Alternative Summer Experiences for Undergraduate Students During COVID-19
Register for the May 19, 2020 session titled “Getting Meaningful Research Experience in the Time of COVID-19” on ABRCMS Online COVID-19 Web Events to learn about gaining research experience outside of a lab environment. In this live Q&A session, you will get more in-depth information on citizen science, literature review activities and a repository of open data-sets that you can share with undergraduate students for analysis and presentations.
As a result of COVID-19, many colleges and universities are cancelling summer research programs for undergraduate students. The effects of this will extend beyond the summer. Undergraduate students may miss an opportunity to learn how to think critically in science. They also might be impacted in terms of selection of abstracts for undergraduate conferences or graduate school admission decisions.
While all students will be “in the same boat,” faculty and undergraduate students can start thinking of some ways to incorporate activities that will advance the scientific learning process.
As a result of COVID-19, many colleges and universities are cancelling summer research programs for undergraduate students. The effects of this will extend beyond the summer. Undergraduate students may miss an opportunity to learn how to think critically in science. They also might be impacted in terms of selection of abstracts for undergraduate conferences or graduate school admission decisions.
While all students will be “in the same boat,” faculty and undergraduate students can start thinking of some ways to incorporate activities that will advance the scientific learning process.
Encourage Students To Keep Up with Primary Research
Faculty can be the leaders by creating or maintaining online journal clubs with undergraduate students in the lab or even with others in the department. You can also have students watch recorded research seminars and provide summaries. Another idea is to have students research a particular topic and update corresponding Wikipedia pages. This will teach them media literacy, writing, research development and critical thinking skills. Updating Wikipedia pages is almost like a literature review, which brings to mind another idea: have students conduct a literature review and share it with others through social media or virtual meeting platforms.Give Students a Head Start by Teaching Research Ethics
One important skill in communicating and conducting research is to maintain scientific integrity. Faculty can use this summer to teach research ethics online. There are a couple ways of tackling this beyond the online lecture format. Here are some engaging activities that students could try:- Read news articles and highlight areas with false information.
- Analyze case studies on research ethics.
- Lead ethical discussions.
- View videos on research ethics and then discuss virtually.