Becoming a Scientist

8/3/2019 Becoming a Scientist

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Ongoing and current debates in theacademic literature concerning howlearning occurs, how students developintellectually and personally during theircollege years, and how communities ofpractice encourage these types of growthposit effective practices and the

processes of students cognitive,epistemological, and interpersonal andintrapersonal development.Although a variety of theoretical papers andresearch studies exploring these topics arewidely published, with the exception of ashort article for Project Kaleidoscope(Lopatto, 2004b), none has yet focused onintensive, summer apprentice-style URexperiencesas a model to investigate the validity ofthese debates.1 Findings from this researchstudy to establish the nature and range of

benefits from UR experiences in thesciences, and in particular, results from acomparative analysis of faculty andstudents perceptions of gains from URexperiences, inform these theoreticaldiscussions and bolster findings fromempirical studies in different but relatedareas (i.e., careers research, workplacelearning, graduate training) on studentlearning, cognitive and personal growth, thedevelopment of professional identity, andhow communities of practice contribute tothese processes.

This article will present findings from ourfaculty and first-round student data setsthat manifest the concepts and theoriesunderpinning constructivist learning,development of professional identity, andhow apprentice-style UR experienceoperates as an effectivecommunity of practice. As these bodies oftheory are central tenets of current scienceeducation reform efforts, empiricalevidence that provides clearerunderstanding of the actual practices andoutcomes of these approaches inform

national science education policy concernsfor institutions of higher learning toincrease diversity in science, numbers ofstudents majoring in science, technology,engineering, or mathematics (STEM)disciplines, student retention inundergraduate and graduate STEMprograms and their entry1 David Lopatto was co-P.I. on this study andconducted quantitative survey research on thebasis of our

qualitative findings at the same four liberal artscolleges.Science Education DOI 10.1002/sce

38 HUNTER ET AL.into science careers, and, ultimately, theproduction of greater numbers ofprofessional

scientists. To frame discussion of findingsfrom this research, we present a briefreview of theory on student learning,communities of practice, and thedevelopment of personal and professionalidentity germane to our data.CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING,COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE, ANDIDENTITY DEVELOPMENTApprentice-style UR fits a theoretical modelof learning advanced by constructivism, inwhich learning is a process of integratingnew knowledge with prior knowledge such

that knowledge is continually constructedand reconstructed by the individual.Vygotskys social constructivist approachpresented the notion of the zone ofproximal development, referencing thepotential of students ability to learn andproblem solve beyond their currentknowledge level through careful guidancefrom and collaboration with an adult orgroup of more able peers (Vygotsky, 1978).According to Green (2005), Vygotskyslearning model moved beyond theories ofstaged development (i.e., Piaget) andled the way foreducators to consider ways of working withothers beyond the traditional didacticmodel (p. 294). In social constructivism,learning is student centered and situated.Situated learning, the hallmark of culturaland critical studies education theorists(Freire, 1990;Giroux, 1988; Shor, 1987), takes intoaccount students own ways of makingmeaning and frames meaning-making as anegotiated, social, and contextual process.Crucial to student-centered learning is therole of educator as a facilitator oflearning.In constructivist pedagogy, the teacher isengaged with the student in a two-way,dialogical sharing of meaning constructionbased upon an activity of mutual interest.Lave and Wenger (1991) and Wenger(1998) extended tenets of socialconstructivism into a model of learning builtupon communities of practice. In acommunity of practice newcomers are


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socialized into the practice of thecommunity (in this case, science research)through mutual engagement with, anddirection and support from an old-timer.Lave andWengers development of theconcept and practice of this model centerson students legitimate peripheral

participation. This construct describes theprocess whereby a novice is slowly, butincreasingly, inducted into the knowledgeand skills (both overt and tacit) of aparticular practice under the guidance andexpertise of the master. Legitimateperipheral participation requires thatstudents actively participate in theauthentic practice of the community, as thisis the process by which the novice movesfrom the periphery toward full membershipin the community (Lave&Wenger, 1991).Similar to Lave andWengers communities

of practice, Brown, Collins, and Duguid(1989) and Farmer, Buckmaster, andLeGrand (1992) describe cognitiveapprenticeships. A cognitiveapprenticeship starts with deliberateinstruction by someone who acts as amodel; it then proceeds to model-guidedtrials by practitioners who progressivelyassume more responsibility for theirlearning (Farmer et al., 1992, p. 42).However, these latter authors especiallyemphasize the importance of studentsongoing opportunities for self-expression

and reflective thinking facilitated by anexpert other as necessary to effectivelegitimate peripheral participation.Beyond gains in understanding andexercising the practical and culturalknowledge of a community of practice,Brown et al. (1989) discuss the benefits ofcognitive apprenticeship in helping learnersto deal capably with ambiguity anduncertaintya trait particularly relevant toconducting science research. In their view,cognitive apprenticeship teachesindividuals how to think and act

satisfactorily in practice. It transmits useful,reliable knowledge based on the consensualagreement of the practitioners, about howto deal with situations, particularly thosethat are ill-defined, complex and risky. ItteachesScience Education DOI 10.1002/sce

BECOMING A SCIENTIST 39

knowledge-in-action that is situated(quoted in Farmer et al., 1992, p. 42).

Green (2005) points out that Bowden andMarton (1998, 2004) also characterizeeffective communities of practice asteaching skills that prepare apprentices tonegotiate undefined spaces oflearning: the expert other. . . does notnecessarily know the answers in a

traditional sense, but rather is willing tosupport collaborative learning focused onthe unknown future. In other words, theinfluential other takes learning. . . tospaces where the journey itself is unknownto everyone (p. 295). Such conceptions ofcommunities of practice are strikinglyapposite to the processes of learning andgrowth that we have found among URstudents, particularly in their understandingof the nature of scientific knowledge and intheir capacity to confront the inherentdifficulties of science research. These same

issues are central to Baxter Magoldasresearch on young adult development. Theepistemological reflection (ER) modeldeveloped from her research posits fourcategories of intellectual development fromsimplistic to complex thinking: fromabsolute knowing (where studentsunderstand knowledge to be certain andview it as residing in an outside authority)to transitional knowing (where studentsbelieve that some knowledge is less thanabsolute and focus on finding ways tosearch for truth), then to independent

knowing (where students believe that mostknowledge is less than absolute andindividuals can think for themselves), andlastly to contextual knowing (whereknowledge is shaped by the context inwhich it is situated and its veracity isdebated according to its context) (BaxterMagolda, 2004). In this model,epistemological development is closely tiedto development of identity. The ER model ofways of knowing gradually shifts from anexternally directed view of knowing to onethat is internally directed. It is this

epistemological shift that frames astudents cognitive and personaldevelopmentwhere knowing and sense ofself shift from external sources to relianceupon ones own internal assessment ofknowing and identity. This process ofidentity development is referred to as self-authorship and is supported by aconstructivist-developmental pedagogybased on validating students as knowers,


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situating learning in students experience,and defining learning as mutuallyconstructed meaning (Baxter Magolda,1999, p. 26). Baxter Magoldas researchprovides examples ofpedagogical practice that support thedevelopment of self-authorship, including

learning through scientific inquiry. As inother social constructivist learning models,the teacher as facilitator is crucial tostudents cognitive and personaldevelopment:Helping studentsmake personal sense of theconstruction of knowledge claims and engagingstudents in knowledge construction from theirown perspectives involves validating thestudents as knowers and situating learning inthe students own perspectives. Becomingsocialized into the ways of knowing of thescientific community and participating in thedisciplines collective knowledge creation effort

involves mutually constructing meaning.(Baxter Magolda, 1999, p. 105)Here Baxter Magoldas constructivist-developmental pedagogy converges withLave and Wengers communities ofpractice, but more clearly emphasizesstudents development of identity as part ofthe professional socialization process. Useof constructivist learning theory andpedagogies, including communities ofpractice, are plainly evident in the URmodel as it is structured and practiced atthe four institutions

participating in this study, as we describenext. As such, the gains identified bystudent and faculty research advisorsactively engaged in apprentice-stylelearning and teaching provide a means totest these theories and models and offerthe opportunity to examine the processes,whereby these benefits are generated,including students development of aprofessional identity.Science Education DOI 10.1002/sce

