Shortage of highly-skilled STEM workers, lack of critical technical skills, and persistence of underrepresentation are key problems for our nation's future. The Arkansas Summer Research Institute (ASRI) incorporates novel approaches to broaden participation in STEM, research, and data analytics, especially among URM students (over 50% of ASRI…

Research has shown the benefits of undergraduate research; however, few studies have examined mentors of undergraduate researchers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the practices of mentors who have successfully mentored Hispanic undergraduate researchers. Findings from this study suggested that mentors should focus on interacting with…

Despite an alarm raised by Seymour and Hewitt (1997) describing science, engineering and mathematics programs as chilly and unwelcoming, students continue to report significant feelings of hostility and a lack of caring when characterizing the professor-student relationship. The negative feelings correlate with poor course performance, lower grade…

This paper identifies salient practices of faculty mentors of undergraduate research (UR) as indicated in the extensive literature of the past two decades on UR. The well-established benefits for students involved in UR are dependent, first and foremost, on high-quality mentoring. Mentorship is a defining feature of UR. As more and different types…

Undergraduate research programs are becoming more prevalent, but research on the processes and outcomes is limited and deals largely with perceptions of student learning gains. This paper adds to the literature by describing undergraduate research activities from the student perspective. A phenomenological approach was used to analyze journals…

This paper outlines the steps involved in developing a dissertation topic and selecting a Dissertation Committee. It suggests that students assess their personal interest in the topic and their technical competence to complete the research required. A checklist of topic feasibility and appropriateness, developed by J. Mauch and J. Birch, is…

This paper describes a research project that examined the impact a mentoring program had on college faculty and students. The program was designed to provide a collaborative research experience for faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students. The goals of the program were to assist graduate students in establishing mentoring…

This paper, based on the content of approximately 100 letters from dental students, examines the issue of student research support within the student-mentor relationship including why students become involved in research, what they look for in a mentor, and the mentor's role. (GLR)