate research?"

- Teach the student a bit about research methods?
- Expose the student to the culture of science?
- Test the student's ability to do independent work?
- Give the student something to write on her/his application
when applying to grad school?
- Gain a room full of fancy equipment to impress prospective
students and their parents?
- Get the college a little extra money from the grant
overhead?

If you need a room full of equipment on campus to meet your goal,
then certainly that needs to be included in any definition. I think
once you honestly define your goal, what the research consists of
will follow.

tom

tom

"Michael N. Monce" wrote:

On Mon, 15 Mar 1999, Spagna Jr., George wrote:

At the risk of rehashing an old subject - does anybody have a good,
concise definition of "undergraduate research".

We're looking for something which is applicable across disciplines, and our
internal discussions have devolved into the usual "I can't define it, but I
know it when I see it." Everybody seems to agree that it's a good thing,
though there are some disciplines which claim that research cannot be done
by undergraduates. Obviously, such a stance becomes divisive rather than
helpful.


As a practical definition, you could use a copy of any the recent
NCUR abstracts. A few years back I sent a copy to the provost and some
people in the humanities who claimed undergraduates could not do research
in their disicplines. The breadth of the projects presented at NCUR
helped convince many of the "non-believers" that such work isn't only for
the sciences.

Mike Monce
Connecticut College