40 HUNTER ET AL.THE APPRENTICESHIP MODEL FOR

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHEffective UR is defined as, an inquiry orinvestigation conducted by anundergraduate that makes an originalintellectual or creative contribution to thediscipline (NSF, 2003b, p. 9). In the bestpractice of UR, the student draws on thementors expertise and resources. . . andthe student is encouraged to take primaryresponsibility for the project and to provide

substantial input into its direction(American Chemical Societys Committeeon Professional Training, quoted inWenzel,2003, p. 1). Undergraduate research, aspracticed in the four liberal arts colleges inthis study, is based upon thisapprenticeship model of

learning: student researchers workcollaboratively with faculty in conductingauthentic, original research.In these colleges, students typicallyunderwent a competitive applicationprocess (even when a faculty memberdirectly invited a student to participate).After sorting applications, and rankingstudents research preferences, facultyinterviewed students to assure a goodmatch between the students interests andthe faculty members research and alsobetween the faculty member and the

student. Generally, once allapplicationmaterials were reviewed (i.e.,students statements of interest, coursetranscripts, grade point averages [GPA]),faculty negotiated as a group to distributesuccessful applicants among the availablesummer research advisors. Students werepaid a stipend for their full-time work withfaculty for 10 weeks over summer.Depending on the amount of fundingavailable and individual research needs,faculty research advisors supervised one ormore students. Typically, a faculty research

advisor worked with two students for thesummer, but many worked with three orfour, or even larger groups.In most cases, student researchers wereassigned to work on predetermined facetsof faculty research projects: each studentproject was open ended, but defined, sothat a student had a reasonable chance ofcompleting it in the short time frame and ofproducinguseful results. Faculty research advisorsdescribed the importance of choosing aproject appropriate to the students level,

taking into account their students interests,knowledge, and abilities and aiming tostretch their capacities, but not beyondstudents reach. Research advisors wereoften willing to integrate students specificinterests into the design of their researchprojects.Faculty research advisors described theintensive nature of getting their studentresearchers up and running in the


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beginning weeks of the program. Orientingstudents to the laboratory and to theproject, providing students with relevantbackground information and literature, andteaching them the various skills andinstrumentation necessary to workeffectively required adaptability to meet

students at an array of preparation levels,advance planning, and a good deal of theirtime. Faculty engaged in directing URdiscussed their role as facilitators ofstudents learning. In the beginning weeksof the project, facultyadvisors often worked one-on-one with theirstudents. They provided instruction, gavemini-lectures, explained step by step whyand how processes were done in particularwaysall the time modeling how scienceresearch is done. When necessary, theyclosely

guided students, but wherever possible,provided latitude for and encouragedstudents own initiative andexperimentation. As the summerprogressed, faculty noted that, based ongrowing hands-on experience, studentsgained confidence (to a greater or lesserdegree) in their abilities, and gradually andincreasingly became self-directed and able,or even eager, to work independently.Although most faculty research advisorsdescribed regular contact with their studentresearchers, most did not work side by side

with their students everyday. Manyresearch advisors held a weekly meeting toreview progress, discuss problems, andmake sure students (and the projects) wereon the right track. At points in the researchwork, facultyScience Education DOI 10.1002/sce

BECOMING A SCIENTIST 41could focus on other tasks while studentsworked more independently, and the formerwere available as necessary. When studentsencountered problems with the research,faculty would serve as a sounding

boardwhile students described their effortsto resolve difficulties.Faculty gave suggestions for methods thatstudents could try themselves, and whenproblems seemed insurmountable tostudents, faculty would troubleshoot withthem to find a way to move the projectforward.Faculty research advisors working with twoor more student researchers often used the

research peer group to further theirstudents development. Some faculty reliedon moresenior student researchers to helpguide new ones. Having multiple studentsworking in the laboratory (whether or noton the same project) also gave studentresearchers an extra resource to draw upon

when questions arose or they needed help.In some cases, several faculty members(from the same or different departments)scheduled weekly meetingsfor group discussion of their researchprojects. Commonly, faculty assignedarticles for students to summarize andpresent to the rest of the group. Toward theend of summer, weekly meetings wereoften devoted to students practice of theirpresentations so that the research advisorand other students could provideconstructive criticism. At the end of

summer, with few exceptions, studentresearchers attended a campus-wide URconference, where they presented postersand shared their research with peers,faculty, and institution administrators.Undergraduate research programs in theseliberal arts colleges also offered a series ofseminars and field trips that exploredvarious science careers, discussed theprocess of choosing and applying tograduate schools, and other topics thatfocused on students professionaldevelopment.

We thus found that, at these four liberalarts colleges, the practice of UR embodiesthe principles of the apprenticeship modelof learning where students engage inactive, handson experience of doing scienceresearch in collaboration with and under theauspices of a faculty research advisor.RESEARCH DESIGN

This qualitative study was designed toaddress fundamental questions about thebenefits (and costs) of undergraduateengagement in faculty-mentored, authenticresearch undertaken outside of class work,

about which the existing literature offersfew findings and many untestedhypotheses.2 Longitudinal and comparative,this study explores: what students identify as the benefits ofURboth following the experience, and inthe longer term (particularly careeroutcomes); what gains faculty advisors observe intheir student researchers and how their


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view of gains converges with or divergesfrom those of their students; the benefits and costs to faculty of theirengagement in UR; what, if anything, is lost by students whodo not participate in UR; and the processes by which gains to students

are generated. This study was undertaken at four liberalarts colleges with a strong history of UR. Allfour offer UR in three core sciencesphysics, chemistry, and biologywithadditional programs in other STEM fields,including (at different campuses) computerscience, engineering,biochemistry, mathematics, andpsychology. In the apprenticeship model ofUR practiced at these colleges, facultyalone directed students in research;however, in the few

2 An extensive review and discussion of theliterature on UR is presented in Seymour et al.(2004).Science Education DOI 10.1002/sce

42 HUNTER ET AL.instances where faculty conducted researchat a nearby institution, some students didhave contact with post docs, graduatestudents, or senior laboratory technicianswho assisted in the research as well.We interviewed a cohort of (largely) risingseniors who were engaged in UR insummer 2000 on the four campuses (N=76). They were interviewed for a secondtime shortly before their graduation inspring 2001 (N =69), and a third time asgraduates in 20032004 (N =55). Thefaculty advisors (N =55) working with thiscohort of students were also interviewed insummer 2000, as were nine administratorswith long experienceof UR programs at their schools.We also interviewed a comparison group ofstudents (N =62) who had not done UR.

They were interviewed as graduatingseniors in spring 2001, and again asgraduates in 20032004 (N =25). A

comparison group (N =16) of faculty whodid not conduct UR in summer 2000 wasalso interviewed.Interview protocols focused upon thenature, value, and career consequences ofUR experiences, and the methods by whichthese were achieved.3 After classifying therange of benefits claimed in the literature,we constructed a gains checklist todiscuss with all participants what faculty

think students may gain fromundergraduate research. During theinterview, UR students were asked todescribe the gains from their researchexperience (or by other means). If, towardthe end of the interview, a student had notmentioned a gain identified on our

checklist, the student was queried as towhether he or she could claim to havegained the benefit and was invited to addfurther comment. Students also mentionedgains they had made that were not includedin the list.With slight alterations in the protocol, weinvited comments on the same list ofpossible gains from students who had notexperienced UR, and solicited informationabout gains from other types of experience.All students were asked to expand on theiranswers, to highlight gains most significant

to them, and to describe the sources of anybenefits.In the second set of interviews, the samestudents (nearing graduation) were askedto reflect back on their researchexperiences as undergraduates, and tocomment on the relative importance oftheir research-derived gains, both for thecareers they planned andfor other aspects of their lives. In the finalset of interviews, they were asked to offer aretrospective summary of the origins oftheir career plans and the role that UR and

other factors had played in them, and tocomment on the longer term effects of theirUR experiencesespecially theconsequences for their career choices andprogress, including their currenteducational or professional engagement.Again, the sources of gains cited wereexplored; especially gains that wereidentified by some students as arising fromUR experiences but may also arise fromother aspects of their college education.

