39-1 Strengthening Undergraduate Research Experiences to Promote Workforce Skills

Session: Learning to be a Geoscientist: Professional Exposure, Agency, and Transferable Skills in Undergraduate Education. (Posters)

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The US is not currently producing as many individuals with geoscience expertise as needed for the country to thrive and the gap between homegrown geoscience majors and workforce needs is expected to increase.  Undergraduate Research Experiences (UREs) are one way to increase student engagement with geoscience content and prepare them for meaningful careers.  UREs situate the learning of professional skills and habits of mind in the context of authentic participation in the practices of geoscience.  UREs also play a pivotal role in the development of students’ self-efficacy as well as their sense of themselves as a scientist, facilitating an increased sense of agency and belonging.  UREs bridge the divide between classroom learning and professional skills and offer a pathway for students to join the community of practice engaged in the geosciences. Reciprocally, UREs offer faculty the opportunity to employ new or emerging technologies and cutting-edge research in their teaching, which increases the workforce relevance of what students learn. 

In collaboration with grant-funded partners, the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) has developed tools and guidance to increase the effectiveness of UREs for workforce readiness.  The EvaluateUR platform (https://serc.carleton.edu/141500) provides an objective assessment of the value of UREs of multiple scales by documenting student growth in critical academic and workforce-related knowledge and skills without placing a significant evaluation burden on students and research mentors.  CUREnet (https://serc.carleton.edu/189618) offers advice and detailed examples for how to design and implement course-based undergraduate research experiences, expanding access to the benefits of research to more students and driving teamwork skills development.  On the Cutting Edge (https://serc.carleton.edu/59746) showcased faculty perspectives on the use of research experiences as teaching practice to spread expert know-how through the community.  Whether it’s one-on-one or as part of a course, SERC can support faculty using research experiences to improve students’ workforce preparation. 

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