The early phase of doctoral education is a critical yet under-researched period in PhD programs, when doctoral researchers must solidify their thesis projects prior to embarking on data collection. What makes this time particularly challenging is that new doctoral researchers synthesize their research thinking while they are still learning the…

In this Report on Practice, we explore both the process and an approach of engaging Undergraduate Students in research using a Research Institute setting. Drawing from our experience we conceive of the learning process as a series of interactions and transactions that face the same impediments as any transaction or interaction The approach, we…

Despite the growing interest to provide research engagement opportunities to undergraduate students, few studies have investigated how engagement "intensity" impacts measures of student success. A quasi-experimental, matched-subject design was employed to study differences between varying levels of research experience intensity (i.e.,…

This study provides a picture of the impact the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) had on action research performed by graduate students at a small Midwest university. A qualitative case study was conducted to examine how the participants' abilities to implement their research, gather data, and analyze the results was impacted by COVID-19. Research…

Many departments in colleges and universities require a capstone course that involves the students conducting a research project. This author has had over 20 years of experience teaching such a capstone course and describes a flexible research method for student research projects -- the vignette study (an experiment embedded in a survey). She also…

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) rapidly have become more common in biology laboratory courses. The effort to implement CUREs has stimulated attempts to differentiate CUREs from other types of laboratory teaching. The Laboratory Course Assessment Survey (LCAS) was developed to measure students' perceptions of how frequently…

Design science research (DSR) is an appropriate method for postgraduate-level (MSc) thesis work, where the students need to combine and apply theoretical knowledge and hands-on skills to solve practical problems. Students face considerable challenges, however, when applying DSR in timeboxed situations with limited competences. In this paper, I…

This essay shares the ongoing efforts of faculty in one EdD program to embrace applied research methodologies and the shifts made in research coursework to support our doctoral candidates as they explore problems of practice. Framed by third space theory, our redesign work is positioned as the lived experience through which we were able to reflect…

Undergraduate research is a high-impact educational practice for which effective mentoring has been identified as a key factor in determining its success. Some researchers have argued that effective mentors help increase students' independence and ownership of the research project. This case study used conversation analysis to examine recorded…

The class research project, "Chronicling Grassroots Suffrage in Warrensburg," served as a semester-long project for the Fall 2019 course, "Democracy Denied: Women's Rights in America, 1800-Present." This paper argues that local and state history research projects like "Chronicling Grassroots Suffrage in Warrensburg"…

The alternative format PhD, in which doctoral candidates produce a thesis composed of a series of peer reviewed publications, is growing in popularity internationally. However, across the HE (HE) system in the United Kingdom (UK), universities have been slower to adopt the alterative thesis format. This paper presents a systematic narrative review…

Course based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) enable students to connect theoretical coursework to the real-world application of scientific research, broadly increasing the accessibility of research to students. Similarly, service-learning courses connect undergraduate students to their surrounding communities by anchoring a component of…

The value of high-impact practices in undergraduate higher education is well documented. However, very little is known about high-impact practices in Human Development and Family Science (HDFS) programs. The goal of this study was to explore one specific high-impact practice: undergraduate research. Specifically, our study explored the benefits…

The impact of undergraduate research experiences (UREs) is supported by evidence from physical and life science fields, especially when student-apprentices work in traditional laboratories. Within social sciences specifically, some excellent student outcomes associated with UREs adhere to non-lab-based modalities like course-based research…

Universities are increasingly interested in providing courses that equip students with data science skills and engage experiential learning, particularly in the social sciences. However, these courses can be costly to implement and time-consuming for instructors to develop. This article describes an integrative learning model for teaching…