The total of 367 interviews represents morethan 13,000 pages of text data. We are

currently analyzing other aspects of thedata and will report findings on additionaltopics, including the benefits and costs tofaculty of their participation in UR andlongitudinal and comparative outcomes ofstudents career choices. This articlediscusses findings from a comparativeanalysis of all faculty and administratorinterviews (N =80), with findings from the


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first-round UR student interviews (N =76),and provides empirical evidenceof the role of UR experiences inencouraging the intellectual, personal, andprofessional development of studentresearchers, and how the apprenticeshipmodel fits theoretical discussions on these

topics.3The protocol is available by request to the authorsvia [email protected] Education DOI 10.1002/sce


METHODS OF DATA TRANSCRIPTION,CODING, AND ANALYSISOur methods of data collection and analysisare ethnographic, rooted in theoretical workand methodological traditions fromsociology, anthropology, and socialpsychology (Berger & Luckman, 1967;Blumer, 1969; Garfinkel, 1967; Mead, 1934;

Schutz & Luckman, 1974). Classically,qualitative studies such as ethnographiesprecede survey or experimental work,particularly where existing knowledge islimited, because these methodsof research can uncover and explore issuesthat shape informants thinking and actions.Good qualitative software computerprograms are now available that allow forthe multiple, overlapping, and nestedcoding of a large volume of text data to ahigh degree of complexity, thus enablingethnographers to disentangle patterns inlarge data sets and to report findings usingdescriptive statistics. Although conditionsfor statistical significance are rarely met,the results from analysis of text datagathered by careful sampling andconsistency in data coding can be verypowerful. Interviews took between 60 and90 minutes. Taped interviews and focusgroups were transcribed verbatim into aword-processing program and submitted toThe Ethnograph, a qualitative computersoftware program (Seidel, 1998). Eachtranscript was searched for informationbearing upon the research questions.In this type of analysis, text segmentsreferencing issues of different type aretagged by code names. Codes are notpreconceived, but empirical: each new codereferences a discrete idea not previouslyraised. Interviewees also offer informationin spontaneous narratives and examples,and maymake several points in the samepassage, each of which is separately coded.As transcripts are coded, both the codes

and their associated passages are enteredinto The Ethnograph, creating a data setfor each interview group (eight, in thisstudy). Code words and their definitions areconcurrently collected in a codebook.Groups of codesthat cluster around particular themes are

assigned and grouped by parent codes.Because an idea that is encapsulated by acode may relate to more than one theme,code words are often assigned multipleparent codes. Thus, a branching andinterconnected structure of codes andparents emerges from the text data, which,at any point in time, represents the state ofthe analysis.As information is commonly embedded inspeakers accounts of their experiencerather than offered in abstract statements,transcripts can be checked for internal

consistency; that is, between the opinionsor explanations offered by informants, theirdescriptions of events, and the reflectionsand feelings these evoke. Ongoingdiscussions between members of ourresearch group continually reviewed thetypes of observations arising from the datasets to assess and refine categorydefinitions and assure content validity.

The clustered codes and parents and theirrelationships define themes of thequalitative analysis. In addition, frequencyof use can be counted for codes across a

data set, and for important subsets (e.g.,gender), using conservative countingconventions that are designed to avoidoverestimation of the weight of particularopinions. Together, these frequenciesdescribe the relative weighting of issues inparticipants collective report. As they aredrawn from targeted, intentional samples,rather than from random samples, thesefrequencies are not subjected to tests forstatistical significance. They hypothesizethe strength of particular variables andtheir relationships that may later be tested

by random sample surveys or by othermeans. However, the findings in this studyare unusually strong because of near-complete participation by members of eachgroup under study.Before presenting findings from this study,we provide an overview of the results of ourcomparative analysis and describe theevolution of our analysis of the studentinterview data as a result of emergent


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findings from analysis of the facultyinterview data.Science Education DOI 10.1002/sce

44 HUNTER ET AL.OVERVIEW OF FINDINGS FROM THEFIRST-ROUND STUDENTINTERVIEWS AND OF ALL FACULTY

INTERVIEW DATA ANDREEVALUATION OF THE STUDENT-IDENTIFIED GAINS CATEGORIESStudents evaluative observations on theirUR experience were overwhelminglypositive: 91% of all statements referencedgains from their summer researchexperience. Few negative, ambivalent, orqualified assessments of their researchexperiences were offered.

The benefits described were of sevendifferent kinds. Expressed as percentagesof all reported gains, they were: personal-

professional gains (28%); thinking andworking like a scientist (28%); gains invarious skills (19%);clarification/confirmation of career plans(including graduate school) (12%);enhanced career/graduate schoolpreparation (9%); shifts in attitudes tolearning and working as a researcher (4%);other benefits (1%) (Seymour et al., 2004).Like students, faculty regarded URexperience as highly beneficial: 90% of allfaculty members evaluative observationsdiscussed students gains. Faculty offered

observations that drew on their longexperience of directing UR. They reportednot just gains for their current researchgroup but also gains that they had observedin student researchers collectively, overtime, including examples of individual,outstanding students. Faculty membersobservations also reflected theirperspective as educators and asprofessional scientists. Faculty noted gainsthat studentsmentioned, but framed themin terms of students growth as youngprofessionals, especially development of

attitudes and behaviors viewed asrequisite for students to continue in scienceresearch, and ultimately, replace theprofession.We called this emergent categorybecoming a scientist. Becoming ascientist was the only new category ofgains identified from the faculty interviewdata; other gains categories werecomparable to those derived from original

analysis of the student interviews. Thus,benefits to students of UR experiencesidentified by faculty were thinking andworking like a scientist (23%), becoming ascientist (20%), personal-professionalgains (19%), clarification/confirmation ofcareer plans (including graduate school)

(16%), enhanced career/graduate schoolpreparation (10%), gains in various skills(8%), and other benefits (4%).Discovery of the emergent becoming ascientist category sent us back toreexamine the student data. In line withqualitative methodology, we reviewed thesedata to better understand and guide ourdeveloping interpretations of the findings(Strauss, 1987). According to Bowden andMartons (1998) variation theory, it isprecisely by examining the differences orcontrasting nature of the data that

researchers are better able to discern theissues and patterns being studied.In the process of comparing faculty andstudents responses, it became evident thattheir observations reflected particularpoints of view: faculty and studentsaddressed the same types of gains, butinterpreted certain gains differently.Students were interviewedimmediately following their summerresearch experience, just prior to theirsenior year of college, and, from theirresponses, it is clear that many were still

uncertain about future plans. Studentsemphasized the benefits of UR experienceas contributing to theirpersonal growth and understanding of howscience works in hands-on practice. Asnoted above, faculty membersobservations were framed by their longprofessional experience. They describedmuch of students growth in terms of theirprogress in becoming young professionals.In looking at student gains categories inlight of their faculty advisors perspective,we realized that becoming a scientist

captured a number of student responsesthat had been distributed across severalgains categories. We therefore re-sorted thestudent gainsScience Education DOI 10.1002/sce


categories to see how they would matchfaculty definitions.4 After re-categorizingrelevant student-identified UR gains, facultyand students observations were found to


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address the same range of benefits, thoughboth groups offered a small number ofobservations that were not directlycomparable. Table 1 compares faculty andstudents observations on gains from URafter reevaluating the student gainscategories based on faculty advisors

broader professional perspective onstudents personal growth. Numbers andpercentages of students observations ongains from UR that are presented in thistable replace those given in Table 2 inSeymour et al. (2004). The results of thisstudy show that faculty and studentsobservations address the same range ofbenefits. However, what is clear from ourcomparative analysis of the interviewdata is that faculty and students framestudent gains differently. Studentsthemselves were (as yet) unaware of the

significance of gains in professionalsocialization that their faculty advisors haveobserved in many students over time as aresult of engaging in authenticresearch. In their roles as research advisors,mentors, and professional scientists, facultymembers see students gains from UR asdevelopmental stepping stones importantto the process of students becomingscientists.We now turn to a discussion of the positiveoutcomes, as both the student researchersand their faculty research advisors variously

perceive them. As indicated in the summaryof student gains provided in Table 1, wehave clustered gains reported by facultymembersand their student researchers intoconceptually distinct categories. After ourdiscussion of the six major student gainscategories, we will explore ways in whichstudent benefits from their UR experiencerelate to the theoretical models of socialconstructivist student learning, personaland professional identity development inyoung adults, and communities of practice

that we have proposed as an explanatoryframework for the facultys practice of UR inthese colleges.FACULTY AND STUDENTSOBSERVATIONS ON GAINS FROM UREXPERIENCE IN THE SCIENCESIn this section, we present findings for eachof the six major categories of student gainsidentified in our comparative analysis offaculty and student interview data.

Throughout the discussion, we illustrate(sometimes different) ways in which facultyand their students view particular areas ofgain and their significance.Thinking and Working Like aScientistGains in the thinking and working like a

scientist category describe growth instudents intellectual and practicalunderstanding of how science research isdone, including critical thinking andproblem-solving skills, understanding thenature of scientific knowledge, as well asdeeper conceptual understanding of scienceand connections between the differentdisciplines. In this category, we note instudents observations a process that isencouraged by active engagement inresearch: many students improve theirability to bring their knowledge, critical

thinking, and problem-solving skills to bearon real research questions; a few studentsgo further, gaining insights into how togenerate and frame research problems sothat they can be approached scientifically;and some develop a clearer understandingof how knowledge is constructed by seeingthe implications of their research designchoices for the certainty of the answersthus generated.4 For a detailed description of how student gainswere re-categorized, see Hunter et al. (2006).Science Education DOI 10.1002/sce

46 HUNTER ET AL.

TABLE 1Comparison of Faculty and StudentsObservations on Gains fromUndergraduate ResearchObserved Gain, N (%)

Parent Categories: Grouping of Gain-related Codes

Faculty Student

Thinking and working like a scientistApplication of knowledge and skills: understanding

science research through hands-on experience (gains

in critical thinking/problem solving, analyzing, and

interpreting results); understanding the nature of

scientific knowledge (open ended, constantly

constructed); understanding how to approach researchproblems/design. Increased knowledge and

understanding of science and research work (theory,

concepts, connections between/within sciences).

