Rosalyn Abbott

Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering

Abbott designed the course “Biomedical Engineering Approaches for COVID19 Solutions,” which explored current research pertinent to the COVID19 pandemic. For each class, students read primary literature, critiqued the literature, and designed a followup study, and then discussed all of their ideas in a group setting. Students gained research skills, such as: defining a scientific problem or gap in knowledge, developing a hypothesis, summarizing and critiquing relevant background literature, and establishing techniques relevant to the research problem. At the conclusion of the course, students proposed a biomedical research study in the form of an email draft they could send to a potential research advisor. Abbott mentored students 1:1 via personalized feedback, and the students also received peer mentoring in both small groups and the larger group. Peer mentoring allowed for increased opportunities for sharing and building confidence. Because this “entry level” (no prior experience needed) model leveraged multiple approaches to increase accessibility, students without prior experience could participate productively.

Kim Beck

Associate Professor, Art
College of Fine Arts

Beck created the course “Visual Arts Workshop for Majors and Non-Majors” for students from any discipline to design their own creative inquiry projects in the visual arts. She brought together 22 students from across Schools/Colleges to work in an area of undergraduate research they would not normally have had access to, with a cohort they would not normally have met. Students designed their own proposals in making or writing about art and then spent six weeks implementing their projects. Beck used self-evaluation as a form of assessment. With her mentorship, students articulated their own criteria and goals for processes, products, and presentations. This approach allowed her to tailor the learning experience to each student based on their learning needs and stage of development. Beck also created accountability groups of 4-5 students who regularly met with each other to both support and critique each other's work. She also invited visiting artists from different backgrounds and identities to participate as guest instructors, so students could learn about different ways of being an artist and making art.

Joy Lu

Assistant Professor, Marketing
Tepper School of Business

Lu’s summer research course, “Experiential Learning through Projects”, introduced students to interdisciplinary research in marketing by familiarizing them with: data analysis, theory building, and experimental design. In 2-week long cycles, students explored three media consumption topics. Based on an initial survey, over half of enrolled students had not had prior experience with social science research. Thus, repeating the 2-week long cycle allowed students to improve with each iteration. In week one, students discussed relevant papers. During the second week, students completed a data analysis exercise along with a mini-project presentation in which they designed a field experiment for an online educational platform. During the presentations, students received feedback from both the instructor and their peers. Through 2-week scaffolded cycles and detailed feedback from instructors and peers, Lu’s model provided students an opportunity to engage deeply with research in marketing, regardless of their prior experience.

Sara Moussawi

Associate Teaching Professor, Information Systems
Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Many students in information systems pursue applied careers in industry, rather than academic research. Moussawi’s course, “Information Systems: Seminar on Intelligent Agents”, provided students with an opportunity for formal training in Information Systems research and the associated transferable skills. Students focused on the topic of users' interactions with and perceptions of intelligent conversational agents and similar systems. Students read, analyzed, and discussed academic papers exploring topics relating to intelligent agents’ classification, how users form trust towards the system, the role of anthropomorphism, and factors impacting users’ perceptions of intelligence and experience when interacting with such agents. Sara designed class discussions to provide a space to explore a diversity of perspectives. By having students complete a brief reflection on an academic paper prior to each class, students were able to not only engage in, but also lead a rich discussion, with the instructor participating as a colleague rather than the discussion leader. With continuous instructor guidance and feedback, students’ work culminated in crafting a new research question and research proposal to contribute to a gap in the literature. Afterwards, several students submitted and presented their proposals at a disciplinary professional conference focused on generating new ideas for research in information systems.

Emma Slayton

Librarian, University Libraries

Slayton redesigned the course “Discovering the Data Universe” to scale to 20 or more students and develop data management skills that could be tailored to individual projects and multiple disciplines. This full semester research experience had two parts. First, students collaborated in groups within and outside of class on classwide projects to learn data management skills. During the second half, students applied their skills to individual projects of their own design. The course design accommodated students at multiple levels of experience, highlighting the application of foundational data literacy principles to every step of the research cycles. Furthermore, it prepared students from disciplines who may not be working with data as intensely in their first or second years to have the practice they need to succeed at research later on in their careers. Slayton’s approach piloted ways for students to engage asynchronously, and she hopes to create a fully asynchronous version of the course.