Analysis of undergraduate research experiences in an interdisciplinary water science and engineering program

• Autores: Debarati Basu, Vinod K Lohani, John A. Muffo
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 34, no. 1, 2018, págs. 155-170
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • A Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site on Interdisciplinary Water Science and Engineering wasestablished in 2007 and has been implemented for nine years at Virginia Tech. The goal is to engage undergraduatestudents (REU fellows) in research activities related to critical water-related issues and challenges in the U.S. and aroundthe world. As of 2016, 85 undergraduate researchers representing 55+ academic institutions in the U.S. have participated inthis ten-week interdisciplinary research program. The accomplishments of the site are summarized in this paper. Theresearch contributions of the undergraduate researchers have been documented in 50 conference and journal publications.Program evaluation results show that the site led the REU fellows to gain interdisciplinary research experiences, improvetheir knowledge and understanding about graduate school and its expectations, gain several professional and academicskills, and grow as independent researchers. Further, 86% of the site alumni pursued/plan to pursue graduate education,and 75% of them are pursuing or plan to pursue research careers in science and engineering. The lessons learned by theinvestigators are also noted.