Transfer between research and courses; increased

relevance of coursework.

527 (23) 294 (24)

Becoming a scientistDemonstrated gains in behaviors and attitudes

necessary to becoming a researcher (student takes

ownership of project; shows responsibility, intellectual


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engagement, initiative; creative and independent

approach in decision making). Greater understanding of

the nature of research work and professional practice.

Identification with and bonding to science.

450 (20) 150 (12)

Personal-professionalIncreased confidence in ability to do research,

contribute to science, present/defend research, and in

feeling like a scientist. Establishing collegial, working

relationships with faculty advisor and peers.

420 (19) 310 (25)

Clarification, confirmation, and refinementof career/education pathsIncreased interest/enthusiasm for field; validation of

disciplinary interests and clarification of graduate school

intentions (including increased likelihood of going to

graduate school); greater knowledge of

career/education options; clarification of which field to

study; introduced to new field of study.

352 (16) 131 (11)

Enhanced career/graduate school

preparationReal-world work experience (students); good graduate

school/job preparation (faculty); opportunities for

collaboration/networking with faculty, peers, other

scientists; new professional experiences; r esume

enhanced.

228 (10) 120 (10)

SkillsCommunication skills: presentation/oral argument;

some writing/editing; laboratory/field techniques; work

organization; computer; reading comprehension;

working collaboratively; information retrieval.

174 (8) 214 (17)

Generalized and other gains

Students learn a lot; good summer job, access togood laboratory equipment, etc.

84 (4) 7 (1)

Working independentlyDescribed as a skill, not linked to professional practice.

8 (


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Although most students discussed bothlearning about how science research isdone andtheir related experience of gains in applyingtheir critical thinking and problem-solvingskills to research, fewer students developeda more complex epistemological

understandingof the open-ended nature of scientificknowledge and that scientific fact may besubjectto revision. Seventeen percent of facultyobservations in this category, and only 3%ofstudents observations, mentioned this typeof gain. Nonetheless, a number of facultyandScience Education DOI 10.1002/sce

48 HUNTER ET AL.students observations in this category

indicate that some students do acquiregreater insightinto how scientific knowledge is built:They learn to look at science differently than theway they had it presented in class and thebook. . . . Theres a little bit of that, Gosh, Ithought everything we know is in this book!And so they suddenly realize that theres somuch that we dont know and that whats in atextbook may be just a guess. (Advisor)Ive made some great realizations. . . . I think alot of people think science is truth, thisall-encompassing certainty. . . . And what I foundout is that often what research does is just

to explain how something could happen orprobably happens, and not necessarily how itdoes happen. So I think that has helped me a lotin understanding science better. (Student)Even fewer faculty members (2%) observedthat their students gained a capacity toidentify, frame, and refine new researchquestions or to select or develop alternativeexperimentaldesigns to test a hypothesis. Studentsestimated their progress in this regard ata slightly higher level (9%). Whendiscussing this higher level of thinking skillsapplied

to research, faculty often added that mostundergraduates were unlikely to developthislevel of conceptual understanding andskills; rather, they expected these abilitiesto developduring graduate school. Additionalconstraints on the development of thinkingskills for

this higher level may reflect the dominanttendency in all four colleges for faculty toassignstudents work on aspects of their existingprojects, and the difficulty of achieving suchanobjective in 10 weeks of summer research.

Our finding is thus, that although moststudents developed the capacity to usefullyapplytheir scientific understanding to theirresearch projects, few developed either thecapacityto generate and frame research questionssuch that they can be approached byalternativescientific methods or a complexepistemological understanding of science.Descriptions ofthe state that they had reached in this

process were offered by 64 of the 76students: 46%of students evaluative comments explainedgains in understanding how scienceresearchis done and in applying their criticalthinking and problem-solving skills toresearch;9% referenced gains in their ability todevelop a research question and design;and only3% mentioned growth in understanding howscientific knowledge is built. This finding is

important in light of themany claims forhigher order thinking found in descriptiveaccountsof UR experience commonly authored byfaculty.However, we know of only two U.S. studiesthat carefully probed for and assessedstudentshigher-order intellectual gains from URexperience. Findings reported are similarto ours. In an evaluation study on gainsfrom UR experiences, Kardash (2000) foundonly

modest gains in higher-order skills,particularly development of insights intohow togenerate and frame research problems sothey can be approached scientifically.Kardashsconclusions reflect the findings of thisstudy, namely that, althoughundergraduate research


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experiences (UREs) are clearly successfulin enhancing a number of basic scientificskills,the evidence is less compelling that UREsare particularly successful in promoting theacquisition of higher-order inquiry skills thatunderlie the foundation of critical, scientific

thinking (p. 196). In reporting on studentsepistemological development, Rauckhorsts(2001) presentation described studenttransitions in their ways of knowing usingBaxterMagoldas ER model. The most commonlyfound change in students ways of knowingwas from transitional knowing toindependent knowing. None of thestudents inRauckhorsts study gained the highest levelin the ER model, contextual knowing.

Thus,

although active participation in UR offersthe potential for students to move througha sequenceof intellectual gainsfrom application todesign to abstractionresearch findingsto date concur that this process is neithereasy nor guaranteed.Science Education DOI 10.1002/sce

BECOMING A SCIENTIST 49Findings in the second major subset ofintellectual gains noted increases inconceptualunderstanding, deepening of disciplinary

knowledge, and an increased understandingofthe connections within and between thesciences (13% of faculty observations and16% ofstudents). Faculty saw students increasedcomprehension of science and their abilitytomake conceptual and theoreticalconnections within their research:My students presented their work last Tuesday. .. . I wasnt sure that they really understoodthe point of what we were doing in theexperiments. One of my colleagues asked a

questionof the young woman. . . and she answered itbrilliantly. She really had put together bitsand pieces that wed talked about and what thesignificance of this is. . . . I was so pleasedbecause, intellectually, she has put all thesethings together and shes synthesizing whatshes doing in respect to some of the things thathave been done, and are being done.Some students felt that they had gained amore holistic knowledge of their discipline,

whereas others expressed greater learningin terms of depth and detail:Well, intellectually I think that its helped me tounderstand chemistry better. Not just thechemistry that I happen to be doing in the lab,but also chemistry as a whole, just becausemy research does relate to many different areasof chemistry. And learning how to lookthrough the primary literature and to reallysynthesize and understand the informationaboutthe project has helped me to better understandother areas of chemistry and pick things upmore quickly.Just from being out in the field and asking (myadvisor), Whats that plant there? Ivegotten a lot more knowledge of the basics. Ithink you do end up learning techniques or,you know, everything you ever wanted to knowabout milkweeds!

To summarize, in this category of gains,faculty and students described the

intellectualgains derived from UR experience.Dominant for both groups was the benefit oflearninghow science research is done. Faculty andstudents also emphasized gains in theapplicationof knowledge and skills to hands-onresearch, as well as deeper knowledge andunderstanding of conceptual connectionsbetween sciences. Fewer observations wereofferedon student gains in higher-order thinking

skills: identifying a research question andproposing experimental design ordeveloping a more complex understandingof the natureof scientific knowledge.Becoming a Scientist

The becoming a scientist categorycontains faculty and students observationsthatreference attributes of professionalpractice, attitudes, temperament, andidentity that facultysee as necessary for emerging scientists.

These include: demonstrating attitudes and behaviorsneeded to practice science; understanding the nature of researchwork; understanding how scientists practicetheir profession; and beginning to see themselves as scientists.


