Abstract
Undergraduate research consists of a student working with a faculty or staff member to develop a study plan and objectives. Polls of faculty and students report the benefits of this activity. The goal of this paper is to conduct a survey of six students at Virginia Tech who finished undergraduate research and presented their results at an annual professional meeting of agronomy, soils, and environmental sciences. The students answered a brief set of questions about their expectations before and their experiences after the trip. Even though the time input for students and faculty mentors in high, students who become involved in undergraduate research reported value in the experience. Faculty who supervise undergraduate research must be aware of the constraints and the difficulty in producing published work without much input from the students. However, the time spent in facilitating or shepherding students through the presentation of results at a professional meeting has rewards and benefits in seeing the students mature in their career choices and increase their opportunities for success as they represent the department and school after graduation. The students who attended the meeting to present their results recommend the activity to their peers and to faculty mentors.
Keywords
undergraduate research, shepherding students, student success
 Galbraith_NACTA_June_2012.pdf | [ ] | 279 kB |
