Starting and Sustaining Undergraduate Student Research - 9780387728896

The purpose of this series is to provide resources related to teaching and career development for faculty at all stages of their careers and to scientists considering careers in industry. Young faculty [or graduate students and post docs thinking about going into academia] will find valuable information about how to design a course, how to find the right job, including academia and industry, and how to incorporate undergraduate research into their programs. Future volumes will be focused on a wide variety of topics including grant writing, how to incorporate service learning and outreach into the curriculum, mentoring and how to work towards increasing diversity in both the classroom and the college or university. For more established faculty interested in career development, or who are considering changes in career direction, such as transitions to industry, or who are simply interested in keeping up with new pedagogy, future volumes will include ones dedicated to "navigating the tenure and promotion process", being an effective department chair, developing courses for non science majors, assessing student learning and changing careers midstream. Written by acknowledged experts, each volume will provide practical guidelines geared towards faculty in a variety of institutions as well as discussion of problems and potential solutions facing both academics in the life sciencesand those working in industry.Undergraduate research in the life sciences is recognized as playing a critical role in both the overall education of a student and in preparing a student to go on to graduate work in the life sciences. Furthermore, pedagogical research shows that early and sustained involvement in research activities benefits the student far more than either a senior year research experience or a single summer research experience. This monograph, "Starting and Sustaining Undergraduate Student Research"is aimed at faculty setting up an undergraduate research program and will deal with topics from recruiting first year students and designing suitable projects that can be sustained throughout their undergraduate experience to how to fully integrate their research activities with broader educational goals that will provide them with meaningful skills for their future.