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The high number of facultys observationsdocumenting students development asyoungresearch professionals (20% of all faculty-identified gains) is especially interesting,notScience Education DOI 10.1002/sce

50 HUNTER ET AL.least because this topic is not yet wellrepresented in the literature.5 It is also aninterestingfinding that students who described thesame gains did not couch them in terms oftheprocess of becoming scientists, butlargely as aspects of their personal-professional (orother forms of) growth. Once the re-categorization of student observations thatmatched

those of facultywas complete, the resultingcategory, at 12%, ranked fourth in gainsreportedby students (Table 1).Within this category, more than half offaculty observations (52%) describedchanges theyobserved in students conduct and manner,noting how students began to exhibitbehaviorsand attitudes that underpin research work,such as curiosity and initiative, becomingless

fearful of being wrong, and more willingto take risks:They approach me and say, I know you alwayssay I should at least run it by you before Iuse expensive reagents, but I did this on my ownand look what I got! And there have beena few that have sort of just done itaround thesides, without letting you know becausethey wanted to surprise you. Thats a realtransition point. That they want to surprise youbybringing something of themselves to it. Andwhen you see that happen, you think, Okay,were all set here.One of the things that pleases me in a student isone who isnt afraid to get in there andjust get their hands dirty, and just try something.Thats what [he] did. He wasnt worriedabout wasting some reagents, some enzyme orsomething. . . . Just to try something to getit to work.Whereas Ive had other students who,if it doesnt work, the first thing they do iscome to me. . . . [He] got stumped a couple oftimes. He needed, initially, to be shown howto go about trouble-shooting. But the successfulstudents are the ones that will just get in

there and theyll try things on their own and getem to work.Faculty described these shifts in attitudesand behaviors as transformations thatindicatedto them that their students were becomingscience professionals.

One quarter of student comments in thiscategory referenced a parallel set ofchanges intheir own behavior and attitudes that theydid not, as yet, recognize as acquiringprofessionalhabits of mind and behavior. Studentsdescribed learning to work and thinkindependently,being willing to try something on their own,taking responsibility for their own learning,and figuring things out for themselves (andwith their research peer group) rather than

relying on faculty. Students also sawthemselves becoming increasingly carefulin theirproject work, mindful of their role inproviding accurate results, and above all,feeling asense of ownership and responsibility forthe project and its progress:Just being able to sit down and concentrate onone thing and figure it out and understand. . . .And so just for me to look at that and really,really understand it rather than just getting thebig overview. And then, actually thinking aboutthe problem critically and creatively and

being, Okay. Now what can I change to havethis effect and to have this outcome? Thatsa whole new experience for me.5This gain is proposed, but not documented, in asmall number of articles. Gueldner, Clayton,Bramlett,& Boettcher (1993) mention professionalsocialization as an objective of UR; Dunn andPhillips (1998)and Nikolova Eddins,Williams, Buschek, Porter, &Kineke (1997) discuss as a hypothesized benefit ofURthe role of peer interaction and peer assessment asa means of professional socialization. Jungck,Harris,

Mercuri, & Tusin (2004) argue that peer review andpublication of student research is an importantelementof students professional socialization. As notedearlier, Lopatto (2004b) discusses the linksbetween studentlearning in college and the contribution of UR tostudents professional development as scientists.Science Education DOI 10.1002/sce

BECOMING A SCIENTIST 51Im being relied on to a certain extent. So if Imnot at least doing the 40 hours. . . , not that


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I couldnt necessarily slip around it, but I feelthat I should at least be in here working for40 hours. There also is simply the deadline thatit has to be published and the end of the10 weeks is coming up. . . . I mean, theres sortof this contractual obligation. Its sort of apersonal obligation I feel. I think thats moreimportant. And so Im willing to get it done.

Faculty members know that by engaging inauthentic research projects, students willcome to better understand the character ofresearch work: that it is messy and slow,that itis often boring and tedious, that it may benecessary to repeat a procedure multipletimesbefore it works properly, and that failureis a common experience. Nearly onequarterof faculty observations on becoming ascientist discussed student gains in

understandingthe realities of research work. Faculty alsosaw in students a growing consciousnessthatto succeed as a scientist requires particulartemperamental attributeswhether naturaloracquired:They learn in the lab that science is an awful lotof frustration. They learn that its not goingto work a lot of the times. So this is one of theirlessons that they come out with (laughs).So they get accustomed to the idea that thingsdont work and they have to figure it out.I think they learn that science is really boring(laughs). And thats the key. If they can knowthat science is boring and still do it, and still stickwith it, then they have the makings of areally good scientist.A small number of students observations(13%) similarly described gains inunderstandingof the character of research work and therealization that doing research requiresperseverance:Its helped me to deal with failure in thelaboratory. And its not your fault. Its notanythingyou could have done. Its just the protocols thatworked perfectly for so-and-so dont workfor you because of reasons you didnt even thinkabout and nobodythought about. Itshelped me to be a better problem-solver, I think,to look at this and say, Okay, wellpinpoint whats going wrong. Well see whatother people have done. Well see why oursis different and how we can change things sothat it will work.

Coming to an honest understanding of whatreal research entailsboth its nature andtherecognition that one must be able to takeits frustrations in strideis a gain hard wonfromexperience.

Learning that research is typically fraughtwith problems, that a high incidence offailure is to be expected, and that itrequires patience and tenacity was alsoseen by bothfaculty and students as applicable to life, ingeneral:Life in the lab is tough. . . . Ive spent years onsome projects and not gotten a really greatresult out of it. And so students will spend awhole semester working on something andhave to deal with, It didnt work this time.Didnt work this time. Didnt work this time.And its not because its a bad project. Its

because theyre in that trouble-shooting phasethat you must go through. You cant just buy akit to do this experiment. You have to justtrouble-shoot yourself. And you have to gothrough that in order to get beyond it. And Iwould say that maturity of, Things dont alwaysgo the way I think theyre going to go,is actually a very good life lesson to learn.(Advisor)Science Education DOI 10.1002/sce

52 HUNTER ET AL.I think the perseverance that it takes, thepatience to be able to just keep working and notgiving up on things, that is something that I

think will be useful in other areaslearning tonot expect things to happen right away, andsuddenly, magically you have all your results.(Student)Fifteen percent of faculty observations, but

just 5% of students observations, inbecominga scientist mentioned gains inunderstanding how scientists practice theirprofession.Faculty advisors were aware that URprovided students with an opportunity towitness firsthandhow scientists operate as professionals.Students see that faculty must writepapers,undergo peer review and publish, attendconferences, and present papers. Facultyobservationsin this category identify students growth inunderstanding how scientists practicetheir profession:


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They assist with things like literaturesearches. . . . Ill frame it in terms of apublication.This is the kind of stuff well need to documentin order to publish this. So they get insightinto that part of the process. . . . In terms ofwhat the standards are, the way they need todocument their experimental work, the kinds of

analyses they need. They understand weneed one set of data to decide for ourselves,Oh, we did it! Now we need another set totell the world that we did this. So they get insightinto those aspects.

Yet, students observations relating to agrowing understanding of standards inprofessionalpractice were framed almost entirely inpersonal termsas leading to increasedconfidenceand feeling like scientists. Thus, althoughstudentsmay, indeed, be seeing how

scientistspractice their profession, they largelyinternalize these gains, focusing on theimmediateeffects on their own self-developmentrather than defining them (as do faculty) ashabits ofthe profession.However, presenting at disciplinaryconferences commonly stimulated studentsto expressa clear awareness of the insights they hadgained by the experience into how thescience profession operates. Students whohad been to a conference typicallyemphasizedhow this had broadened theirunderstanding of professional practice.

They had seen firsthandhow big the world of science is; someimagined what a career in science would belike; and some expressed an early sense ofbelonging to the profession. They alsobecameaware that their research contributions hadvalue to other scientists:Especially when I went to the [conference], it

gives you an idea of where you might beworking and if you would be interested in doingsomething like that, if you would like it,and types of problems that they have to dealwith. It gives you an idea of where you aregoing to be at a certain point.I thought it was a great experience, seeing otherpeople and then really talking to scientists.And I felt like I was really a part of everythingbecause I had my own work that I could

share, and I understood so much more aboutwhat people were doing because Ive writtenmy own abstracts, Ive written my own sectionsof papers. . . . It seems like a really bigdeal, but in the scientific world, its kind of likeyou needto see these people. . . .Faculty members emphasized the addedvalue for students of getting to see howscientistsworked beyond the walls of academe. Theywere aware that attending conferenceshelpedstudents to see what a future in sciencemight look like, encouraged students toviewthemselves as part of the scientificcommunity, and, thus held the potential todraw studentsinto its fold:Science Education DOI 10.1002/sce


When they get to the American Chemical Societymeeting, they begin to realize that itsa whole lot bigger. . . and theyve gotconnections to people who are out there. . .specificconnections that show them the path of howthey can get there.I take students to the neuroscience meeting. . .which I think is. . . very good for thembecause they see what they are learning anddoing has a place and a relevancy in the entirescientific community and its not just theyredoing some small piece. . . that is designed forundergraduates. When they go and make these

presentations to the scientific community,they realize that theyre creating science.Theyre not just doing formulas in a cookbook,but theyre actually now part of the creation ofknowledge.In only a small proportion of studentsobservations was it clear that students hadcome tounderstand the significance of theirmoretesting research experiences as part of aprocess ofsocialization into the profession of science.In the following examples, the speakersdiscuss

how they had come to a more practicalunderstanding of the demands ofprofessionalscience and what this meant in terms ofbecoming a scientist:The summers research was sort of the first stepin becoming a true biologist. The nature ofthe research is such that there are long periodsof waiting before we can obtain data. And


