<br/>This work focuses on the experiences of undergraduates, graduate students, and post docs in curiosity driven laboratory research settings. In this study, undergraduates were engaged in laboratory-intensive academic research experiences through independent study, volunteering, or work study employment. Participating undergraduate researchers were interviewed in several focus groups at the conclusion of the academic year. Some of the topics probed included the lab affiliation process, student motivations, authority versus approachability of their mentors, communication skills, and time management. In a separate set of sessions, in-lab mentors, the graduate students or postdoctoral researchers who work most closely with undergraduates on research projects, were also interviewed in focus groups. A subset of the graduate students and postdoctoral researchers then used a reflection guide to record weekly audio logs about their experiences working with the undergraduates over the course of the following fall semester. Themes that emerged from the qualitative analysis of 130 of these logs will be reported; coding and queries were conducted using NVivo software. This is new, on-going, unpublished research which has a goal of developing tools to improve the undergraduate research experience.<br/>

Authentic voices of undergraduate researchers and their in-lab mentors at a research intensive university

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.