Benefits of undergraduate research: a win-win situation – by Mustafa Morsy, URS Chair
Many college students grew up with vivid parents or role models who helped them better prepare for the real world after graduation. However, many others do not have the privilege of supporting them and suffer from learning their options during and beyond their formal education.
The involvement of undergraduates in a research project provides them with better educational opportunities and mentorship, which can replace family and role model support. The benefits of undergraduate research reflect not only on the students but also on the faculty, the universities, and society.
There is a national trend in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields to increase student involvement in hands-on learning.
According to the US Department of Education, only 35.1% graduated with a STEM degree of first enrolled in STEM fields. To improve the graduation rate and have better-prepared students, the former President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) report recommended that universities replace standard laboratory courses with discovery-based research courses.
Photo caption: Heath Stanford, a former University of West Alabama student. He has participated in research for the four years he attended UWA. Heath described his first conference presentation as a freshman as “…. I am normally a timid person, so this allowed me to branch out and get experience that will be needed for the future.”
Every student learns and retains information differently, and for many, a hands-on approach is key to understanding different aspects they may have learned in the classroom. Research helps students build critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and intellectual independence. Research also allows students to conceptualize course material, thus solidifying their knowledge instead of forcing them to rely on memorizing it. As a university professor, I know that lectures are generally dull, no matter how academically dedicated a student is and how great the lecturer is.
There’s nothing better for exciting one’s intellectual capabilities than working in a lab or having a meaningful field trip. For many students, a research project is their first exposure to the working environment if they pursue a research career.
Research is usually conducted in groups, with small tasks handed out to individuals. Group work helps students develop communication and team-building skills, and individual lessons teach accountability. In addition, groups can tackle more complex problems than individuals can, thus gaining more expertise and becoming more engaged in a discipline.
These skills are vital for instilling confidence, competence, and responsibility. In addition, research helps students develop relationships via networking with industry and graduate and professional schools, which will help them gain employment or join these schools after graduation.
As mentioned earlier, not all students benefit from growing up with a role model or mentor.
A research mentor helps improve confidence and teaches students how things are done, effectively “showing them the ropes.” Having a mentor increases student knowledge and enables them to perform more independently than those without a mentor.
Students report that mentors help them become better researchers, teach them about life experiences, and be better persons.
Having a mentor inspires students to be mentors themselves because of its immense benefits. Students are apt to want to pass it on to those who follow, creating a chain of educators that help develop better scientists.
Research helps improve the university infrastructure through obtaining external grant funding. While not every research project comes with a grant, many do. In many cases, since students work for credit hours, these funds improve the university.
Grant funding makes the universities better equipped with laboratories and facilities, therefore more desirable for applicants, and raises the university’s enrollment, retention, and ranking. In addition, the research develops relationships between the university and companies, increasing their graduates’ desirability.
Universities that foster strong working relationships with major companies are desirable because they create employment opportunities after graduation. When students and the university can provide valuable partnerships, companies look to the university for a rich source of employable talent. On a grander scale, undergraduate research benefits the industry in which the research is conducted and the world in some cases.
For many years, undergraduates were overlooked for their innovational minds and natural talents because they were new to their field of studies. However, undergraduates are being published, praised, and regularly considered for conducting new research projects by companies and organizations.
Undergraduate research projects with practical applications have shown to be incredibly beneficial to many industries. Undergraduate research teams deliver solutions, ideas, products, and more from their research with real-world problem-solving applications.
These students who take advantage of undergraduate research opportunities at their respective universities show what students can achieve when organized, directed, and given the guidance of their professors. Despite having help, make no mistake, these undergraduate students play a huge part in the valuable research from their hard work.