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so some days were particularly trying, but as awhole, I look back on it fondly. I feel likeIm really learning what its like to be a scientist.When I really realized some of the frustrationsyou can have with research, I think I learnedthat thats a part of being a scientist, is dealingwith that.Most students observations on becoming

a scientist (57%) referenced increases inconfidence. The results of increasedconfidence to do science are expressed instudentsaccounts that showboth tacit andunconscious development of traits,behaviors, and attitudesthat are part of their development as youngscientists. They are part of becomingscientistsand, as such, are included in this category.Students statements that express growthin

their confidence to take part in science andmake some contribution to it were placedin the personal-professional gainscategory because these observations reflectovert,conscious statements of personal growth.Often, however, statements of greaterconfidenceand about the significance or outcomes ofgreater confidence are intertwined in thesamesentence or account. Thus, theconfidence elements in such statements

properly belongin the personal-professional growthcategory and elements expressing growthin feelingand acting like a scientist belong in thebecoming category. As we explainedearlier,the becoming a scientist categoryemerged from our analysis of the facultyinterviewdata. Faculty observations made explicitsome aspects of students development ofwhich

students were largely unaware. Forstudents, feeling like a scientist wasframed entirelyin the context of growth in confidence; itwas not projected as consciousdevelopment ofbecoming a scientist. Because the twotypes of sentiments are highly related, theywere

counted as gains in both categories.However, as students discussed gains inconfidencein terms of their personal development, wewill elaborate on the growth of professionalidentity in our discussion of the personal-professional gains category.

In sum, in the becoming a scientistcategory, facultys observations concernstudentsdevelopment as apprentice scientists. Theirobservations describe the development ofattitudesand behaviors that characterize aptitude forthe profession and the adoption of theprofessional norms necessary forparticipation in the community of practice.Studentsdiscussion of these types of gainsreferenced changes in their attitudes and

behaviors inScience Education DOI 10.1002/sce

54 HUNTER ET AL.relation to research work; they did notframe their discussion of these gains interms ofprofessional development. Rather, as wewill discuss next, students internalizedthese gainsin terms of their own self-development.Personal-Professional Gains

The largest number of all studentobservations on their gains comprises the

personalprofessionalgains category, though thinking andworking like a scientist was a closesecond. Students personal-professionalgains ranked third in number of facultysevaluativeobservations (Table 1). By far, the largestproportion of student comments in thiscategory reference gains in confidence indoing research work or science (74%).Andalthough faculty noted these same gains forstudents (43%), they emphasized more

thanstudents a second type of personal-professional gain, namely, the benefits ofdeveloping acollegial relationship with faculty. Studentsobservations on developing collegial,workingrelationships with faculty strongly reflecttheir personal significance to students:being


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treated as a colleague in an equalpartnershipbeing taken seriously. Theseexperiencesencouraged students confidence both asyoung adults and as young scientists. Bothfacultyand students observations on gaining

professional collegiality with faculty (andalso withresearch peers) speak to the structure andfunction of mentoring and peer grouplearningin the social practice of the scientificcommunity and in the development andsupport ofprofessional identity.Growth in confidence was portrayed ashaving a number of different facets. Growthinstudents confidence to do research often

included a shift toward thinking andworkingindependently. It sometimes included gainsin technical know-how that fueled feelingsofconfidence to tackle whatever new learningmight be required:Ive learned not to be so intimidated by theresearch because, before, when we would readthese articles for class, it just seems a bitintimidating. But now that Im actually doingwhat theyre doing, Ive realized that I could dothis.I now feel confident that I can walk into any

room with any instrument and figure outhow to make that instrument work. And thats avery nice confidence to have because itmakes me feel a lot more optimistic when I lookat somebodys web page and what kind ofanalytical methods they use in the lab. And I seethis laundry list of 10, 15 different methodsof analysis theyre using, and I can look downthat list and say, I know how to do half ofthese, and another half of them I can figure outpretty easily, based on things Ive done.Faculty advisors affirmed the strongaffective gains that students took awayfrom their

research experience. A third of the facultysobservations in this category specificallynotedincreases in students confidence that madethem willing to take on technical challengesand think creatively about alternative waysto approach a research question:You can see it a mile away.When they approacha new piece of equipment, its more, Well,wheres the manual? (Laughs.) Dont waste mytime teaching me this. Just tell me how

to turn it on and Ill figure it out. Self-confidence, maturity.I saw him able to approach problems with a littlebit more creativity. With a little bit less,It has to be done precisely one way. I reallythink hed gained confidence.

Themost powerful source of studentsgrowing confidence as researcherswas therealizationthat their work could make a usefulcontribution to the field:It makes me feel important. I feel like Imactually contributing something, and its soexciting!Science Education DOI 10.1002/sce

BECOMING A SCIENTIST 55Contributing to the field is important. . . . I reallylike the idea that I am doing scienceresearch and I feel like its something thats newand exciting and its been looked at sortof, but not really, the research that Im doing. Iget a lot of satisfaction out of the fact thatIm doing something new.Faculty advisors concurred with theirstudents that a major source of theirincreased confidencewas the awareness that they were able tomake a contribution:I think when they see what theyre doingconnects with other peoples work. . . that kindof validates a lot of what they do, so I think theylike that. This summer we had a lot ofrequests for the clone that weve isolated. . . andI could see this one student was gettingreally excited.Both students and faculty described gainsarising from attending and presenting atconferences, although faculty interpretedthe significance of these gains in terms ofbringingnew talent into their profession, studentssaw these benefits in terms of personalgrowthwith transferable professional value.Students related how preparing andpresenting theirresearch and being taken seriously byresearchers in the field both increased theirconfidenceas young scientists and enhanced theiridentification with the profession:When you finish your research for the summerand you present your research, you put it inposter form. . . I mean, theres a certain amountof pride that goes with that, and, you know,you feel like a scientist.Like their students, faculty were aware thata key element in prompting both confidence


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and a sense of themselves as realscientists arose from professionalcolleagues taking agenuine interest in their work. Faculty alsodescribed these experiences as pivotal inhelpingstudents to feel part of the scientific

community:Most of them, by the time that theyve put theirposter up on the last day. . . , I think theyreally do feel as if theyve not only contributedsomething, but theyrepartof something.And I think they find that valuable.For the smaller number of students whoattended professional conferences (asopposedto conferences specifically for students),these effects were even greater. Thefollowingfaculty comment illustrates the strongaffective gains from such an experience:Oftentimes well take them to a nationalmeeting, and then, then theyll reallyfeel liketheyre part of the field. I mean, theyre standingthere in this big hall in front of a poster,and they really feel that theyre, theyve in asense made it then, you know?Faculty described the role that presentingtheir research plays in studentsprofessionalsocialization:Watch them at their poster session, or watchthem at a meeting, explaining what theyvedone to other chemists. . . . When you go to a[disciplinary] meeting, thats the key thing

to do. And to watch all these chemists from Dowcoming around to talk to students. . . .Its this big epiphany when they realize thatwhat theyre doing really is important andthat somebody somewhere else actually caresabout it, and they get into real scientificconversations, Oh, well did you try this? No,but I tried that! When something like thathappens, and the student gets truly excitedabout it, thats the moment there.Science Education DOI 10.1002/sce

56 HUNTER ET AL.

Faculty were aware that studentsconfidence and satisfaction in what they

were ableto accomplish were not only gains as youngscientists but also gains in self-discoveryand personal growth. Faculty alsorecognized that these gains transferred toother areas ofstudents lives:I cant put my finger on it precisely, but certainlyfrom the way they talk about it and the

good feelings they seem to have later on aboutit, it seems to have been an experience inwhich theyve had a tremendous sense ofaccomplishment. Its sort of bolstered theirsenseof themselves as, This is something that I cando pretty much single-handedly. Look atthis big body of work that I did in this 10-week

period! And they seem to be able totake from that a sense that they can achieve,that they can sort of organize their lives andorganize their future activities. It seems to carryover, at least in their minds, in some sortof generalized sense. . . .Faculty put considerable effort intoarranging student presentationopportunities becausethey recognized the potential of theseexperiences to move promising youngscientiststoward a stronger identification with theprofession of science and, possibly,commitmentto becoming scientists.

The opportunity to build a close, collegialrelationship with faculty was a benefit ofUR discussed by both faculty and students.Descriptions of the importance to studentsofestablishing collegial relationships were24% of faculty observations, and 16% ofstudentsobservations, within the personal-professional gains category. Facultyadvisors observationsshowed that they are very conscious oftheir mentoring role and more aware thantheir students of the specific benefits ofdeveloping collegial relationships. Studentslargelyfocus on the powerful shift from ahierarchical and respectfully distancedrelationship toone based on partnership:When I go in and explain what I found to him andhe responds with my first response tothe question, and I can say, Now, I thought of ita little bit more, and I dont think thats

exactly it, its really wonderful to be in such agive-and-take with a professor, where theprofessor doesnt know all of my ideas before Icome to it. . . . Its really neat to be with aprofessor and be working through somethingthat is new for both of us.Faculty likewise described the character oftheir interactions with their undergraduateresearchers as one in which studentsbecame collaborators:


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Part of what I think works in this enterprise, isits not this studentteacher relationship. Itsa more collegial relationship. Were on fairlyequal footing here. Its true I have a lot moreexperience, and I can give them the benefit ofmy general experience in thinking aboutmathematical problems, but I dont have anymore specific insight into this problem. And

its wonderful when a student comes up withsomething and I say, Well, thats really neat!I never thought of that. And they just beam, youknow, I got something!Faculty were also highly aware of theprocesses whereby genuine collaborationsarise. Theyunderscored the intensive nature of the URexperience: working with students on adailybasis for a sustained period createdpersonal relationships that supportedstudents during

and beyond college: Theyve had some very intensive, extensive,one-on-one mentoring with a professionalscientist. We work very closely with thestudents. . . . We watch them mature. We watchthem struggle with decision-making during theircollege years. We participate in theirScience Education DOI 10.1002/sce

BECOMING A SCIENTIST 57decision-making (laughing) during their collegeyears. . . .We call them up short when theyneed somebody to. . . . We listen to theirproblems. Its just a very close relationship.Faculty reiterated their longer term

commitment to student researchers:I think they see me sort of, at least for someperiod of their life, as sort of a mentor. Asa person they can go to, to ask forrecommendations, ask questions, get feedback,get myadvice. I think thats very nice. I think, certainly,when you interact with somebody on adaily basis you usually get to know them muchbetter.

They took a deliberate, active role in theprocesses that bonded students to science,toscience learning, and to the community of

scientists:We feel it is the best way for students to learnabout science. That is, if they really doscience, they are going to also learn science.And its just more active. Its more interesting.Its more exciting. It creates a bond betweenstudents and faculty, which is a very positivething to try to create.Students observations on building collegialrelationships with faculty provide insights

into the mentoring role of faculty advisors.Faculty modeled how science is done, and,in doing so, gave their young colleagues theconfidence that they too could handle thecomplexities of research. It is clear tostudents that their faculty advisorsappreciation and

respect was genuine:Theyre just a great resource. Theyre an expertin what youre doing, for one thing. Sothey have great ideas. And when you really hitthat wall and you dont know what to do,and youve tried things, then you can go back tothem and they will have some suggestions,or at least places to look for new things to do. Ithink thats really important. . . , theencouragement that you get from them. Andlike, how happy they are with your progress.I think that that can reflect to you, Hey, youknow, I can do this! Look, she thinks I did agood job! . . . I think when you start askingquestions and whenyou are able to say, Whatdo you think about trying it this way? and theygo, Oh, I hadnt thought about that, thatsreally nice.

The greater number of faculty over studentobservations about the significance ofestablishingcollegial facultystudent relationships likelyrepresents faculty advisors longer-termperspective and their greater awareness ofthe processes that draw young scholars intothe scientific community. Faculty reflectedupon the long-lasting associations andongoing

friendships that they developed with theirformer research students6:Theres a lawyer in Cedar Rapids that Ive kept intouch with over the years. He was 76class, something like that. And about every otheryear we get together someplace.We havea lot of mutual friends and we know what eachothers doing. Theres another guy, a facultymember, a mathematician. . . we see him all thetime. He used to baby-sit for us. Theirdaughter was up a couple of weeks ago.6 The higher number of faculty observations alsolikely reflects the value faculty place on mentoringundergraduate researchers. As many of the abovequotations demonstrate, faculty emphasized theintrinsicgains they receive from mentoring. Indeed, in aseparate analysis (to be published) of the data ofthe costsand benefits to faculty for participation in UR,benefits cited by faculty are almost exclusivelyintrinsic,focusing on the rewards of fostering studentspersonal and professional growth.Science Education DOI 10.1002/sce

58 HUNTER ET AL.


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I made a presentation about careerdevelopment. You know, How I got where Iam.. . . .And when I was there, I looked out into theaudience and virtually all of the students Ihad trained. . . were there, and they werecheering. And, afterwards, they came up andthey

were giving me hugs. And after all the studentshad left and we went to dinner with theother speakers, someone from Harvard said,Well, I dont think my students would everdo that to me. And, you know, it was kind of afeeling that you had been a part of theirlives and not just their scientific mentor. Thatwas really satisfying.Small numbers of both faculty and studentsobservations (13% and 9%, respectively)reported the value of gaining a collegialworking relationship with their peers.Studentsdescribed how working alongside other

students provided mutual support whenthings didnot go smoothly, extra insight intoproblems, and knowledgeable sources ofideas when theresearch advisor was unavailable:We would also have meetings for lunch once aweek where everybody from the two labswould get together and wed discuss what wereworking on so I wouldnt be totally out ofthe loop. . . . Even though Im not specificallyworking on that project, what their work isinfluences my project and vice versa.Sowewould. . . discusswhat had been going onnewresults, something good or bad that hadhappened. . . . Plus, that provides time forinsight. . .maybe theyre thinking about this problem adifferent way than you.Faculty particularly noted the educationalbenefits of having students work togetherandthe value of the camaraderie andconfidence this can generate:I think. . . they learn a lot just from being aroundother students that do research. . . . Theytalk a lot. . . . The community aspect of it is veryimportant in terms of support, like, Theother student has the same problem, so Improbably doing okay. . . . I can do this!One fifth of faculty observations in thepersonal-professional gains category werenotdirectly comparable to comments offeredby students. These observations reflectfaculty

awareness of the multiple dimensions ofstudent growth and processes generatingthesechanges. Conscious of their role as mentors,some faculty actively worked to replacestudentsstereotypical ideas of scientists with more

realistic views of who and what scientistsare:I think they get to see what a real scientist lookslike. There arent too many scientists thatsit in their white coats and think, E=mc2 allday. So I think students get a picture of whata real scientist looks like. . . . I think my jobdescription as a mentor is to be a scientist andto be a person who is a scientist. I mean, Imsorta their little example of what a scientistis. And I hope its a little different from what theymaybe came in with.Other gains of this type that faculty (but nottheir students) observed noted students

personal and professional growth inmaturity and self-discovery, and benefitsarising frombelonging to a community of learners.Students mentoring less-experiencedresearchers orbeing mentored by others (e.g., post docs,other scientists) was also mentioned as again.Overall, in this category, faculty andstudents emphasized UR as an opportunityto discoverthe confidence to work independently and

creatively as researchers; develop a senseof professional identity; and feel that theybelong as colleagues to a communityworkingtogether in common endeavor. Studentsalso defined developing collegialrelationshipswith faculty and with research peers as atype of personal-professional gain whosesignificancewas strongly acknowledged by faculty.Faculty saw the longer term importance ofScience Education DOI 10.1002/sce

BECOMING A SCIENTIST 59collegial relationships that grew out of URexperiences, describing long associationswithformer undergraduate researchers.Establishing collegial relationships withstudent peersworking on the same projects also providedsupport when extra perspectives onresearch


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processes and problems were needed andwhen faculty advisors were unavailable.

Thus, thegains comprising this category speak tostudents growing internal sense of self asyoungscientists and reflect the significance of

building professional relationships withfaculty andpeers that reinforce a shift in their identityand sense of belonging that they express asfeeling like a scientist.Clarification, Confirmation, andRefinement of Career/GraduateSchool Intentions

This category is composed of observationson the role of UR in increasing studentsinterest in science and science researchand in helping them to clarify, confirm, andrefine

future career plans, including graduateschool. By number of observations offered,thiscategory ranked fourth for faculty and fifthfor students (Table 1).Amuch higher percentage of observationswere offered by faculty (57%) than bystudents(12%) on students increased interest andenthusiasm for research or the field ofstudy. Thislikely reflects faculty advisors history ofseeing many students extend their summer

URexperience into the academic year and/orfor several more summers.7 Increasedinterestin science is an important outcome in itself,but faculty also see it as the first steptowarda science career: from long experience,they see that students, once engaged, areapt todiscover a larger sense of participating inscience and become further involved:Ive had students that worked with me duringthe summer, and then theyve stayed the nextyear. Once theyve started in the summer theyenjoy the research and they stay during theacademic year.Many of them gain a real excitement for theentire experience. In other words, starting offknowing almost nothing about the field,spending some time learning about the field, andthen actually beingpartof the field.

Students also discussed their increasedinterest, but spoke only from the moreimmediateviewpoint of their recently completedsummer research:I just gained a better love of the sciences and abetter appreciation of them. And now that

Ive seen everything thats gone into [a researchproject], I have seen a little part of whatgoes into everything Ive ever learned.

The UR experience was highly valued byboth students and faculty because itprovidedan opportunity to affectively and cognitivelyassess how well research work matchedwithstudents aptitudes, temperament, and lifechoices. Students appreciated the chanceto gainan informed perspective on their careerdecisions and felt more confident in takingtheirnext steps, especially the decision to go tograduate school. Faculty stronglyconcurred;as one faculty advisor put it, UR experienceallowed students to exercise wisdombeforefolly. On the basis of their longinvolvement, faculty see UR experience ashelping studentsto clarify their interest in an area of studyand settle the question of whether or notresearch

is for me. Thirty-six percent of studentsobservations and 20% of facultyobservations in7We are checking student accounts of multiple URexperiences in second- and third-round interviews.Science Education DOI 10.1002/sce

60 HUNTER ET AL.

this category described UR experience asinstrumental in helping students find outwhatwill make them happy and whether goingto graduate school and pursuing a career inscience research would be a good choice for

them8:Its certainly nice to see them learn over thecourse of the summer, to see them doing morethinking for themselves, more autonomy,making good choices, making good decisions.Its nice to see them gain confidence in their roleas research collaborators. Its nice to seethem get to a point where they clarify what theydo and dont want to do, because that reallydoes often happen. . . . Its nice to see themclarify, Yeah, that was interesting, but its not


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my cup of tea, or, Oh, I loved it and this iswhat I want to do!For students, the experience of seeingmyself doing this is revealed as a criticalelementin the career clarification process: Just the experience of realizing, Okay this is

what my life is going to be like if I decide todo this, and realizing, Yeah, thats what I wantto do. Thats what I enjoy doing. Thatswhat I love doing.Ive always wanted to be a professor, since I wasa little kid. However, I never thought Idreally want to be a research professor, like I donow. . . . I can now see myself in someplacelike Berkeley or someplace with a really big lab,where Ive got 20 to 30 students workingunder me and kind of more running the shop. Ican see myself doing that now, and I cansee that because I have the experience inresearch and know how much I really love it.As faculty also noted, the UR experience

clarified for some students that researchwasnot well suited to their interests and/ortemperament. In this sample of 76students, 7 foundthat research is not for me:Its a lot of tedium. Setting up the laser, aligningit, spending two days tracking down apump leak, changing the pump oil. I dont knowif I have that much patience or desire todo that.I really do enjoy doing research, but I cant seemyself doing it for my entire life. I cantsee myself in a lab, day in and day out.

Again, we note the significance (in this casefor career decisions) of the tests oftemperamentposed by the character of real researchwork:I would actually say the majority of students thatIve had over the years in the summerresearch program came in convinced that theywanted to get a Ph.D. (laughs) and thatchanged their minds. I actually have had quite afew say that theyre happy they had thisexperience because they never really realizedwhat it was about, and that you have to beable to deal with frustrations and you have be

patient and progress is very slow and all thesethings. You dont really understand that whenyou take a course at school.8 In our separate analysis of faculty advisorscomments on their objectives for UR, we found thatthesecond highest number of objectivesobservations (20%) concerned the role of UR inhelping students

to clarify their career goals and to makeappropriate career and/or graduate schooldecisions. Providingstudents a hands-on learning experience of scienceresearch ranked first (at 38%) among facultymembersobjectives.Science Education DOI 10.1002/sce

BECOMING A SCIENTIST 61. . . A student that worked for us for onesemester, and at the end said, No! I cant dothis!You cant give me a set of instructions! Shesstill in physics, so it wasnt to the point thatwe totally destroyed her dreams, but she quicklyrealized and said, I cant! I cant dealwith this uncertainty and ambiguity and notknowing at the beginning if its even going towork out at the end.

The much larger number of observationsoffered by students (39%) than faculty (9%)on

gains in clarifying and confirming interest ingraduate school per se, rather than aspecificinterest in a science research career,probably reflects students immediate anddominantpreoccupation with what they will dobeyond graduation. Most of theirobservations eitherexpressed an increased interest inattending graduate school or confirmed apreexistinginterest in graduate school. Students

observations also show that UR experienceprovidedgreater confidence in decision makingabout the future:Ive always been thinking and wanting to go tograd school, ever since I can remember,wanting to get a doctorate, but I actually trulydecided, it was this summer when I said,Yes, Im going to go to grad school. Its what Iwant to do.Up until this year I had always been dead set ongrad school, no question. . . . I guess aboutpart way through the year I was sort ofwondering whether I really wanted to continueonin grad school. . . . But I really do think, aftergetting back into research, that I really wantto go on in grad school.In summary, for this sample of students atliberal arts colleges, we did notfind that URexperience had prompted their decisions togo to graduate school. Rather, moststudents


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had planned for and anticipated a graduateschool education. Thus, for this studentgroup,we found that the role of UR was toincrease students interest in andprobability of goingon to graduate school, to confirm whether

previous intentions to undertake graduatestudywere apposite, and to clarify or refine whichfield of interest to pursue. Faculty also sawincreased interest as the first necessarystep toward choice of a research-basedsciencecareer. The UR experience was highlyvalued by both students and facultybecause itprovided an opportunity to affectively andcognitively assess how well research workfit

with conceptions of their own aptitudes,temperament, and future life choices.Studentsappreciated the chance to gain an informedperspective on their career decisions andfeltmore confident in taking their next steps.Enhanced Career/Graduate SchoolPreparationCareer and graduate school enhancementbenefits ranked fifth in number of facultyand sixth in number of students comments(Table 1). That this set of observations has

arelatively low ranking in the list of reportedgains indicates that neither faculty norstudentsvalued UR for predominantly instrumentalreasons. Rather, both groups saw thepragmaticbenefits of research experiences inpreparing students for work or graduateeducation asancillary rather than primary gains.Half of the benefits in this categorymentioned by faculty described formal

contributionsto science by undergraduate researchers.They included students who had presentedatconferences, were listed as coauthors onarticles, or who had made othercontributionsthrough their UR projects. The largerpercentage of faculty members estimatesof career

preparation gains clearly reflect thenumbers of students they have brought toconferencesand with whom they have published overthe years. From their longer termperspectiveScience Education DOI 10.1002/sce

62 HUNTER ET AL.as professional scientists and educators,they view co-presentation and sharedpublicationswith students as making valuablecontributions to their own careers as well ashavingprofessional value for their students. Just20% of students observations mentionedthissame type of gain.In contrast, one third of student commentsin this category described how UR provided

real-world work experience. For manystudents, summer research was their firstexperienceof working full time, wholly engaged on asingle project. Students saw this as oftransferable value when they imaginedwhat it would be like to work professionally:Youre given a lot of freedom and responsibilityto do things, so Im really getting out of ithow to go about a professional type job orbusiness, these kinds of things.For those students who were consideringgraduate school, UR was seen as apreliminaryglimpse of what graduate work woulddemand of them:I think the whole experience is great preparationbecause its far more similar to whatgraduate school is actually like, Ive been told.

Twelve percent of faculty observationsreferenced UR as providing goodpreparation forgraduate school (and other work contexts):I know our graduates typically make thetransition to graduate school very easily,becausewe are really taking them from a typicalundergraduate experience into a typicalgraduateexperience by their senior year. . . . So I knowthey enter graduate schoolof course theyreterrifiedbut they quickly realize that theyrebetter prepared than most people there. Imthinking of two women in particular. . . whobasically said that their peers in the graduateschool class spent the first year learning to readand write scientifically. And they knew allthat.


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Sixteen percent of students observationsalso recognized that UR experience wouldgivea solid boost to their resume andgraduate school applications:Im interested in going to graduate school and Ithink itll help my chances a lot in getting

into graduate school, to have done research asan undergraduate.However, as we reported in our first article,in a separate analysis of studentsmotivationsfor undertaking UR, we found that the largemajority (71%)

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Becoming a Scientist